Job seeker volunteers six hours for each interview

It's a tough job market out there, which has led to fierce competition for any opening. In order to stand out, job seekers have to get creative. One recent MIT graduate, KyNam Doan, has decided to donate 6 hours of his time for every interview he lands up to 440 hours over the next 2 years.

For each interview that matches his skill set, he will donate five hours to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area and one hour to the San Francisco Food Bank. On top of that, he will be donating an additional minute to Big Brothers Big Sisters for every unique visitor to his Website so you can help out a charity by simply stopping by to learn more about him. How's that for motivating people to check out your resume.

To top off the incentive for a company to call him in for an interview, KyNam is also listing the companies on the information page. So far he's has had nine unsolicited interviews and with the help of six co-donors has pledged 132 hours and $76 to charity. Even if he lands a job tomorrow, KyNam is planning to follow through with his goal of volunteering 440 hours over the next two years; an action he hopes will motivate others to volunteer their time at other organizations.
If you're not ready to launch an all out media blitz and donate a hefty chunk of your time to charity in order to find a job, there are still a few things you can do to get noticed in your job search. Dumb Little Man's Tips for Life blog has a great collection of tips for resume writing. His best piece of advice is to treat your resume as a tool to get you an interview rather than a tool to get you the job. If you're not searching for a job right now bookmark these tips for the next time you are; or you could take his advice and update your resume today so it's always up to date.

Don't forget to make use of networking to improve your exposure and chances of landing an interview. While networking in person is still very important you can make use of free online tools to get in touch with others in your field and area. KyNam used Twitter, Facebook and a blog to publicize his job search which just started on December 16th. Another good online tool to check out if you are trying to find a job is LinkedIn. Perhaps the best networking advice I have heard is to start networking before you need it. So get out there and make some friends.