Seth Godin has an interesting post today that dovetails with something I’ve been thinking – he talks about the difference between grabbing attention and having people want to buy from you:
Michael Jackson, Fidel Castro and Sarah Palin created drama. Paying attention, though, is the not the same as buying or respecting. It’s possible to achieve both, but not easy.
I was thinking about this after seeing a couple of stories about people who found creative ways to look for a job – you know the kind of story – the guy who walks around downtown Manhattan with a sandwich board, or the one whose wife makes a website for him called www.myhusbandneedsajob.com. That idea was so successful that it made CNN – the only problem is that it made CNN months ago and when I checked the site today, it seems that her husband still needs a job. In fact, he posted this on his blog:
I think there might be a sweet spot in there between craigslist and LinkedIn. If we can combine the simplicity and directness of craigslist with the networking ability of LinkedIn, we might have something there. Well, I’m working on it. Hopefully I can turn myhusbandneedsajob into a useful tool and job board to actually help job seekers find a job. Stay tuned…
So all that media attention didn’t turn into a job. And now Mike is maybe going to set up his own business trying to help other people find a job (even though he hasn’t found one himself).
Who knows why Mike didn’t get many interviews, but one possibility is that he didn’t take the initiative to set up the website himself. Maybe employers saw his wife as the enterprising one? Whatever the reason, Seth is right. Attention doesn’t necessarily equal respect. Something to think about if you’re looking for creative ways to further your job search.