Easily Improve Your Job Application
I have some experience on the other side of the application process, having been tasked with reviewing job applications and sorting CVs into “suitable” and “unsuitable”.
If you think the creative industry is super competitive because of how many people apply for jobs, I hope you’ll find this encouraging.
Here are three tips that anyone can do to increase their chances of success when applying for a job:
01 Include a CV
I’m not sure if people forget, or think they don’t need one.
Read your CV from the perspective of the person reviewing it. Is it relevant? Feel free to add a sentence or two explaining your CV in the email, if necessary. “After completing a degree in Journalism, I became interested in motion design. I’ve spent the last 6 months freelancing using primarily After Effects and Cinema 4D, and I’m now on the hunt for a full time role. This job particularly appeals to me because x, y and z.” This addresses the doubts of someone who thinks you really want to be a journalist and have applied by mistake(!)
02 Include a relevant showreel
At one agency, we turned away plenty of excellent hand-drawn, frame-by-frame character animators because we needed a motion designer.
The character animators’ work was good, but it wasn’t the work we needed; there would be at least a learning curve that didn’t exist for the motion designers, and a lot of their skills would be wasted.
03 Read the job application and do what it says
When the only question on the job ad is “Please confirm you are available for interviews on these dates.” failure to answer it is a bit of a red flag. A simple “I can confirm I am free on x, y, z dates” shows you have, at least, read the job ad.
Bonus tip, for when you land an interview: Show up
Unbelievably, despite junior level jobs being “very competitive” simply showing up to an interview will put you ahead of some people.
Misc Thoughts on Optimism vs Pessimism
A few months ago I saw someone who was looking for a very niche creative job and lamenting they had been looking for over 18 months, with no luck. Eventually, you have you be practical, and do the work that is out there.
One of my first freelance jobs was high paid but low creativity. The client even expressed a doubt I would be interested. But as a new freelancer, I’d have been mad not to take it - revenue from that job covered me for an entire month. You must be pragmatic and realistic.
Conversely, you also have to tune out the constant doom-and-gloom. Whenever I’ve been looking for a job there’s some crisis. The aftermath of the financial crash, Brexit (which turned out to not be a crisis at all), Covid, and recently whatever market slowdown is happening in 2023-2024. The news loves pessimism.
If you can’t tune it out, switch it off.
