CHALLENGE TO JOB SEEKERS

This is an open letter to all job seekers. Make your cover letter stand out. I get hundreds of resumes every month and very few jump out at me. When they do, it is usually because of an exceptional cover letter.

I’d like to make a suggestion. Most cover letters are pretty boring/standard. If you want to catch my eye, find a way to make your application stand out and cut through the clutter. This is especially true when applying for a creative agency like Zapwater. The more over the top, the more likely I’ll want to meet with you.

Ten years ago, when I was moving to Chicago and looking for a job, I sent a pretty brazen cover letter to a few agencies in the Windy City. It read, Screw (insert big agency #1 here), (insert big agency #2 here) can kiss my butt, I want to work for you. I actually did name the agencies in the letter.

I sent out ten letters and had seven interviews. That's a pretty high batting average. Admittedly, some of the call backs were because they wanted to meet the guy who sent the crazy letter. But the point is that I got the interviews.

What am I trying to say? If you want to get this New Yorker's attention, give me a little WOW.

David Zapata