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My brand Hotel Lobby is hiring a Director of Brand Marketing, and less than a week ago we posted the job on LinkedIn. At the time of this writing (Thursday night) we’ve received over 750 applications.

By Sunday, when I send this email, it could be close to 1,000.

I’m doing my best to read every one of them, and as I work through the stack, there are a lot of things I’ve noticed.

Before I get into it, a caveat: I’m not a recruiter. I’m not in HR. I’m not an expert. I’m a founder who’s currently trying to sift through an exorbitant number of resumes, and what follows are my observations.

You may agree, you may disagree, you may have gotten different advice from people who do this for a living. Feel free to take it with a grain of salt.

That said, I’ve hired for several other roles over the years, and a lot of what I’m about to share has rung true across most of those too.

The other thing I want to say before I dive in: the job market right now is genuinely hard. I know that.

If you’re applying to dozens of jobs and hearing nothing back... or if you’ve found what feels like the perfect role only to watch it disappear into a void with no feedback and no interview, I see you.

And I’ve been there.

You will find the right thing eventually, but I know that doesn’t make it feel any less brutal in the meantime.

I wish I could give personalized feedback to every single person who has applied for our role, and to every person currently in the trenches of a job search. But since that’s not realistic, I figured this list would be the next best thing.

1. 95% of applicants failed to read the entire job description.

I hate that I even need to mention this because I’m sure everyone here is highly intelligent, but in any event: as I’ve been fielding applications, it’s obvious who made it to the bottom of the job posting and who didn’t.

Ours included a short prompt asking applicants to email us directly with a few brands they think are killing it at marketing right now. Out of all the applications, about 50 people did that. (The responses to the marketing question were super interesting, but that’s a Substack for another day.)

To be clear, the prompt wasn’t a disqualifier and it wasn’t a must-have. I’ve found plenty of strong candidates through LinkedIn alone who I’d happily move forward with. But the email gave me a much better window into those 50 people who chose to follow the prompt than the LinkedIn application ever could.

So the TL;DR: consider applying on a job site and also sending an email. It gives another shot at making an impression.

2. I’m seeing a lot of delulu with no follow thru-thru.

No shade to the potato farmer who applied to be my new Director of Marketing, but if your experience doesn’t match what the job listing specifically says is needed, a one-click LinkedIn application ain’t gonna cut it, my guy.

There are likely 20 (or more) other people who do match the criteria, which means you’re inevitably going to get overlooked.

I would never fault anyone for shooting their shot. If you genuinely believe you’re the right person despite not having the exact experience, you need to make a case for yourself. Send an email with context.

The same goes for location. If the listing says “NYC preferred” (which is what ours says) and you live in Michigan, reach out and explain that you understand the preference but here’s why you’d still be the right choice.

That’s exactly what happened when I hired my now Art Director. I initially wanted someone in NYC (as this is where most of our shoots take place), but she proved that she was so perfect for the role, her location in Austin didn’t matter.

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3. (Almost) everyone is using AI as a crutch.

To be clear: I think using AI is incredibly important and I’m actually looking for someone who can leverage it to create efficiencies in their day-to-day work. But when the first impression someone gives a hiring manager is a blurb that sounds even slightly ChatGPT-coded, it’s concerning.

I can tell. Everyone can tell.

I’m all about using AI for research, for editing, as a sounding board, and as a way to help synthesize your thoughts. But I’d definitely be wary of leaning on it too much in this instance. The very-clearly-written-by-a-human emails I got were the ones that stood out most!

4. Are people still advising to regurgitate the job listing in outreach?!

This is related to the AI point but I felt like it deserved its own section.

In our job listing, it says we’re looking for someone to be “the connective tissue across all marketing channels” and “an entrepreneurial Type A creative who’s a left brain/right brain marketer with an elevated editorial eye.”

I can’t even tell you how many messages I got that said: “As an entrepreneurial Type A creative who’s a left brain right brain marketer with an elevated editorial eye, I’m the perfect person for this position.”

I shit you not.

I feel like this advice has been floating around for years—to mirror the language of the listing. Maybe that still works with AI systems at bigger companies. But when the person reading the applications is the same person who wrote the job description, it’s... not a great look.

