And Now Your Unconventional Job Search Technique of the Week

Unemploymentality continues to be a source of light-hearted job search inspiration, but Tania Khadder's post earlier today was the first one that left me staring at the monitor completely miffed. The short version: Guy sees a job he loves and is perfect for, naturally wants to nail the application and agonizes over how to do so before coming up with the following (potentially unprecedented) solution:

So what did he do? He got creative. He posed as a comparable employer and posted a comparable job opening online. He asked applicants to send a resume, cover letter and salary their requirement.

He got dozens of "applications" from poor, unsuspecting job-seekers. His little ruse allowed him to gauge his competition, and to identify an appropriate salary range. With this newfound omniscience, he applied for the job. And guess what… he got it.

Good on you for getting the job, but is this even legal? Tania poses the same question, although she's so impressed by the guy's effectivenes that the outrage she wants to feel never quite comes through.

To tell you the truth, I feel sort of Ron Burgundy about this one myself. "You posed as a fake company? And you got the job? How'd you do that? Heck, I'm not even mad -- that's amazing." Alright, so I'm a little mad -- he could have easily consulted Vault's vast database of company research, salary surveys and career advice -- but I'm more amazed that A. This tactic actually worked, and B. That nobody has thought of this before.

I look at it this way. The guy didn't lead anyone to believe they were actually going to get a job from his fictitious company, so in that sense it's no harm, no foul. His actions were definitely deceptive, but certainly no worse (by a longshot) than some of the shady tactics that helped bring about the current economic mess. In the end, he did what we're always telling you to do as a job seeker -- find a way to think differently and stand out from the crowd.

To that end, I'll pose the same question put forth by the original post: What other crazy things have you done (or heard of other people doing) to land an interview or a job? Which so-unbelievable-you-couldn't-have-possibly-made-it-up tactics actually work?

It's Crazy, But It Got Him The Job [Unemploymentality]

--Posted by Steven Schiff, Assistant Producer Vault.com