Matt Bivons knew he had to do something extraordinary to stand out in a tough job market. So he built a Web site.

But it wasn’t just any resume site under his own name. Instead, in early June, he launched BSFShouldHire.me, an interactive online campaign targeted at Baltimore-based e-mail marketing company Blue Sky Factory that showed off more than just his resume and connected visitors to him via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. His efforts recently earned him a second interview at Blue Sky.

“It’s very easy to say, ‘I’m driven, I’m innovative, I’m creative.’ You need to show it,” said Bivons, 24, a University of Maryland graduate who quit a job a couple of months ago to commit himself full time to getting a better one. “I definitely can respect the competition in today’s environment. I wanted to make a little noise to stand out.”

For years, assertive job hunters have been able to cast a wide net using the Internet. But most job sites are clogged with resumes and applicants, making it hard for people to separate from the pack.

A tense job market sparked by a national unemployment rate of 9.5 percent and 14.5 million people out of work has many applicants approaching their job hunt more creatively and with more laserlike focus.

“In order to get seen, candidates have to do something a little extraordinary these days,” said Tim Namie, an information technology recruiter for Manpower Professional in Linthicum, Md. “They have to think outside the box.”

A rash of “hire me” sites have sprouted up across the Web this year as job hunters directly target the employers they want to hire them. Some sites were inspired by TwitterShouldHireme.com, which was launched in March by a 24-year-old California woman who dreamed of working for Twitter, a fast-growing Internet startup. The sites have a Web feel with a personal sales pitch and tabs to click on their resume, recommendations, contact information and social networking sites.

Cheap and free tools are readily available for people to start full-blown campaigns that can get them noticed in the job market.

Such approaches may not necessarily get people the jobs they’re targeting. But their efforts appear to get noticed by others in their industry. In interviews with several people who started targeted “hire me” sites, only Dan Presserl — who launched MicrosoftShouldHireMe.com
– is close to landing a contract position with the software giant.

Others, such as Jamie Varon of TwitterShouldHireMe.com, used their campaigns to build their online social network, make new connections and get jobs with other companies or launch their own business.

Christopher Dessi, 34, a 1997 graduate of Loyola College in Baltimore, got laid off from two companies in less than six months after working as a vice president in sales for both. The Chappaqua, N.Y., resident vowed to learn more about social media. He launched FacebookShouldHireMe .com, but the company turned him down for an interview.

Instead, he started teaching himself social media on the Web and kept busy making connections. His presence online attracted Buddy Media, a New York social media marketing company. He was turned down for a sales director job but was invited back for one last chance.

“They gave me a shot and saw I was passionate enough to hire,” Dessi said.

Mark Webster, 30, who has worked as a creative director for Internet startups, began a traditional job search, but he wasn’t getting any leads. So he bought the Web domain ShouldHireMe.com and started getting more focused. For each employer he pursued, he set up a customized subdomain on his site — such as Etsy.ShouldHireMe.com — making it easy for the employer to find him.

He also placed ads on Facebook, targeting members of the online social network who worked for the companies he was trying to interview with. He targeted 18 companies that way and got phone calls from 10.

“Out of all the normal resumes and cover letters I sent out, I didn’t get one response,” Webster said.

Instead, he got people talking about his work.

“I stopped my job search a couple months ago, and I’m now doing freelancing and consulting work,” he said.

Courtesy Indystar.com

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