Remember Me Please

By Nicole Landini, Art Director

Pretty basic stuff: you tried to portray your personality in your cover letter and your resume has a chronological list of what has defined your life for the last four years. 

And just like that, you get a call for an interview. Guess you did pretty well. You pick out your outfit (see Megan’s post for help with this), you download the “101 Most Asked Interview Questions,” and put your portfolio in one extra plastic bag and then the box so you’re sure it won’t get ruined by the cat. You also remembered to pre-write a thank you card to send as soon as you get home, made sure your car is full of gas and saved the office location to your iPhone map app. In fact, you even drove by it yesterday. 

We all prepare for the “before.” But what about the “after?”

Enter self-promotion gifts. These little goodies are mini-sized portfolios you can leave behind. They might get stuck in a desk drawer, put in your file or they might simply sit on that guy’s desk while he goes round and round on deciding who to hire. That is, until he sees your name again on something other than your resume. 

As a design major, I continually think about these little things and what they could look like. But working with public relations job seekers, I have found that these little goodies can be used for anything. 

Here are some of my ideas:

Postcards. Use of some of the amazing sentences you created on the front in a cool typeface, and mix and match the colors. This way, they know you are fabulous with words. 

Note cards. Take some cool pictures of some of the publications you were published in and put them on the front. When they open them up, the inside could give a brief about the project. Or better yet, create sayings that could actually be used in a card. Include envelopes. 

Flip book. Pick out some of your favorite words, possibly ones that describe you or your work. Use one word per page and run your thumb along the edges to get a cool and quick summary of you.

Bookmarks. Literally take some pictures of your words. Put them on some bookmarks. Maybe make the bookmarks suitable for whatever the publication type is on it. One long enough for a newsletter, one with an attached paper clip for a newspaper, have some strings attached to one for those super long plan books that need to be marked in multiple places. 

Sticky notes. Again, use your talent with words. Make cute sticky notes they can use anytime. These are easy to get printed at any print shop. 

Have fun with it. No one is ever offended by a little gift. Why not promote yourself at the same time?