Matthew Epstein, a product marketer from Georgia, really, really wanted a job and decided to take a very unique approach to obtaining it. He created an entire marketing campaign in hopes of getting his dream job at… Google.

With this hefty goal in mind, he developed a website called GooglePleaseHire.me. In addition, he utilized social media platforms and offline events to get his distinctive message out:

Mr. Moustache also sent a cardboard cut out of himself that showcased his URL to Google’s HR department to gain further attention. He was on the verge of having a plane fly around the Google headquarters and also display his URL, but fortunately for wallet, his video went viral first.

As it turns out, Epstein did receive Google’s attention. He told us that the tech giant called 2 days after he launched the campaign and, at first, he didn’t believe it was them. He ended up having 3 interviews with them, but ultimately, Google decided not to hire him. Although the reason was not disclosed, a lot of tech companies do not explain their hiring/not hiring rationale in order to protect themselves from legal issues.

The story, however, does not end badly for Epstein. Through his campaign, he received interviews with multiple companies including Microsoft, Amazon, and Salesforce. He was given 3 job offers and decided to accept a position at an investment startup called SigFig.

“I was suffering from a lack of choice, and then by the end of this, I was suffering from a lack of too many choices,” said Epstein.

Even though he succeeded in getting Google’s attention, his campaign could easily be classified as extreme. The creativity, which is very valuable when it comes to marketing, cannot be disputed, but, was it over the top?

“I definitely wouldn’t recommend that everyone slap on a moustache and go around running half-naked,” he admits. “It’s definitely more about creating something or applying for a job that’s in line with your personality and that correlates to the job.”

Epstein told us that 80 percent of his friends thought his plan was stupid. He also said that if he had really sat down and thought it through, he probably wouldn’t have carried it out.

He is thankful that he took the risk and believes that more people will begin to submit nontraditional job applications going forward. According to him, a job application should not feel like work. Epstein recommends that job searchers focus on 3-5 companies that they really want to work for and develop a creative idea that these companies can relate to.

“If you have an idea and you honestly believe in it, just go out and do it,” he said.

Epstein spent over $4,000 on his campaign but received more than 600K views on his video resume, more than 700K unique visits to his website, an overwhelming amount of emails and tweets, and his dream job, even though it’s not with Google.

For this, he told us that it was “definitely worth it.” He also said that we could expect to see “interesting things” from SigFig in the near future.

In case you’re wondering about the fate of his infamous moustache, he said that it is retired for now, but that it could surface again if he is need of a job.

Would you go as far as Epstein went to get a job? Let us know.

Each company listed has its own tagline, apparently written by the companies themselves. Google says “The end to your job search.” Clever. Twitter says “Less characters, more fulfilling.” Not bad. My favorite is from Twilio who asks job searchers to “Come run wild in our geek pasture.” Sounds fun.

Clicking on the company links will take you to their respective jobs page.

In a post on the Techmeme news page, founder Gabe Rivera says “Billboards suck, promote your company’s jobs on Techmeme!”  He writes further that  “Techmeme is a better place for companies to reach out to a smart and well-informed tech-focused audience…We expect that Techmeme readers who are inclined to upgrade their jobs, or ready to embark on a career in tech, will take this jobs section as an extra nudge to explore options available at the featured companies, and a reminder that all of the great companies listed are aggressively hiring.”

How will this affect Techmeme’s news aggregation?  Will they give more weight to stories from and about the companies that buy job promotion spots?  No, Rivera says to TechCrunch.

“Not more than any other news site that accepts advertising from an array of companies. The only time I mentioned consideration of sponsors to my editorial staff was when I asked them specifically not to give sponsors extra consideration,” he says.

comScore’s Andrew Lipsman says that Job Search is up 33% vs. a year ago, and it reached 23.1 million visitors in July. Lipsman also says there is one site that isn’t even in the Job Search category that has been standing out for the same reason – LinkedIn. According to comScore data, LinkedIn neared its all-time high in July, with about 8 million visitors, a 66% increase from the year before.

