Be mindful and get the job you want

From email to interview, how to not screw it all up

Alright, so you made yourself a great portfolio. Nicely done. Now it’s time to get it into the hands of someone who can hire you. As with anything, really, much of the advice here is subjective, partial to my own taste and preferences, and few might disagree with some of this advice.

Take all of this with a grain salt, as your potential employer may skew on either end of this spectrum. Use it as a guide and trust common sense to light your path.

Think of who you’re emailing.

If you know someone at the company, ask them for an intro. You’ve already drastically improved your chances of having your portfolio seen. If not, you’re going for the cold email.

Before you hit send, think about who will receive your email. Are you sending it to the person who you’ll be working for or a hiring manager? Chances are, if it’s that generic careers@ email, it’s probably the latter.

Make sure your email is addressed to reflect that. It may seem like a no-brainer, but getting the wrong addressee will immediately knock points off. Sometimes I get emails for my boss, which is understandable, but sets a weird tone for the rest of the email. Try to also avoid language that is non-inclusive, like “Hey, Dudes,” or “Hi, guys!” A simple “Hello!” or “Hey, This Also team” should suffice. “To whom it may concern,” is a bit formal and awkward, but not a deal-breaker.

Warning: Be wary of recycling emails for multiple jobs. It can be a pain to reformat your letter each time, but I assure you that whoever is reading your email can tell the difference between an original note and something you’re copying and pasting to multiple applications. It will also save you the brutal pain of accidentally addressing your letter to Gin Lane, when you’re actually applying to This Also. (True story.)

Keep it short.

At smaller shops, the hiring is usually done by everyone. Creative directors and designers go through all the applications and choose who they want to bring in for an interview.

One of the most helpful things a person can do when applying is keep their email short. But not too short. Send a thoughtful, considered email with a brief explanation of who you are and why you’re interested. Include why the company benefits from hiring you, relevant work and experience, and how to contact you. That’s it. We don’t need to know your experience in irrelevant industries or where you went on vacation last summer.

Additionally, even if your work is amazing, if all you’ve done is dropped a link in an email, we’re not going to get back to you. It shows that you lack the proper communication skills to work on a team. On the flip side, don’t send us an email with 30 links to various projects. Put your work into a portfolio and send an email with a single link or attachment.

Be on time.

If you’re already missing deadlines before we even hire you, don’t even bother. It sounds harsh, but this is your chance for a first impression and every detail counts. If we say internship applications close on August 5th, don’t send us an application on September 12th asking if we’re still taking applications.

The same applies for the interview. There’s a saying that goes: “If you’re five minutes early, you’re on time, on time is late, and if you’re late don’t even bother showing up.” I don’t have to explain why showing up late to an interview is a bad first impression. Showing up more than five minutes early is also not recommended, as you may end up sitting in a room alone while another meeting wraps up.

Be cool. But not too cool.

For most people you will meet in life, an entitled attitude tends to be a big turn-off. No matter how talented you are, don’t ask an employer to jump through hoops to have you on board. If you want to work there, apply. Also consider that if you do receive an offer, you’re going to be working alongside the same people you’re communicating with and they likely won’t forget if you acted out of line in your application.

Simultaneously, be aware of how you communicate your intentions. A poor choice of language can make you sound half-committed. When you say things like, “I am considering applying for a job at your studio,” it’s not clear whether you are applying or just thinking about it. No one wants to hire someone who is only half-heartedly interested in the role.

N.B.: Sometimes language barriers can make this really difficult, so if you’re not applying in your native tongue, putting that in at the top as a friendly note won’t hurt your chances. Being multilingual is always a bonus.

Don’t be cliché.

It is highly likely that your potential future employer has received job applications in the past and it’s likely they received something like this:

I am self motivated and am able to work remotely if need be. I also work great in teams and feel that my positivity rubs off on others. I am always open to hearing feedback and opinions about my work.

This is one of those aforementioned subjective topics, but cliché blanket statements about your work ethic are not very persuasive to me. It feels templated, with no unique identifier about you or the job you’re applying for. Beyond that, the two statements almost contradict each other and it tells me nothing about you. When you contextualize your skills with experience and remove the abstraction, it makes it a lot more powerful:

As an Art Director at Wolff Olins, I led branding projects on my own and was able to work remotely. When I worked at Spotify, I mainly worked on the product team and we worked on fast-paced collaborative sprints.

Be wary of the aggressive follow up.

