Today’s competitive job market is causing the emerging generation to think outside of the box in order to get recognized – and to ultimately land their dream job. This was the case with UCF Alumni, Matthew Epstein. You may already know him through his “Google Please Hire Me” video resume, which went completely viral on YouTube; if you haven’t heard of him, you can go to www.googlepleasehire.me to watch it for yourself – I promise it’s worth your time.
Matthew knew he wanted to work for Google and was determined to find a way to catch their attention! After launching his video resume, what he “caught” was a ton of publicity…and a job! I got the pleasure of asking The Man with the Mustache himself a series of questions about his journey. Read on to find out where he landed his dream job and get some first-hand advice from a fellow Knight!
Q: What did you major in at UCF?
A: I majored in Advertising & PR and minored in marketing.
Q: How was your overall UCF experience?
A: Personally, I’m not a fan of college in general. I’m an experiential learner. Text book learning has never done much for me.
Luckily I was fortunate enough to have Bob Davis, Frank Stansbury and Joan McCain as my professors. Their passion for advertising, marketing and PR really got me excited to go to class and learn.
Q: Where did you get the idea of making a video resume? How did you decide what humor to include?
A: The video resume idea stemmed from my own ADD. Personally, I don’t have the attention span to read anything longer than three sentences. I figured resumes were already boring enough, if the campaign was built on anything other than a video it would be destined to fail.
There’s definitely a fine line between humor and bad taste. Taking off my pants was “risqué” in terms of job applications, but in the bigger picture seeing a man in shorts isn’t much different than going to the beach.
As far as the mustache and Barney Stinson look, those were just two elements I felt were viral. Plus, who doesn’t love a nice thick mustache?
Q: What exactly is your dream job?
A: After 30+ interviews NO ONE has asked me that question, which is funny considering the fact this whole thing was about landing my dream job. My dream job is more or less what I’m doing now – developing and leading marketing for a disruptive technology startup.
For me, these are the four things I need in a job to consider it my “dream” job.
1) I’m marketing a technology product that is web focused.
2) I’m able to make an impact on the company (I’m not a small fish in a big pond)
3) I get to pursue and execute my ideas (no creative limitations – big brands very rarely allow you to explore outside the box strategies)
4) I’m always the dumbest person in the room (working with people smarter than yourself makes you step your own game up)
Q: Did you end up getting hired by Google?
A: Unfortunately Google ended up passing on an offer. I did receive offers from several big tech companies, but ultimately I chose a start-up out in San Francisco named SigFig (www.sigfig.com)
SigFig has the same three “dream-job” qualities I looked for in Google. They have a great team that I can learn immensely from, they have a product I’m passionate about and most importantly the product itself has the potential to impact millions of people’s lives in a very positive way. I joined because I believe in the product and their business model, but I also joined because of what they’re fighting for – bringing transparency to the investment world. I really can’t wait for SigFig to launch so I can show and tell you all how that new level of transparency will help everyone from new investors to seasoned investors invest better.
Q: Did you get a lot of job interviews/offers from other companies after they saw your video resume?
A: I sure did. Two days after launching my campaign I got 40 interview requests. I received another 40 two days later. After the dust settled I had interviewed with Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Salesforce and several other companies.
Q: Did you think the video would be such a hit?
A: I was convinced I’d get Google’s attention and maybe even some blog coverage, but I never imagined my video would have received nearly 1,000,000 views and press coverage in Taiwan, Japan, Brazil along among dozens of other countries.
The most surprising part was the thousands of e-mails I received from complete strangers giving me praise and words of encouragement. It was definitely a humbling experience J
Q: You really like that mustache, don’t you? :)
A: I like it as much as the ladies do :)
Q: What kind of advice would you give current undergrads about the job application process?
A: Always remember your resume is read by people, not a machine. I’ve received a ton of e-mail from recruiters commending me for applying in an alternative manner. The fact of the matter is that the people reading your resume are just like you. They like to be entertained, wowed, intrigued, mystified, etc. Before you submit your job applications (or whatever else you’re doing to apply) remember to think to yourself “would this catch my attention’” or “would this interest me?” If the answer is no then you probably need to go back to the drawing board.
Q: How important is online marketing and social media in the job industry?
A: Right now I think it’s a relatively small player, more or so because we haven’t culturally adopted it as a primary means of applying for a job. I definitely believe without a shadow of a doubt that it will soon be the new norm to do things like my Google campaign.
Q: How can Marketing majors effectively build their resume while still in college?
A: A lot of college kids who are just graduating and even a lot of people who have held a job for a few years either don’t have good portfolio pieces or don’t have a large quantity of portfolio to show recruiters. For those of you depending on your job to build portfolio pieces STOP WAITING. A portfolio piece is simply an example of what it is you’re capable of. Why do you need to wait for a project at work to create a great project that can serve as a portfolio piece? If you’re someone who doesn’t have a strong portfolio (like I was when I graduated college) use your weekends or time after to create portfolio pieces that you’re proud of. If you manage to capture a recruiter’s attention with your creative application you’re going to have to prove you’re not a one-trick pony so be sure to have portfolio pieces ready!
Q: Where do you hope to see yourself in 10 years?
A: Living on the coast of France and married to Natalie Portman.
Q: Any other words of advice you would like to give your fellow Knights?
A:“U Can’t Finish” isn’t bulls!@* :) Go Knights!
So remember – there are a ton of other people who may have the same “dream job” as you do. If you want to get there, you need to be creative and MAKE yourself stand out!
Be sure to follow Matthew Epstein on Twitter (@metweetz)!