First, my background:
I'm in the market for a new job
I have ~2 years experience under my belt
Nothing on my resume would JUMP out at you
Thus far in my career I've been able to become productive quickly and have been continually praised by managers and coworkers for my abilities to learn and produce. I don't mean to be bragging here, but I want to get across that (at least in my mind) I could be categorized as "very promising young developer"
I've been job hunting for a little while now and like most job seekers I've found a handful of companies that are basically "dream" jobs (think Fog Creek or 37Signals). If I were to apply to a company like that in the normal recruitment channels, my resume would probably not make it past the first set of filters.
Now, I accept that I'm a longshot for a job at the hottest companies out there, but in my job search I've had a little success in applying for positions I'm not qualified for simply by doing something a little different: sending an email outlining how I don't meet the qualifications but stating why I would do well in the job anyways. In other cases, I've outright asked for a small project/problem that would be representative of the work to prove I can do the job, since I didn't have the specific skills on my resume yet.
What I'm wondering is: If I'm not qualified on paper for a particular job, what creative/unique/impressive methods have you thought of or seen work to at least get an interview?
For the sake of argument, assume I really am a "very promising young developer". I would love to hear from people who are responsible for hiring - I'd like to hear examples of techniques that got someone noticed when they otherwise wouldn't have.
Clarification: I know that I need to continue building my resume to continue advancing. But I'm in the job search NOW, so I'm looking for other approaches
