This Job is Not For You

Came across yet another one of those 'offbeat and quirky job adverts/application processes' yesterday, this one from the folks at UK Ad Agency SELL!SELL!

Titled  'This Job is Not For You', the application form for the position, a junior level role in account/project management, asks candidates to answer questions like, 'Who's the best, Batman or Colonel Oliver North? Why?', and asks them to 'Post a video of yourself telling a joke on YouTube and share the link (can be private) here'.

The application form is below, and is also posted here.

These kinds of unusual application processes and job descriptions are starting to get more common, especially in creative fields like advertising, design, or even marketing; and I suppose really are not all that newsworthy anymore. But what I liked about this advertisement and application process is its explicit focus on why candidates would not be right for the job and how it focuses prospective applicants that were not going to be a good fit for the position to really challenge themselves to consider self-screening out.

Most typical and boring job advertisements for similar roles across organizations read kind of the same; an Administrative Assistant position at Company 'A' reads exactly the same as a similar role at Company 'B'.  But the myriad of other factors that would make a qualified candidate a better 'fit' at one firm versus the other are normally not even hinted at, much less explicitly communicated.

Sure, a phone screen or in-person interview might shed light on these culture and style issues, and be reasonably effective at weeding out candidates that are not a good match culturally for the organization, but the unusual method of communication and atypical format of the job application like the one above from Sell!Sell! would provide an efficient pre-screening filter for applicants.  

I know what you are thinking, these kinds of crazy application processes and offbeat blog postings that encourage candidates not to apply might work for a boutique, creative ad agency, but for my staid and traditional firm they would never fly. I need to roll out the fully approved and vetted (and incredibly boring) job description to my online ad, and make sure I require the same resume, cover letter, and list of references from every applicant, (who all have been well-coached to not submit anything at all 'unsafe' or potentially interesting, lest they stand out from the pack too much).

The end result, often, is a stack of barely distinguishable candidate packages that don't do all that much to offer any insight to the candidate's likelihood to be a good match to your organizational culture.

Unless of course your 'culture' is centered on plainness and looking like every other competitor, then almost all in your pack of candidates will seem like a fit.

Happy Weekend!

Note - I know the application form above asks for videos, pictures, etc.; the kind of things that at least in the US can get you into trouble, I am not advocating that companies do anything that runs afoul of laws and regulations around EEO. So there.

Made by cows

This image that I spotted on the excellent Delicious Industries site the other day definitely made me chuckle. It is amusing, well-designed, memorable, and frankly just really cool. Certainly all qualities that can often be lacking in advertising today. I gather the copy writer and artist were trying to emphasize the wholesomeness and adherence to the dairy company’s commitment to quality and freshness. Other images in the series of spots illustrate the cow driving a farm tractor and churning the butter (although I imagine the lack of opposable thumbs would make that feat kind of tricky).

But after thinking about the images a bit more, I think there is a larger, more general message as well. That is without the cows who provide the essential raw materials for the dairy’s products, then well, there are no products. Sure, farmers look after the cows health and well-being, engineers design systems and machinery to efficiently collect the raw milk and then process it accordingly, and a small army of marketers, salespeople, logistics pros, accountants, HR folks, and all kinds of others move in and around the process making sure the raw milk turns in to end products, the products are packaged, sold, shipped, counted up, paid for, and that the people involved in the process are also paid, trained, and otherwise looked after.

More and more companies, and consequently increasingly numbers of jobs don’t actually involve making anything tangible like butter or cheese. So the intangible end products and services then must have intangible raw materials as well. The ideas, insights, and eureka moments that can improve, alter, redefine, or reinvent the product or process or simply the way that the all the support people in the organization go about their work, these are the new raw materials, the raw milk if you will of the new enterprise. In the butter making business, acquiring the raw milk really isn’t the hard part, sure capital and some expertise is required, but for the most part the getting the right cows pretty much guarantees a steady supply of raw materials. After a while the business success and survival depends almost totally on what happens after the raw materials arrive. The super stars of the organization often were the ones farthest remove from where the raw milk was produced and came in the door.

Now success, and the people that might be the most valuable contributors to that success are the ones that provide the raw materials. The ideas. The breakthroughs. It used to be a pretty lousy position to be in, to be strapped to a milking machine a few times a day. Now, if you are someone that can consistently produce the raw materials of the enterprise, you are in a really prime position.

So which one are you? A cow, or someone who looks after the cows?

Shirt Sponsorships

Why don't American professional sports franchises in the 'major' sports (NFL, NBA, MLB) enter into lucrative jersey sponsorship deals as is common in the rest of the world?

English top-level soccer clubs command as much as $30M per year for such arrangements.

It can't truly be some sort of argument for the 'purity' of the games, every other aspect of the presentation and broadcast of the games themselves is 'sponsored' already.  Next Sunday's Super Bowl game will be played in 'Sun Life Stadium'. And no, 'Sun Life' is not a reference to Miami's carefree, sun-filled lifestyle, it is named for Sun Life Financial corporation, a large financial services company.

Advertising is plastered on most available surfaces in stadiums already, and on television broadcasts everything from timeouts, in-game statistical graphics, and the pre-game, halftime, and post-game shows are all 'brought to you by' some (insert from the following, beer, insurance, male impotency drug) company.

But for some reason, corporate sponsorships on the jerseys/uniforms themselves are still resisted, I think mostly from the notion that corporate logos on the players is just too much commercialism encroaching on the sanctity (ahem) of the competition.

To me it is both hypocritical and silly.

Organizations could benefit from the exposure and if they choose the right club; the association with success, or even a team's reputation for a  particular style of play.  In the NBA, a team like the San Antonio Spurs that are known for attention to detail, strong leadership, team play, and excellence would be a good fit for a precision manufacturing firm, or perhaps an accounting and audit services group. Maybe Intel or IBM would be a good fit.

The Los Angeles Clippers, who have a legacy of bad luck, poor management, and unfortunate player injuries, might be a good fit for a personal injury law firm, hospital, or insurance company.  I could see the Aflac Duck adorning the Clips' jerseys.

The funny thing is shirt sponsorships are common in American youth sports, most every kids soccer, baseball, or hockey team has a local shirt sponsor.  The chief function seems to be to the right to post the framed team picture on the wall at the end of the season. 

And when the partnership between the sponsoring corporation and the team is a perfect match, it can strengthen both parties and reinforce their brands.  

It worked for the Bad News Bears right?

So what team would you like to see your organization's name on?