Innovation on craigslist

Over the years I’ve both drafted, and responded to, various ads and online postings looking to fill various writing positions. The usual routine with these is that when someone applies and gets through the initial selection process they are sent, or invited in to complete, some sort of test of their writing or editorial skills.

It’s a routine, well accepted, process and not one where you think there’d be room for innovative thinking.

But why not apply some of the latest techniques being advocated in the creative side of corporate publishing to the recruitment process?

A few days ago I came across the following at the bottom of a listing on my local craigslist from a company looking for an editor.

To apply, please e-mail your resume with a coverletter high-lighting your background/ skills and your current compensation (or your most resent fulltime job compensation) to and specify "Editor/media Support" in the subject of the email. Please paste your resume into the body of the email. Also, to exemplefy your editting expertize; please also designate the editting errors (ie. such as mispelled words, ect.) in this paragraph

A smart example of repurposing content. Creating one document to serve two distinct yet complimentary needs. In this case a recruitment post that is also has its own built in proficiency test.

A little bit of innovative thinking that makes the recruitment process more efficient, saves printing costs and the admin overhead of sending out and reviewing follow on tests. This one paragraph probably saved the company a few thousand dollars.