Spring is upon us, and that means two things— thousands of hopeful graduates are applying for dream first jobs, while even more students are looking to secure that all-important internship or work placement.
But how do you stand out from the crowd, when the crowd is so big?
At Smoking Gun we’ve received enough CVs and covering letters to know what gets people noticed, and quite often it comes down to  some good old fashioned creative thinking— the backbone of our team. Here are some of the best examples to showcase exactly what can be achieved with a confidence, and a great imagination.
 
Dear Valve

Erin Vondrak wanted to work at Valve, a company that makes video games. The job requires skills in art, animation and writing, and so that’s what she combined in order to get the prospective employer’s attention.
 
Unabashed entrepreneur

Mark Leruste’s approach to making a video CV comes packed with plenty of wit and clever thinking, but it also places the focus firmly on his core skills and experience. The result is we’re both entertained and informed with hard facts, which isn’t easy to pull off.
 
Wear the brand

Chase Zreet recently landed his dream job working for the ad agency in charge of Sprite’s US commercials by sending a rap music video covering letter. Plus points include incredible attention to detail in terms of costume and mise en scene, with core brand colours used throughout, not to mention lyrics explaining why he’s the man for the job.
 
You, as product

Philippe Dubost was applying for a web product manager role. So he created a fake Amazon-inspired page, allowing recipients to learn everything from his dimensions (height) to the languages he ships in (speaks). Adding him to a Shopping Cart opened up a contact form, with Related Products a visual list of his hobbies.
 
Building the right image

Leah Bowman proved sometimes you need to construct the perfect impression in order to land an interview. Using the Lego Digital Designer she created a brick version of herself, and then printed assembly instructions detailing skills, interests and creative experience. Not bad for someone who grew up in Denmark and wants to break into design.
 
A personal ad campaign

Fair play, Alex Brownstein, you clearly understand the steps someone will take to check up on job applicants…. He bought up Google Adwords to ensure his personalised message would appear when specific ad directors Googled themselves, or searched for other professionals in his sector.