The Crazy “Print and Car Spam” Job Hunting Strategy

“What is this idiot doing?”

I was in my car in the company parking lot when I saw a guy putting resumes on everyone’s cars. Asides the waste of paper and the overall litter in general, I found it quite obnoxious to just spam every car in the parking lot. “What an idiot,” I thought. Turns out I was the idiot, because his strategy worked.

Here’s what happened, at 11 am this guy (we’ll call him Slim) put resumes on around 200 cars. I mentioned the time because it’s significant as it’s an hour away from lunch, usually the most social time at any company. During lunch, everyone was talking about Slim, and I mean everyone.

His strategy was pretty controversial as some people felt like me and others thought it was a brilliant way to market yourself. As a result, the theme of that lunch hour throughout the company was Slim’s resume. Basically everyone felt like a hiring manager and gave their opinion.

His strategy worked and most of the company’s employees read or glanced at his resume. I know it worked, because I had to interview this dummy. I put my professional hat on and gave Slim a call, I ended the call in 7 minutes because he was far too junior for the role he wanted. But I liked his tenacity and suggested he apply for our inside sales position if he was still interested.

So what’s the lesson here? Yes, print and spamming people’s cars right before lunch in a company parking lot works. But the lesson here is that the best way to find a job is to think outside the box. Hundreds of resumes are received for every corporate position and it’s all about finding ways to separate yourself from the competition and stand out.

I was definitely wrong in my first impression of Slim because the real crazy strategy is applying only online. That may be harsh, but it’s this blogger’s opinion that to find your dream job, applying online gives far too much room for chance and getting lost in the resumes.

So next time you’re applying for a job, try to think outside the box instead of just clicking apply…just go easy on the paper.