Everybody knows LinkedIn is heavily used as a business networking tool, and that people use it when they need a job. It is frequently used by businesses for recruiting.

LinkedIn may have to worry about Facebook cramping its style however. Jessica Shambora, writing for Fortune, says that recruiters are increasingly looking to Facebook to find job candidates. One reason for this is that Facebook offers a broader look at the candidate in many cases, than a LinkedIn profile does. Facebook usually caters to people in their more natural element. Shambora writes:

For one thing, Facebook seems to cast a wider net and provide recruiters with more references – and more outlets to spread the news about a job opening. Facebook users have an average of 120 friends. While LinkedIn won’t release this statistic for its members, recruiters say the average number of connections likely is smaller because of the site’s narrower scope.

The types of relationships and contacts found in a personal network versus a professional one are also assumed to be more authentic and less transactional, and therefore more desirable to marketers. And while Facebook members now span all ages and demographics, the average age of its users is 31, compared to 41-years-old for LinkedIn.

She says that professional and personal lines are blurring more, and that the fear is going away as people become more comfortable with sharing their lives online. That’s an interesting concept, given that social media is frequently still costing people their jobs, and likely preventing them from finding new ones in many cases.

Facebook certainly has its privacy settings, but it seems that it if recruiters are looking more to Facebook, as they have been LinkedIn, those looking for work may still want to reserve some judgment about what they post.

Job hunters now have one more site to add to their bookmarks alongside Simply Hired and Indeed. It’s called Hound, and its Juriscape owners tout the site’s simplicity and interface, and a large database of listings, as positives.

As dogs go, this Hound needs a little more training. With a motto of "Every Job On Earth" displayed beneath a friendly dog logo, we expect to see results. A query on Hound for pediatrician in Lexington, KY got us a ‘no results’ page.

The same query on Indeed picked up a half-dozen openings. Simply Hired found seven.

Bad dog. Or maybe we should just call it ‘beta dog’ instead. As a new launch they are likely still implementing some features like additional sources for listings.

Hound’s toolset makes it easy to personalize the way a person receives listings they want. Options for email or RSS feed updates as jobs matching a query become available.

A Browse Jobs feature lets the visitor check out listings for the United States and its territories. It’s another area where Hound needs work; omitting Louisville from Kentucky’s list of top cities for jobs is a glaring mistake.

More competition in the job metasearch range should increase the pressure on all sites in this category to become the definitive place to find those listings. If most listings for heavily searched positions duplicate closely across engines, it seems the site that can best establish itself as a brand will succeed long-term here.

This will help you expand your horizons and your search for your next job can become world wide and not restricted to any one area.

1. If you are keen in continuing in your present line of work with say a better location or opportunities. Then explore the web sites of companies similar to yours. Check out their human resources pages or career links. Employer web sites are often listed at sites like Academic360, a directory of employment opportunities.

2. Undertake a search engine search. Ask any major search engine like Google to help you locate possible employers or job sites that specialize in your field of work.

3. Explore the web sites of professional associations. Being a member of an association is a great way to network with peers and many a time it is successful networking that can land you your next job.

4. You can register at an online employment site like http://www.job-hunt.org or Monster.com and reap the many benefits. They will send you possible opportunities to your e-mail, blast your resume to several recruitment personnel all over the world, offer you a professional evaluation of your resume, and you will be able to browse through all the postings on their site and apply to vacancies that interest you.

5. By opting for an online search you can be sure your application is not lost in the post or courier. When you click apply, the resume immediately goes to the email box of a possible employer. And, the job site will give you a confirmation message of your application.

6. The convenience of online means you can store your resume as well as several versions of a covering letter for use. The site will also maintain a record of applications made by you with details. This means that you will never make the mistake of applying for the same job twice.

