Dear Job Hunters: 

Remember all the rules you were taught about how to find a new job? (sorry, I meant "an exciting new opportunity"!)  Well, "Lies, they're all lies".  Well, that's not saying we were necessarily lied to . . . so let's term them 'soundbites of yesteryear's thinking'.  The problem is that yesterday's strategies barely worked yesterday, let alone today!

C'mon, you know the rules I'm talking about - apply online with a targeted resume that has every keyword under the sun in it, send a knockout cover letter, "smile, but don't look the interviewer in the eye for more than 2 seconds", dress conservatively for the interview, send a "thank you" letter, etc.  Think about it for a minute: Each time a candidate turns around, they see an article or a blog post (or overhear a conversation at a coffee shop) suggesting how to play the job-hunting game.

Well, I don't know how to tell you this, so I'll just say it: Rules aren't your friends.  Rules exist to keep you out of consideration.  Rules make it easier for lazy recruiters to stay lazy.  Luckily, rules are meant to be broken . . . that is, considering you're actually looking for results.

Here's a hint: If you walk up to a tree with a sleeping monkey in it, you probably aren't going to wake him up by calling his name, offering him a fruit, or tossing little pebbles at him.  You have to shake the tree - and I don't mean just push on it a little bit . . . I mean shake that sucker!

So today, I'm looking at a few different alternatives - I might make some podcasts and/or video as text is old news . . . but I'm going to feature it right here Fast Company.

After all, Fast Company is all about "Where Ideas and People Meet" . . . so I want all of my fellow FC fanatics to have first exposure to the ideas that win in today's game of job hunting!

Stay posted, Fellow FC Members: Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel.

Yours in Breaking the Rules,

Joshua Letourneau
Managing Director, LG & Assoc Search / Talent Strategy
BLOG: www.lgexec.typepad.com
email: jletourneau(at)lgexec.com