Last week I attended a "Getting America Back to Work" meeting, where job seekers met with the organizer of the Tri-Valley Community Foundation coordinator, Elissa Wolf. The purpose of the program is to get unemployed residents of the Tri-Valley area (Livermore, Pleasanton, and Dublin, California) to match up with employers in the area.

There are minimal requirements (check the website for specifics). Getting America Back to Work is funded by the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act and provides qualified employers a wage subsidy (80 percent!) for folks they hire through the program.

It's win-win for both employers and potential employees.

For more info, visit the Tri-Valley Community Foundation website.

1. Start smart
 
The Coffee Cup Caper — a paper Starbucks cup, full-color Guerrilla Resume, and a Guerrilla Cover Letter (asking to meet for coffee), shipped in a box — gets extraordinary results. By contrast, ordinary resumes and cover letters, sent by email, get ordinary results.
 

2. Follow up with style
 
Delivering a Halloween treat with her thank-you note was correct seasonally, if not politically. Use good judgment before sending items that might be perceived as bribes by employers sensitive to such things. In Berman's case, however, it worked like a (chocolate-covered) charm.
 
And, leaving out the gift, could you arrange to have your thank-you note delivered by a courier, or a friend posing as one? Of course.
 

3. Give employers another reason to hire you
 
Mary did this in spades after her second interview, when she sent a written plan of action for her first 3 months on the job.
 
A 30-60-90 day plan is a way of proving you can do the work — before you're even on the payroll — by describing how you would learn the job, build rapport with employees/customers, and contribute to the bottom line.
 
Mary's plan was 8 pages long and took the better part of a Friday night to prepare. (Before you balk at spending an entire evening at home researching and writing a 30-60-90 day plan, ask yourself if you wouldn't trade a night out for getting a steady paycheck again.)
 

4. Score style points with your delivery
 
Mary's first follow-up, the chocolate-apple-thank-you note, was delivered by a courier, not by email. Her 30-60-90 day plan was delivered by FedEx, not by email.
 
Do you NOT see a pattern? Email should NOT be the sole delivery method for your career documents.
 
Bottom line: This smart Guerrilla had failed to get even one job interview in 20 weeks of conventional job hunting with conventional tactics.
 
After adopting unconventional Guerrilla tactics, she found work in only 7 weeks.
 
If Guerrilla job search methods can work in Michigan, where the unemployment rate tops 15%, they can work where you live. The only thing stopping you from thinking and acting like a Guerrilla is you.
 
Resource: The same Guerrilla Resumes and Cover Letters Mary used are here.
 

Veteran recruiter Joe Turner describes online routes to the short list when professional talent scouts are looking for candidates.

I was a recruiter for more than 15 years, so job seekers often ask me for advice on how to meet recruiters and how to make working with recruiters a beneficial experience. My reply is not always what they want to hear: Top recruiters don't want to meet you. They don't want you to call them, and they don't want you to send your resume to them.

They are already wired into their own network of potential candidates in the fields they cover. If they're doing their jobs correctly, they already know all the top candidates in their fields or know where to find them. In other words, if they want to meet you, they'll find you.

But these are the people you want to meet! These are the executive search firms that will introduce you to a company or corporate recruiters who want to fill open positions.

There are ways you can increase the odds that they will find you. By making sure you are visible in the places recruiters look for new talent and by optimizing your profile to appear high in their search for candidates, you can increase the odds you'll become one of those candidates recruiters in your field seek out.

1. Build and update a LinkedIn profile

"If you're not online, you don't exist." That‘s the motto of many recruiters today. And for many of them, "online" means one place: LinkedIn. According to a recent survey of U.S. hiring managers, 66 percent used LinkedIn to find job candidates for openings, 23 percent used Facebook, and 16 percent used Twitter.

If you haven't done so already, visit both LinkedIn and Facebook to establish a profile page that describes who you are. Keep it professional, but make it an expression of your professional personality. Whet the appetites of visitors to your page. Update it regularly.

2. Advertise yourself with a Unique Selling Proposition

Describe yourself with a brief sentence – a Unique Selling Proposition. A USP is a one-sentence description that says who you are, what your biggest strength is and the greatest benefit you bring.

For example:

"Hands-on Operations Manager with strong people and team-building skills who has helped produce revenues of $2.8 million with a 22 percent margin for my previous employer."

Place this sentence in your profile header as a starter to explain what distinguishes you from others in your field. Include your previous employers as well as the briefest descriptors about you.

3. Add your LinkedIn profile URL to your resume

Once you've built your profile, make sure you make it easy for recruiters and hiring managers to find you on the Web. Add this link directly to your resume right under your contact information.

4. Ask for LinkedIn recommendations

Amassing recommendations is like stockpiling referrals before you need them. Once again, you want to make it easy for recruiters and hiring managers. A great way to provide them with good feedback about your work is with LinkedIn recommendations. A recommendation is merely someone saying something good about you. Make a list of your past (and present) bosses, supervisors, colleagues and clients. If they're on LinkedIn as well, they can provide you with a recommendation. Don't be afraid to ask, since most will be more than glad to do this for you. When they're done, you'll have a number of professional recommendations easily seen by anyone who visits your profile page. 

5. Make yourself an expert

You can also employ tools like LinkedIn and Facebook to extend your network. You'll find hundreds of groups on LinkedIn beyond the obvious ones dedicated to alumni and job search. With a little searching you'll also find groups of people dedicated to the advancement or discussion of their particular profession or industry as well as people seeking solutions to specific problems.

Recruiters will often monitor groups relevant to the industries in which they specialize and keep an eye on outstanding members. Once you're a member, you can initiate new discussion threads for others to join. You can ask and answer questions; if members of the group deem your answer the most relevant or helpful, you gain visibility within the group. Recruiters definitely notice these people, since they prove to be the movers and shakers within their profession. They make the short list for a check on your profile and a potential e-mail or LinkedIn direct message to your inbox.

Start with LinkedIn as a tool to gain the attention that will merit a call. Then you can move to incorporate both Facebook and Twitter into your job-search marketing.

A former recruiter, Joe Turner spent 15 years finding and placing top candidates in some of the best jobs of their careers. The author of "Job Search Secrets Unlocked" and "Paycheck 911," Joe also hosts his "Job Search Guy Radio Show" as well as weekly Resume Writing Workshops to thousands of job seekers across North America. You'll find Joe's free tips and advice on landing a job in this tough economy at: www.JobSearchGuy.com