Job Hunt: The Update

An open letter to Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis Architects,

Dear LTL Architects,

I would like to take a moment to sincerely thank you. It may not have seemed like much - sending a postcard, notifying me that you had, indeed, received my resume package. But, the fact that you took the time to send it is worth noting, because you were the only firm to do so.

As a relative nobody in this vast pool of potential hires, your firm did what none has - acknowledge my existence. That is right. In the thirty firms I have contacted since the first of October, your firm was the only one to respond in kind. There were four others who did, eventually, return emails, (which was my only forum for communication, as each firm I contacted posted a “no phone calls please” clause), but your firm was the only firm to provide unsolicited recognition of my interest.

It is a small thing, perhaps, to others, this postcard, which you likely have pre-prepared for just such occasions. But to the individual waiting, an insecure suitor hoping for a return of their affection, it is something to hold on to, something to provide (perhaps false) hope of a potential future together.

The reality may be that, upon receiving my package, no one really looked at it. Or, that, if someone did review it, they laughed condescendingly at the samples included. Perhaps it was passed around the office for the rest of the ivy-league grads to mock, a good joke to break up a morning of phone calls to clients and contractors. Whatever the case may be, the simple fact is this, you sent something back. And, if nothing else, it makes me feel like my effort wasn’t made in vain.

So I thank your firm for doing something that the rest of the profession has failed to do. When I was at school, in professional practice class, speakers continually emphasized the importance of communication, of networking, of maintaining relationships. And yet, through the process our profession implements to attract new employees, most professionals seem to do everything but. Potential hires are ignored, made to feel insignificant, foolish, worthless. It is no wonder why the jaded architecture graduate is such a common character.

The actions of your firm stand out from the rest, and for that, I think you should be commended. You made the process seem, well, personal. You made me feel like I had, indeed, made contact. And that is a good feeling. Especially when, everywhere else I turn, I have found nothing.

Amazing what a postcard, and 24 cents, can do, isn’t it?

Sincerely,

This Silent Observer

P.S. Your postcard only reinforced why I wish to work for you. Thanks for rubbing it in.