Creatively Getting Noticed

Ever since the summer of my freshman year of college when I was searching for my first co-op job in Boston, I wanted to work for the Mass Bay Brewing Company (which manufactures Harpoon). Each co-op semester, I would search their site and look to see if any openings were available for interns. Of those times that an availability was there, it seemed as though my timing was off, and I had already accepted a position at another company.

Over the years, I’ve supported their brand, attended some of their customer events, toured their brewery, followed them via social media, and almost religiously checked their website for any job openings that I would be a good fit for. Last month (or thereabouts), I made the decision that I needed a new challenge in my work life, and wanted to move closer to friends and family in the Northeast. I decided that moving back to Boston was where I was going to make that happen.

So I made a list of all the companies in the Boston area that I admired and would like to work for. How would I get them to notice me? How would I get them to even look at my resume?

It hit me one night while I was sipping a Harpoon I.P.A: why not replicate their 3″x3″ I.P.A. label into a 24″ square poster? The photo (above) is my finished product (designed in Adobe Illustrator), and last Friday I shipped it off (along with my resume) to three individuals within their Marketing and Creative departments.

The “bar code” in the lower right corner of the poster is actually my cover letter.

Update: It seems that someone who got one of the posters checked out my site on Monday afternoon! Mission accomplished- to a point- my shipments reached the right people, and the right people noticed. They even took a few moments to get to know a little bit about me. (Isn’t this the goal of any marketing campaign- to get your “customer” to notice you and make that first move toward a “sale”?)