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.