Not to continue my rant (see my post of March of last year), I’d rather like to see it as a very early 2009 update. I had an applicant post the following comment on, well, this very blog. It read like this:

Not to talk badly about anyone seeking a position at our wonderful firm, but it is just a rather strange way to try to do it publicly via a blog comment post. Especially if there is a typo involved.

On the contrary, and to set a great example, what a small personal touch like the logo-replica in html can do to stand out from the bunch:

In times like these it takes special attention to detail and I hope that we will see more of it this year. Time to go back to being grammatically accurate and polite in tonality, yet time to look ahead for new ways to create everlasting impressions like Job applicant two has done here. Eventhough we do not have an opening at this current moment in time, kudos goes out to you for the well crafted e-mail and the role model you might become for some looking for a job in ’09.

When I drove into Sedona, Arizona, one of my very favourite places to recharge, I was surprised to see the main road being completely redone to make it into a more congestion-preventive, cycling friendly and nicely integrated two way street. While driving to my hotel, I passed one of the larger – and more unique – souvenir places (Son Silver West Gallery) along the road – it happened to be on the side of the road that is hard to access since it is still under construction. I thought that, eventough better for business in years to come, they must see that inconvenience reflected in sales over Thanksgiving.

When I drove by again today, during business hours, it made me smile to see that there is always a reason why great businesses survive despite tough times: They understand the situation, analyze it, and come up with a solution that might, like in this case, be a bit out of the box.

We are looking for talent. High-caliber senior level design talent, and it is not an easy task. We spent over $500 on posting the job to some of the best industry sites and have received over 200 replies within 48 hours. I took on the task of reviewing the replies myself, I wanted to get a feel for the market. I taught a Portfolio class at Art Center College of Design last term, and I hold lectures to soon-to-be graduates about the ‘real world’, so I wanted to feel that world and also see if it has changed given the current economy crisis.

The shocking truth is that I had to delete 95% of all applicants based on everything BUT their talent. E-mails had crazy large attachments (28MB files anyone?), they started with the greeting of ‘Hey’, some did not have a url or any samples attached so there was not even a way to review work, but most had too many typos for comfort. One even managed to put in a ‘competitor’s’ company name in front of ours – he must have sent mass mailings out and screwed up when trying to personalize it.

How can professional designers who are in the market of creating corporate identities, not be aware that they themselves are a brand. And in these 95%, the brand loyalty has been lost even  before there was a chance given to gain it. Take a job market that is extremely competetive, an economy that is in the slump, a profession that seeks extreme perfectionists and pair it with the design generation that is applying and I start questioning not only the public school system, but some of the most respected, and pricey, private colleges. Change is needed, and I will be voicing it in every single class i will teach, and I will tell soon-to-be design graduates what they can NOT expect with such behaviour: A job.