Selling Yourself as a Commodity to Land that Job

It can be said that selling yourself to land your next job is much like selling a commodity.

As opposed to a recent college grad, I have eight years of hands-on business to business sales experience to help me do this. My sales experience may not be recent experience, since I've had a non-selling job for the past eight years. Still, much of it is like riding a bike. You can't unlearn cold-calling and canvassing. You can't forget things like doing your homework on your prospect, and knowing to pitch the right products/services to your prospect. And one doesn't forget that there WILL be rejection - you can't take it personally. (Even it if is your "person" so to speak, that you're selling.)

The job market may just be the most competitive it's ever been in my lifetime. Sending out resumes to companies via snail-mail, facsimile, or even on-line is practically a futile effort. These companies are receiving hundreds of resumes for every job posted. Nobody is reading resumes anymore - they are scanned. It's survival of the fittest out there now, with thousands of applicants all vying for the same jobs. And the companies doing the hiring not only know this - they are using this to their advantage.

In order for me to stand out from the crowd, I'll need to develop a marketing strategy. I will need to devise an approach to give me an advantage over the competition. I will need to brand myself. I'll need to be memorable.

I am seriously considering setting up a professional blog, like this one, along with a video resume. Recruiters and hiring managers will have access to these links found on my social media websites. I am going to have some business cards made. I will have these with me where ever I go. I will give them to everyone I meet; at networking events, job fairs, on interviews, you name it.

What are some other things that a person can do that can give him/her an edge over the competition? Maybe it's bringing the hiring manager breakfast every day, until he agrees to hire you... or sending a singing telegram?

I'd be interested to hear what kinds of things you've heard about other people doing, or that you've personally tried to get your foot in the door. What was the outcome?