Hats off to Matthew O. Waters of Doylestown, Pa. Matt read my blog about the dearth of hand-written
letters from Gen X and Gen Y job seekers and, yes Virginia, sent me a lengthy, handwritten note with his resume.
Good for you, Matt. You’ve not only differentiated yourself, you’ve gotten a blog written about your iconoclastic ways.
Matt’s a University of Vermont graduate who’s seen me speak and visited Peppercom’s office in Manhattan. That arguably gives him an advantage over, say, your average Drew University student. But, Matt took his game to a new level by writing to me about himself, his grandfather and his desire to work for Peppercom. His approach would have been commonplace in 1978. In 2008, it’s downright revolutionary.
So, Matt, rest assured I will not only forward your materials to the appropriate people, I will also guarantee an interview if you can make your way to the Big Apple. After that, though, it’s up to you.
It’s nice to know people like Matthew O. Waters do exist. They do listen. And, they do do the right things to differentiate themselves and begin building their own brands. It’s enough to make a jaded, middle-aged blogger stop and smell the roses.
Interesting post. I used it as a jumping off point for a post of my own. Steve, hope all is well.
Brian (Jackson Spalding)
http://www.athensinbox.com/2008/04/communications-advice-for-job-seekers.html
Great points, Paul. Heads-up to any college kids reading this. The personal touch makes a huge difference.
It goes without saying that the art of writing a handcrafted letter in the email age has fallen by the wayside. I, too, long for the days of well-thought out notes. It is interesting, however, when I don’t receive an email right away from an interview candidate, I wonder if I will receive a handwritten one. The people that have stood out to me are the ones that either Fed Ex’d their handwritten note or stopped by later that day or the next morning and dropped the note at the front desk. To me, that shows initiative, also a lost art form, with today’s entitlement generation.
Thanks Steve, I think this is the first time I’ve been written about on a blog.
I thought that was “Blue University”, Steve. Someone used to call it that. Name’s on the tip of my tongue.