Don’t put your resume on a billboard. Or a sandwich board. Don’t put your resume on a T-shirt. Don’t leave your resume in library books or in magazines at office reception areas. Don’t take out ads featuring your resume. Don’t place your resume on Google maps.

While all of the above helped a job seeker secure employment, it is unlikely to help you. The originators of the unique resume strategies mentioned were seen as innovative, creative, and ambitious. By the time their story goes viral and you find out about it, it is old news, having lost the novelty that made it so appealing in the first place.

According to a CareerBuilder survey, nearly one-quarter of hiring managers (22 percent) reported that they are seeing more job seekers try unusual tactics to capture their attention in 2010. This is up from 18 percent of hiring managers who said the same in 2009 and 12 percent in 2008.

Jason Ferrara, senior career adviser at CareerBuilder notes, “More candidates are turning to unconventional tactics to attract the attention of hiring managers. While these tactics may work occasionally, they still need to be done with professionalism. That way, candidates are remembered for what they can offer an organization and not just for an unusual antic." More often, you run the risk of turning off the employer; only 9 percent of hiring managers say they have hired someone who used an unconventional approach to get their attention.

Inventing imaginative ways to get your resume noticed is not necessarily a bad thing, especially if the idea is original and you are in PR or marketing. Just do your research before executing the plan, and make certain you are the first job seeker to attempt it. If not, stick with the tried and true methods of circulating your resume, especially distributing it through your network. It won’t make headlines, but the odds are good it can get you a job.

August Cohen is an award-winning, triple certified resume expert and executive coach guiding determined professionals to their next-level career goals. August recently swept the “Toast of the Resume Industry” Award nominations, the resume industry’s highest honor, for her Best Executive, Technical, Career Change, Creative, New Graduate, and International resume submissions. The winners will be announced in October at Career Directors International’s annual conference.

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