7. Applying online means you curtail costs of postage, courier, and faxes.

Looking online for your next job means you can explore several possibilities. By surfing through several job sites you can even consider changing your line of work, moving to a new country with several new opportunities, or even starting your own enterprise. Often the World Wide Web has brought together several professionals from different fields n search of new opportunity and they have begun a business of their own quite successfully.

Another positive aspect of the web is that it allows you to research comprehensively on your new employer and the in depth information you gather on the company will help you during the interviews.

You can take expert advice in writing out your resume and ensure that it has the right key words that will place it ahead of zillion others, that the resume highlights your strengths and presents in a comprehensive way your experience.

The internet has changed the way people look for new jobs and job search has taken giant strides.

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Andrew Bermam is a freelance writer for Fee Job Search Engine , the premier website to find free search for free online employment services, job vacancies, part time job, job listing and many more. He also freelances for the Premier Search site.

Visitors to the beta version of Recruit.net search engine have a trilingual option for their job searches: English, Chinese, and Japanese. Currently, job seekers can review opportunities in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, and India.

The site has a similar look and feel to US-focused job search startups like SimplyHired and Indeed. Recruit.net culls job opportunities from thousands of international job sites.

Searchers can save their queries as alerts, and receive updates via email or RSS as new openings become listed on Recruit.net. Results of a search are filtered for duplicate listings by default. Recruit.net will also suggest ways to refine a search, like “system administrator unix” for “system administrator.”

Another component called “My Recruit.net” lets users create an account and upload a rsum for employers to review. Job alerts and previous searches can be tracked through the account as well.

Employers can sign up to do rsum searches through the database. Also, employers or other advertisers can opt to sponsor targeted advertising on a cost-per-click basis on Recruit.net on the site.

The company’s blog cited a growing market for online job listings as one reason for building its service. The usefulness of the Internet as a medium, and being able to deliver a job posting to thousands of job candidates, should help Recruit.net as online job postings increase throughout the region.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

Well, you’ve got company. Problems in a job search are as common as mosquitoes in July.

But … have you ever written your problem down on a piece of paper?

I’ll bet you haven’t.

Because, when you write problems down, you take an immediate, huge leap towards solving them. Think about it: Every great invention or solution, from the atomic bomb to the Xbox, was first worked out on paper.

Why not solve your employment problems the same way?

Here’s a three-step method that will help you do it …

1) Start by asking the right questions

Most folks put themselves behind the eight ball in their job search by asking questions that are depressing and demotivating.

Questions like, Why won’t anyone give me a job? or How do I network when I don’t know anyone?

Ack. Pass the happy pills.

Instead, start asking questions that motivate and inspire you.

Better questions to ask are:

* How could I give people a reason to call me with job leads?

* How did my 10 closest friends find their current jobs? How could I brainstorm with them and use their methods in my job hunt?

* What worked in my last job search? The job search before? How could I do that again?

Important: Ask questions that you yourself can solve. Never depend on the government, your school, parents, family — anyone else — to do this for you. Because, once you give up responsibility for solving problems with your job search (or anything else), you become a prisoner of outside forces.

When you ask the right questions, however, you’re halfway to the answer. So write down at least five empowering questions about your job search, right now.

Then, you’re ready for step two …

2) Brainstorm at least 20 possible answers

After you write down five good questions, circle the one question that looks most promising. You’re going to use it to get hired faster.

Let’s say you write the following question down atop a clean sheet of paper:

How could I give people a reason to call me with job leads?

Write a number 1 below it. Write a possible answer next to that number. Then move on to number 2, 3 . and don’t stop until you have at least 20 answers to your question.

Not 15 or 19, but 20 answers — or more.

There’s a reason for this: Left to its own devices, your brain will pull a Homer Simpson after two minutes and try to talk you into going out for donuts or beer. Brains hate to think. Like bench pressing, thinking is strenuous work, no matter how good it may be for you.

But don’t let your head off the hook. Don’t stop until you get 20 possible solutions. Brainstorm as if your career depended on the outcome. Because it does.

