How not to apply to a creative job: DUH edition

I’ve recently found myself on the other side of the search for employment—checking out prospectives. It’s amazing to me with the amount of information available on the internets that people still make such huge, majorly dumb mistakes when applying for jobs. Or are just so incredibly lazy when the job market is still as stagnant as it is (I keep hearing about recovery, but haven’t really seen any evidence for myself, so I refuse to believe it until I do. Until then, I equate it with the believability level of the Easter Bunny). Here are a few pointers for recent grads looking for employment in the creative field:

1.) Don’t apply for something that requires years more experience than you have. For example, if you’re still in grad school or have a degree in something unrelated to the position you’re applying for—don’t apply to a senior position thinking that’s how you’ll “break into” the field. You will look like a moron and you will waste the prospective employers’ time—something no one appreciates.

2.) Common sense: if you’re applying for a creative position, DO NOT SUBMIT A WORD RESUME. This really shouldn’t even have to be stated, but for obvious reasons, a Word resume makes you look inexperienced. Fonts change, line breaks are terrible, not to mention Word is aggravating. Design your resume so that it’s clean and readable. Don’t make looking at it any more work than it has to be. And if you’re worried that the employer can’t open a PDF, then they have yet to enter this century and you wouldn’t want to work for them anyway.

3.) Don’t write a book for your resume. Keep it short and simple. In the creative field, this is a bit different than others. Let your work speak for itself, and if the employer wants to know more about your responsibilities, they will ask. Nothing is more annoying than someone bragging in three paragraphs about their job at Big Hotshot Agency.

4.) Take the time to know who you are writing your cover letter or email to. Usually, this takes a full thirty second perusal of the employer’s site. You can also search for jsmith@blahblahblah.com if you think you might know the person’s email but can’t find it on the website. Sometimes people are wily with their contact information, but show that you care. Do the research. Certainly don’t address it “To whom it may concern” or “Dear J. Smith”—you’ll again look like a lazy idiot, especially if the information is readily available.

5.) Use proper punctuation in your email. Even though email is usually considered a less formal mode of communication, when you are applying to a job, err on the side of being grammatically proper. Just because you like to type in lowercase on Facebook does not mean you should do the same in your email. “i have a lot of experience in the creative field. please take a look at my work samples.” No.

6.) It’s good to have an attention-grabbing cover letter that isn’t what an employer might expect, but you can’t make it too weird. I know it’s a fine line to walk, but ask a friend to read over your cover letter if you’re going for the funny/unexpected angle, just to make sure other people are reading it in the way you intend it to be read. Also, make sure to tailor your cover letter to that particular employer as much as you can. It’s pretty easy to tell when people use a canned email to send out mass job applications, and it won’t do you any favors.

7.) Have a portfolio site. Whether that’s your own site or Coroflot/AIGA or Carbonmade, have samples of your work online. Also, if you have your own site, make sure that it works. Make sure that you have work on it, and not just a landing page. Otherwise, you’re again wasting your prospective employer’s time. If you don’t have an online presence, you won’t be taken seriously.

8.) Make sure you direct the recipient of your application to your portfolio site or at least send a PDF of examples. If you’re applying for a creative position without work to back it up, you’re automatically in the trash pile. An employer is not going to take the time to email you back and ask for samples when there are plenty of people who have already sent examples of their work in.

9.) If you do send a PDF of work samples, make sure the resolution doesn’t suck. Make sure it is well designed and organized and doesn’t make people want to stab their eyes out with forks.

There you have it. I can’t guarantee this will get anyone a job, but it should get you through the initial rounds of “This person is clearly a total idiot and has no chance at this job.” Hey, it’s a start, right? You can thank me later.

