In the cutthroat environment of job searching, it’s often those who put in a little bit of extra effort that land the job.

For example, take my one friend, a copywriter: he rewrote a company’s handbook. Another friend, a social media manager, turned a Facebook page into her CV.

And there you thought you were clever.

But then Chase Zreet took things one step further.

Of all the things in the world, Zreet wanted to work on the Sprite account at Wieden+Kennedy, so he decided to do things differently.

Instead of submitting a traditional cover letter, he submitted a three-minute music video rapping about his love for Sprite, reports Mashable:

In the music video, titled “Cover Letter,” Zreet rode through Dallas, Texas in a Sprite-themed costume. He alternated between green and yellow suits, complete with a gold chain adorned with a lemon and a lime.

In an interview with Adweek, Zreet said “the idea for a rap came and was just one of those things that wouldn’t shut up.”

W+K creative director Jimm Lasser said the video stood out because “there’s too much emphasis put on portfolios, and not enough on the creative enthusiasm of a candidate.” He told Adweek that Zreet had demonstrated a “mastery of Sprite’s brand color palette.”

And it worked: Zreet starts at W+K in April. He’s not sure if he’ll be on the Sprite team but he’s “excited to be heading to NYC.”

If you like Vince Staples, you’re going to love what Zreet has to offer:

New favourite song? Damn straight.

A new standard for job applications? We wouldn’t go that far.

It’s pretty obvious that not every job requires the applicant to be that creative, and not every company that’s creative wants the effort.

So, if your CV is slightly more, err, serious, perhaps you should take a chance and submit it for one of ManpowerGroup SA’s listings.

No matter what, be confident – you got this!

[source:mashable]