Here are eight modern tips on landing a job from today’s Public Relations Society of America Silicon Valley chapter Friday Forum event speakers. This advice can be applied to sales pitches and deal closing as well.

1. Write well.  
2. Make sure you present well in Zoom, Cisco WebEx or Microsoft Team meetings. For example, maybe your room background is messy or you have a nervous tic. This could hurt your chances of landing the job, getting the consulting gig or making the sale.
3. Demonstrate an emotional quotient or EQ during the interview. Speakers said they can tell how someone will be in a job by email communication and the first minute of an interview. This applies to sales as well. People buy solutions from folks they get along with.
4. Ask an internal reference to back you. If you are applying for a job at IBM, HP, or Google, find a friend at one of those companies to put in a good word for you. The person who hired me at IBM had hired me at a PR agency a couple years prior: She was the hiring manager and my internal reference.
5. Be a hustler! Follow up. Send a note after each interview.
6. Unique avenues to success garner attention. An example is not getting into University of California Berkeley right away but instead transferring from community college.
7. Don’t over follow up. A candidate for a PR job called nine times one morning. This was overkill. As previously stated, this applies to selling. Therefore, be a hustler without being creepy when following up after a sales call or job interview.
8. Try something old school like a snail mail note. This actually may be the most modern tip on the list because most people don’t do this, therefore a handwritten note or card would stand out. Be aware that the hiring manager is likely working at home.

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Michelle McIntyre is an award winning Silicon Valley PR consultant, IBM vet, and a ranked future of work influencer with a half a million impressions on Quora. The moderators and speakers at the PRSA-SV Friday Forum event referenced in this story were Vanessa Yanez, Ellie Javadi, Brooke Kruger and Kathleen Shanahan, all public relations and image professionals with hiring experience.