What a good job application looks like #1

Making an impact with your job application is hard. With no idea who you are up against, you have to make your application stand out. In this blog series, I am sharing some of the best job applications I have received. These applications stood out by being different - showing personality, an understanding of the job and a desire to work at this company. So have a read - get inspired, get creative, and get your applications in, confident in the knowledge that you’ll get a call back. Example of a great job application: #1 Job Title: Mobile App Developer Candidate: Sam Stone Application Method: Sam sent this email directly, along with his CV: "Hi there, I have been developing for iOS for just over a year now (published my first Medium post about that recently actually), and I have two personal apps on the App Store. One of them - Ring of Fire - a drinking game I made at the end of Uni (always mixed reactions to that one!) and the other is a custom keyboard for posting Kanye West quotes and GIFs called ‘YeBoard. Most people find that one utterly bizarre - and so do I honestly - but it was reasonably successful in its only little way. It was featured on Vibe Magazine, HipHopDX and HotNewHipHop. My favourite comment to this is “If anyone texted me using this I’d block their number.” With my previous company, we worked on a suite of about 9 applications. 3 of which I have gone through the full lifecycle with. Our apps are a bit unique in which that all incorporate the Unity game engine to show off 3D models of various products. We worked with with some big global brands developing their mobile apps. I took part in Hack Manchester in October and I went to iOS Dev UK in Wales earlier this year. In terms of web development I’ve done a reasonable amount of projects over the years. I’d say I’m much more familiar with iOS, but I can absolutely handle myself around a web project. A few of my recent projects include some development for the charity Alopecia UK called My Alopecia Journey which allows users to create a timeline of their journey with Alopecia that looks a little something like this. I’m also currently mid-way through a redesign of a website for a wood veneer company, which is being completed this month. This can be found here but because its being actively worked on, it may not function as you’d expect when you visit it. Both of these make use of Facebook’s Parse data storage, PHP and the veneer site makes use of Bootstrap. I also have a startup background. In May of last year, a friend and I went about starting Loot Bank and we went on to raise our first round of funding in the London startup world. I have since left the company (the other co-founder is continuing with it), but I’ve been itching to get back into a startup scene. Look forward to catching up, please find my CV attached" Why it was a good application: 🌟 In the first sentence, Sam has shown his credibility as an App developer. The fact that he has created a Medium post shows he is not just doing this to cover the bills - he is passionate about what he does. This is confirmed further down the email - he takes part in hacks in his own time, even travelling to Wales to attend a conference! 🌟 Also in the first sentence are examples of his apps. I can see straight away (even from a non-technical point of view) that they are of a good standard. The design is clean, they work on both iPhone and iPad, and the ratings are good. 🌟 In the first paragraph, you get a sense of Sam's humour, which is highly valued at start-ups! 🌟 Sam goes on to show his web development - meaning he would fit our team of T shaped developers 🌟 He also includes that he has a start-up background, having been a co-founder of a start up in London, and after checking out the website of Loot Bank, it looks very clean, modern, and makes me think Sam would fit right in with Bright HR. So - Sam's application was different, and got him the interview, which got him a second interview, which got him the job. It's amazing how much of a difference a good job application can make!

If you want to keep up to date with Sam and what he is working on, follow him on twitter - @Stonesam92. If you want to join Sam and the mobile team at Bright HR, check out our current vacancies at brighthr.com/careers