Running a ten mile race without DYING!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I entered to run the 2010 Broad Street Race in Philly. Originally, my sister urged me into signing up for the race so that we could do it together. But then she waited until mid-April to register, and lo and behold, the registration had been capped—at a mere 30,000 people. So I ended up running the race by myself, and an amazing experience it was indeed. I realized after completing the race that this is the first time ever in my 27 years that I have ever done something athletically competitive. In my youth, I dropped out of ballet when I found out we had to participate in recitals. I quit the swim team because I was so nervous about competing in a swim meet. I never played softball with my sister for fear I’d be terrible. And I threatened to join the high school cross country team, but never did. Yup, I was a big old chicken (rightfully so—I was really never the athletic type). Training for and completing a ten mile run was a really fun experience. (Ok, so maybe the shin splints I’ve picked up along the way weren’t so much fun, but aside from them, yes, fun).

The morning started out at the ass-crack-o-dawn. I had to be on the Broad Street Line to the starting point by 6:30. Worried about traffic, Scott and I got up at 4:30 am to leave the house by 5. Of course, there was no traffic and we rolled into the Wachovia Center lot at 5:41 am. I hopped on the train, despite my fear of getting lost on public transportation, I assured myself that the herd method and the fact that the Broad Street Express made only two stops would idiot-proof my ride. I was right. I followed the rest of the runners to the starting line. The only problem then was that I was more than two hours early for the race. Which meant two things: 1) that I had plenty of time to sit around and get nervous and 2) that I had plenty of time to sit around and wonder if I should visit the porta potty again. (For the record, I made three visits…I blame having nothing else to do).

Porta potties galore!

The race started at 8:30, but I was in the yellow corral. Yellow corral = faster than the pink corral, but slower than everyone else. So I didn’t actually start running until just after 9 am. Also, did I mention that the high temperature for the day was 90 degrees? It was a bit steamy, but the city of Philadelphia made sure to have fire hydrants on to spray the runners. There was also a nice breeze and running in the shade of the buildings was a huge help.

Yellow Corral: Hell No We Ain't The Slowest!

I think the coolest thing was seeing the joe schmoes of Philadelphia come out and cheer us on. It really was an awesome feeling, and there was such a sense of camraderie and love (ok, maybe that was my running endorphins kicking in, but I don’t care). It helped me get through those tough miles (all ten of them—just kidding). I think the first five miles were probably the toughest, and then I just went into autopilot once I hit City Hall, which was a bit past the five mile mark.

City Hall, halfway to the finish!

Loving on the enthusiastic spectators

At some point, I began looking for my delinquent sister, who said she’d come cheer me on. I searched the crowd until I stepped in a pothole and narrowly avoided twisting my ankle. At that point, I decided to just concentrate on the road, avoiding potholes and leftover water cups that had been strewn about. Later on, I learned that my sister had, in fact, seen me—and she also chased me down Broad Street, screaming and yelling at me, to get my picture! I had no idea whatsoever.

"IN THE ZONE" (apparently)

Water cup cleanup crew

Towards the end of the race, there was a lady yelling through a megaphone that we only had 1.5 miles left. THANK GOD! I became a running machine and just kept going, a la Forrest Gump. We ran into the Navy Yard, where the finish was .25 miles inside the gate. A few days after the race, my coworker (who had also run the race) commented on how cool it was to see the ships in the Navy Yard. Ships? There were ships? Yes, apparently there were large war vessels looming over me, and I had no idea. I was just that focused on finishing (and not stepping in a pothole). Running across the finish line, waving like a tool at the photographers, was euphoric. It was so cool to accomplish something like a ten mile race, especially never having remotely done anything like that before in my life. I felt a bit like the Phanatic, but I was really glad to not be one of the poor people suffering from heat exhaustion.

Done!

Now I’m thinking about doing the Philly half marathon…. Hmmmm…. HMMMMM…. HMMMMMM????

(All photos, except the ones of me, are from Independence Blue Cross’ Flickr)

23rd & 5th on the road to world domination

A new whizbang hotshot design agency in Wilmington, Delaware that I am “affiliated” with has been growing in leaps and bounds. Introducing 23rd & 5th!

The website is up and running, and business cards have been printed (by Two Paperdolls). Not only has Brad, 23rd & 5th’s fearless leader, been passing out the business cards like crazy, he managed to get them featured on Business Card Observer! Hooray!

I might be a bit biased, but I’m pretty sure that 23rd & 5th is poised to take over the second smallest state, then the east coast, then the country, and then probably the world.