Nothing makes me mutter under my breath at my computer more than poorly timed follow-up emails. Another one to take with a grain of salt, but a good unwritten rule is if you don’t hear back right away, wait at least a week. If you don’t hear back after that, wait two weeks. After that, don’t email again for another six months, and make sure you’ve got something new to share at that point — whether it’s a new project or professional update.

The key here is to not badger the employer. If they’re not getting back to you, it’s likely they’re not interested at this time. Go back into the world, grow, improve, then get back in touch. If you burn the bridge before even crossing over it, it likely won’t be there once you’re actually ready.

Language plays an important role here as well. Avoid follow up emails saying, “Just making sure you got it the first time.” Of course they got it. It’s 2016. Email works. Instead, try something more self-aware like, “I know how busy you probably are, but circling back on this because I am really excited by the idea of working together.” If you’re a great fit for the current needs of the company, you’ll probably get a response pretty quickly.

And once you lock down that interview…

The main goal of an interview for an employer is to learn more about you as a person. What are you like to talk to? Do you gel with the team? Don’t prepare a script and definitely be prepared to deviate from what they might ask you.

It can go in any direction — the most important part is that you be yourself.

For in person interviews, I generally want to discuss a bit about the work but really want to get into their passions and goals. What excites them about this world we are investing so much into? Where do they want to head? What projects do they have on the side or would love to learn/work on? I find so many people flounder in-person when steering conversation to these areas since it doesn’t follow their rehearsed presentation. I stay clear of the ‘Top 5’ type questions, since even I draw blanks on those. Ideally at least one item can start to unravel that thread and lead to some real insight into why they are where they are and what makes them tick. — Jonathan Burkett, Creative Director at Brooklyn United

This is your opportunity to show your personality and get a feel for the office culture. You’ll get to meet some of the people who work there and maybe get a tour. Eventually, it will be your turn to ask questions. Go in with a list of questions, from vague to specific. Showing that you care about how much of a fit it is for you as well, versus just trying to say what you need to get the job, leaves a good impression.

A few good questions to ask:

• Who are the stakeholders helping to drive design decisions?
• Do you have design documentation (branding, style guide, etc) and is it easy for people in the company to find this documentation?
• Can you describe your design review process?
• How are internal files and resources shared?
• How does mentorship work?
• Will I be put only on projects that align with my core skill-set or can I expand into areas I’m less familiar with?

Be yourself.

You might think this is cute, but it’s also absolutely true. Don’t pretend to be someone that you’re not, because even if you pull it off successfully, you’ll be forcing yourself into a role that might ultimately leave you unhappy.

Be ready to talk about what you’re passionate about, what you like to do outside of working, and what you bring to the table culturally. Don’t just regurgitate what you already see around the office and, instead, come at it from the angle that your unique qualities are what will make this place better. Good studios are hiring for diversity and showing what’s different that you can bring to the table is the best thing you can do.

Sebastian was an Associate Creative Director at This Also, a boutique creative studio based in Brooklyn, NY.

He’s now a Design Director at Nike.

A checklist for your email

1. Introduction
   Who you are, your current status, and role?
2. Why you’re interested
   What about the job excites you?
3. Why the employer should be interested in you
   What’s your experience or specialization?
4. Next steps, follow ups, timing, etc
   Are you going on vacation? Are you looking to start right away?
5. Gratitude
   Thank them for their time.
6. Contact info
   Signature, and your contact links.

Red Flags 🚩

1. Avoid having no link to your work
   Whether you don’t have a portfolio that’s ready, or you’re forgetting to include it in your email, this is a huge mistake. Always put a link to your work in your email or, alternatively, attach a PDF of your work.
2. Avoid using a PDF Cover letter.
   Just put the contents of this into the email. We don’t need to read two different letters. Some people send a PDF cover letter, and that’s the only place where they link to their website or portfolio.
3. Avoid many links in an email.
   The best way to tell a story about yourself, and direct people to your work, is to only have one link in your email. Take me somewhere, not everywhere.
4. Avoid a really long email.
   No one wants to spend 18 minutes reading your email, and then spending more time going through your work. Get me information about why you’re awesome as fast as possible.
5. Avoid offensive language.
   Don’t use sexist, racist or bigoted language. You’d think this was a given, but you’d be surprised. Also avoid microaggressions like calling yourself a “brogrammer.”
6. Avoid copying and pasting from other emails
   Sometimes your email editor will preserve the color from a previous email, and it’s really obvious that you’re reusing old emails when the meat and potatoes content is in green type. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it diminishes the appearance of effort.