Three months ago, I was sitting at my kitchen table in an old t-shirt, staring at my laptop. My inbox was empty, my bank account was shrinking, and my self-worth was pretty much in the basement. I had been laid off, joining the millions of other talented people “looking for new opportunities.”
That’s the polite way to put it, right?
The truth is, I was unemployed, and I was terrified. I had sent out 127 resumes. I got two automated rejection emails and one “we’ll keep your resume on file.” The rest? Silence. A digital void.
Fast forward to today. I just signed a contract for my dream role—a “Head of Strategy” position that was created for me. My LinkedIn inbox is full of messages from recruiters and founders asking for my opinion. I’ve even been invited to speak on two industry podcasts next month.
What changed? It wasn’t my skills or my experience.
It was my story.
I was stuck in a “job seeker” mindset, which is all about asking, “Please, will you hire me?”
But, I realized that to get noticed, I had to flip the script and had to stop seeking a job and start attracting opportunities. And go from “unemployed” to “in-demand.”
I gave myself 90 days. I didn’t have money for expensive courses or a fancy branding agency. All I had was time, a Wi-Fi connection, and a desperate need for a change.
Here is the exact 90-day strategy that took me from the kitchen table to an industry leader.
Phase 1: The Brutal Honesty Audit (Days 1-30)
The first month wasn’t about applying for jobs. It was about figuring out who I actually was. For years, my identity had been “Employee at [Company Name].” Without that, I was just a list of skills on a resume.
It wasn’t working.
So, I stopped everything. I closed my resume file and opened a blank notebook. I spent the first 30 days answering three “brutally honest” questions:
1. What am I actually an expert in? Not my old job title. I mean, what problems can I solve in my sleep? I realized my “expert” skill wasn’t just “marketing.” It was “helping boring B2B tech companies find their human voice.” That’s specific. That’s a brand.
2. Who needs this expertise (and where do they hang out)? My old method was spraying my resume everywhere. My new method was to identify my exact target audience. Who hires for this? CEOs of 50-200 person tech companies? Marketing VPs? I found 50 of these people on LinkedIn. Not to pitch them, but to study them. What did they post, and what articles did they share? What problems did they complain about?
3. What is my unique “Point of View”? This was the game-changer. I realized that 1,000 other people had my skills. My only unique advantage was my perspective. I decided my “brand” would be built on one core belief: “Most B2B marketing is terrible because it’s afraid to be interesting.”
From this, I crafted my new “brand mission.” It became my headline on every platform.
- Before: “Marketing Professional Seeking New Opportunities”
- After: “I help B2B tech companies sound less like robots and more like humans.”
This single change shifted everything. I was no longer a seeker. I was a solver.
Phase 2: The Content Factory (Days 31-60)
For the next 30 days, I became a content-creating machine. But I had one rule: Give away my best ideas for free.
This feels scary when you’re unemployed. You want to hoard your knowledge for a paying job. But the truth is, no one will pay you for your expertise until you prove you have it.
My “factory” had two parts:
- My “Home Base” (LinkedIn): I completely rewrote my LinkedIn profile. The “About” section wasn’t a list of job duties. It was my story. It started with, “Let’s be honest, most marketing content is boring…” It explained my philosophy.
- My “Proof” (The Content): I posted three times a week.
- Monday: A quick tip (e.g., “Stop using these 3 jargon words in your copy…”)
- Wednesday: A short case study (e.g., “Here’s how I helped [Old Client] triple their engagement by doing one simple thing…”)
- Friday: A personal story or a “hot take” on my industry.
I also spent 30 minutes every day leaving insightful, valuable comments on those 50 target people’s posts. Not just “Great post!” but “This is a great point. I’d add that this also works because…”
The first week, my posts got maybe 10 likes. I felt like a fraud. But by week three, something happened. A CEO I respected commented, “This is exactly what I’ve been trying to tell my team.”
The tide was turning.
Phase 3: The Pivot to Leader (Days 61-90)
The final 30 days were about cementing my authority. My content was getting noticed. I was no longer just “Alex.” I was “Alex, the B2B voice guy.”
Now, I had to pivot from just being a “content creator” to being an “industry leader.”
Here’s how I did it:
- I Wrote a “Pillar” Article: I took my biggest, best idea and wrote a 1,500-word “ultimate guide” on my new blog (I just used Medium—it’s free). I poured everything I knew into it. Then, I shared it everywhere. This became the link I sent to anyone who asked, “What do you do?”
- I Offered to Help (Publicly): I made a LinkedIn post: “I’m offering three free 30-minute ‘Brand Voice Audits’ this week to the first 3 people who comment.” I got 15 comments in an hour. I did the three free calls, and two of those people asked me for freelance project quotes.
- The Inbound-Effect: This is when the magic happened. Around Day 80, I got a message from a VP at a fast-growing tech company. It didn’t say, “We have an opening, would you like to apply?” It said, “I’ve been following your posts for a month. I love your philosophy. We’re building a new team and I’d love to chat about what a role for you here might look like.”
Read that again. “A role for you.”
We had three “chats.” They weren’t interviews. They were strategy sessions. By Day 90, I had an offer in hand for a job that didn’t exist three months ago.
The 90-Day Takeaway
I didn’t get this job because of my resume. I got it because of my brand.
When you’re unemployed, it’s so easy to feel invisible. But the “job market” has changed. Companies are not just looking for a set of skills. They are looking for a perspective. They are looking for leaders.
You don’t need to wait for someone to give you a title. You can build your own.
My 90-day sprint was intense, but the formula is simple: Clarity > Content > Consistency.
If you’re feeling lost right now, stop updating your resume for the 100th time. Close that file. Open a new document and ask yourself:
What’s the one thing I know to be true that no one else is saying?