I’d rather see an applicant just explain how they ARE those things. My journalism professors used to say “show, don’t tell,” which is exactly what I would recommend here. Give an example of how type A you are, but how you’re also a passionate creative.

5. If you’ve worked at companies that aren’t household names, add context.

I’ve seen a lot of resumes where someone lists impressive experience at a brand I’ve never heard of, with no link and no description. The first time it happened, I closed out of my email, opened a new browser tab, Googled the company, and then (because it was a common name) I had to try and figure out which of the eight similarly-named businesses was the one this person worked for.

By the 40th resume, I stopped doing that. And admittedly—I may have overlooked qualified candidates in the process, just because their company wasn’t one I was familiar with.

If you’re applying directly via email, I would definitely hyperlink the company name on your resume or include a quick line explaining what they do. i.e. “Scaled email subscribers from 5K to 50K at [Company], a DTC brand making baby formula for infants with dairy allergies.” Even that one tidbit would give me a bit more context.

Alternatively, call it out and bold it in the body of your email!

6. You can crucify me for saying this, but: ONE. PAGE. RESUME.

I know this is controversial. And I’ll add the caveat that this is based on my own experience reading resumes for this specific role: nothing on anyone’s second page has even remotely influenced me to move a candidate forward.

I’m looking for someone with ~5-8 years of relevant experience, so I’m paying close attention to the top 50% and then I’m doing a light scroll through the bottom half.

The nature of the role we’re hiring for involves a lot of current-day, digitally relevant marketing tools, systems, and strategies. The way someone ran marketing in 2017 looks very different from the way it has to be run it today. Older experience isn’t irrelevant, but the candidate who’s going to stand out is the one with the most relevant experience in their most recent one or two jobs.

Whenever possible, I’d suggest curating what matters most for the specific role you’re applying for, and putting the other jobs in one “Other Experience” section with a few bullets (if you choose to include them at all.)

7. Are 1-2 year stints the new norm?

This one is more of an insight than a rule. I’ve been surprised by how many people have had a laundry list of jobs, but the longest stint at any one company was 1-2 years.

And while that’s not inherently a bad thing (I know that moving out makes it easier to move up) it is something I’ve found myself personally grappling with when considering a candidate.

Ideally, I’m looking for someone who wants to grow with us as we grow; someone who wants to be in it with us for the long haul. I wouldn’t disqualify someone for having jumped around if they had the most relevant experience for the role, but it’s definitely a concern.

It’s also totally possible that the applicant has gained a lot of perspective from different companies, and is now looking for the place where they can stick around for the long run. That’s something that might be worth pointing out either in an application or interview.

8. If you’re a founder or consultant, explain why you’re applying.

A lot of people applying for this role currently run their own company or consultancy. That’s not a problem on its own, but I need to understand the situation.

Are you planning to stay a consultant? Are you trying to take me on as a client? Are you closing your business and pivoting to full-time because you want the stability?

Without that information I’m left guessing, and most hiring managers won’t take the time to ask. Tell me your story so I don’t have to wonder!

If you’re currently job hunting, my hope in sharing all of this is to either:

A) Give you the confidence that you’ve been doing the right thing and your time is coming soon

B) Give you a different perspective that might encourage you to rethink the way you’ve been approaching applications.

Also, one last thing: if you’re applying for a role and you’re concerned about your application getting lost, put yourself in the position of the person hiring. Is there anything outside-the-box you could do to make yourself stand out? If you were the hiring manager and 700 resumes landed in your inbox, what would make you stop and look twice?

Approximately 1 million years ago when I was applying for magazine internships (and even some jobs later in my editorial career) I would always do something a little extra to try and stand out.

Every time I had an in-person interview (which was invariably at the Hearst or Conde Nast building) I packed a blank Thank You note in my bag. Right after the interview, I would go to a coffee shop next door and write a thank-you note referencing something specific we discussed in the interview.

Then, I’d walk back into the building and hand the note to the mailroom/front desk/etc. and ask to have it delivered to the person’s floor and office. It was my signature move. And it worked like a charm.

Just some food for thought. Getting attention is the first step!

If you have advice/wisdom/tips to share—or unconventional ways that you’ve landed a job in the past—drop them in the comments. I’d love to start a dialogue here to help eachother get a leg up.

I posted a job a week ago. 750+ people applied.

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