Now. Most of your 20 answers won’t be very good — that’s OK. Your best answer may come right after the most hare-brained. By forcing yourself to write out 20 answers, you’re flushing the creative pipes while going deep into your subconscious mind to dredge up a winner.

Don’t knock it until you try it!

3) Take action on one solution today

Choose the most promising from your list of 20 answers. Then, get started — today — to make it happen. No excuses.

Let’s say the most actionable of your solutions is to throw a networking party where you can meet friends, family and acquaintances, and let them know about your job search.

Now. What do you need to do to make this party happen?

Well, you have to make the guest list, send invitations, get the food, etc. So write down all the sub-goals necessary for the party to be a success. Check each sub-goal off your list as you complete it. Before you know it, your networking party will be a reality.

After that, take the next most-promising solution from your list of 20 and make that one happen. Repeat until hired.

Here’s why these 3 steps work when it comes to solving problems — clear thinking plus continuous action equals results.

If you’re struggling to find a job, write down clear, empowering questions of your situation. Then, brainstorm at least 20 possible solutions and take action on the best one today. When you do, you’ll be that much closer to getting the job you really want, faster.

Now, go out and make your own luck!

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Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes. Since 1996, he and his team have provided resumes, cover letters and job search assistance to clients in all 50 states. Author of “51 Ways to Find a Job Fast — Guaranteed,” Kevin has been interviewed by USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and many others. As a reader of this publication, you can get a Free Job Search Kit ($25.00 value) at the Guaranteed Resumes Web site – http://www.gresumes.com

OK. You’ve made the tough decision to change jobs with its tasks of rewriting your resume, distributing it to various outlets, prepping for interviews. But have you ever heard of the “non-interview”?

Maybe you’ve already started to upgrade your resume and get it ready for circulation. You hope that it will generate interviews. And you figure to do that by getting your resume into mass distribution through job websites like Monster and HotJobs, direct and email approaches to companies, answering some ads, maybe contacting some agencies and recruiters.

Sounds like a plan, doesn’t it? Everyone does it that way, don’t they? But if you talk to them you’ll probably discover, like we did, that they’re taking weeks and months to get any results!

These poor results from following a traditional job search methodology caught our attention many years ago when we realized that the job market follows the same rules as the business market. And the “alternative job search and non-traditional career advancement” movement was born.

Very simply, this innovative approach understands that you run a job campaign like a small entrepreneurial business. We call it “becoming a job entrepreneur.” And part of the program is learning how to conduct a “non-interview.”

You see, most employers will be interested in you if they can see you as a productive member of their team. That means you have to represent yourself as someone who can make a difference by showing you’ve done your homework . . . you’ve taken the time to find out how to make an employer’s job easier and how to make a specific contribution to bottom line.

An employer can’t find that out by reading your resume which focuses attention on what you used to do for someone else. And he/she can’t find that out by asking you some interview questions to see if you jump through all the hoops.

The only way a decision-maker can gain insight into your ability to make a contribution is by engaging in a dialogue, not an interview. In a dialogue, you have the opportunity to get your best thinking out on the table and you can ask insightful questions that position you as a problem-solver. You may even bring a proposal to the session that outlines your potential contributions in writing.

Of course, it’s up to you to create the opportunity for a “non-interview” so that you can seriously upgrade your ability to win an employer’s high-level interest. It’s all part of a breakthrough approach to job change using “alternative” approaches.

When you utilize this non-traditional plan two exciting things can happen. First, you can be meeting face-to-face with decision-makers in a matter of days. And, secondly, you can be entertaining a job offer in as little as two weeks. As we like to say, “Alternative job search strategies rule!”

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Paul Megan writes for EEI, the world-class pioneer in alternative job search techniques and non-traditional career advancement strategies . . . since 1985. Grab our stunning FREE REPORT: “How To Find A Job In As Little As 14 Days!” Click on RSS for instant info! http://www.fastest-job-search.com