Someone had asked this elsewhere but then deleted their own post and I don’t know why! I was meaning to come back to it and read it, so rest assured that I won’t delete this one as there were some really interesting stories of unconventional ways people landed their work.
TL;DR: I got headhunted after directly emailing dozens of people and pitching myself as an available, on-call substitute in my line of work, instead of submitting job applications traditionally.
As for me, I cold-pitched myself via Google Maps and other searches as an available substitute to those in my skilled trade (upon moving to a different region) in basically a 50-mile radius, and eventually word of my availability reached a large, overarching institution that connected me with an organization that had a full-time opening. It took me probably 4-5 months from the move to the job offer.
Edit: My story is actually a little more complicated than that, now that I recall the details from years ago; there wasn’t actually a full-time opening at my now-workplace at the time, haha. What happened was that I was briefly interviewed and quickly hired as an assistant to an overwhelmed director who ended up getting massively sick and nearly died from COVID, so I subbed as the director. They had been having interpersonal problems with her and I rapidly noticed them in the weeks before she got sick and warned them of her. While I wasn’t trying to take her place, the higher-ups said they were aware of her shortcomings (she had basically said “Shut up” to another director higher than her rank, to give you one of many examples of how bad it was, and she must have been in her 50s if not 60s).
Nearly everyone at the org apparently loved my work while I subbed for her for nearly a full month, and they eventually fired her and made me her replacement after another interview. It was definitely unusual…
I applied, no college or advanced training necessary. I work as a Cadre (soft drill instructor) at a military academy for at risk teens 16-18 years old. The kids live on campus and have school on campus. They do push ups, formations and yes sir no sir. In 6 months they get their high school diploma and are encouraged to go into either education, enlistment military, or employment. We prepare them and do deep, realistic dives into their goals and dreams.
Minimum to be a cadre all you have to do is have a clean back ground and apply. To be a good cadre you have to genuinely care for the cadets and be willing to hold them to the standard even if it’s something ridiculous seeming. We look for hard workers who are not afraid to tell a angry cadet he must perform 30 push ups for speaking out of turn.
I love this job, I’m good at it, I’m creating a new generation of cadre who are also good and in turn we are creating the next generation of citizens.
Our pay is ok for the area though I’d argue we’re still lower middle class for our state. Our job offers 3 days off (40 hour weeks), free meals (eat what kids eat) and during the day we get time to relax while the cadets are in class.
Only BIG downside for my job is you can’t have a beard, only mustache.