Pretty much everyone knows the common strategies for job hunting, to include the following: be explicit in what you are looking for, network like crazy, search the job sites on the Web for relevant job openings you might apply to, use a recruiter, etc.

But I would like to share with you three very powerful strategies that can put you light years ahead of other candidates in landing a great job – and they are ones that most people don’t use.

Here are the two reasons why they don’t use them:

• They are not aware of them

• They don’t want to spend the time and energy to execute them.

Job hunting is a tedious and stressful experience and I can understand that you might feel in an energy funk. But nevertheless, if you want to stand out from the crowd and increase your chances of landing a great job, then here are three exceptional strategies that really work.

1. Write a “targeted resume” for every job

A targeted resume is one that is written to respond directly to a specific job description posted by a specific employer (e.g., a Project Manager job description posted by XYZ company) or, as a minimum, that addresses the anticipated requirements of a particular “class” of jobs (e.g., Project Management jobs).