10. Your cover letter had typos, the wrong company name, bad grammar, or showed nothing about you knowing anything about TVI. Perhaps it was painfully generic. We’re not looking to be one of 100 companies you apply to with the same cover letter but with a different address at the top.

9. You didn’t follow simple instructions in the job posting. We assess candidates with simple preliminary tests. Fail that and we don’t even look at your resume or cover letter. Was there a request in the job posting to maybe fill out a questionnaire, design a quick mockup or perhaps produce some quick code?

8. You did not meet the requirements in the job posting and were instead hoping that by some miracle we would hire you because you’re interested or really passionate about the job. It’s not just about passion and interest as much as we do look for that and it can take you a long way. Like any relationship you have to offer what we’re SPECIFICALLY looking for (per the job posting) and we obviously have to offer what you’re looking for. It has to be a win-win.

7. You didn’t get creative. Huh? We’re a creative agency! It’s what we do! We should see that all the way through the application process with you. Especially if you’re applying for a creative position! If you’re applying for something more analytical or more on the business side, you can still tell us what you do creatively on the side or why you think you’d fit in with our creative team and culture.

6. Presentation and attention to detail. If you can’t take the time to prepare well formatted resumes, online portfolios and cover letters, you won’t make the cut. Sorry

5. You didn’t do your homework. Don’t approach us like we’re some 10,000 person corporate giant, resulting in you writing to the “Human Resources Director”. We’re a small team. Get to know us before you apply and connect with us.  We don’t bite.

4. Sometimes great candidates just don’t feel right. We know it’s always hard to get to the final round and not land the job. But fitting in with our culture is important for you and us. Sometimes we just go with our gut. These decisions are tough for us and you can’t do too much about it.

3. You’re telling us how much you want to get paid before we even meet you. Discussions about salary are best suited for when we give you an offer. We always make it clear in job postings what the salary range will be. If you’re not comfortable with that range please don’t start off by telling us you need to get paid more.

2. Typos! Did we say this already? Yes we did. It’s that important. Maybe 1 typo or malformed sentence we’ll let slip. We’re all human after all. But 2 or 3 in your resume or cover and it ends up in the trash, marked “doesn’t care enough”. Get someone to proofread your application before submitting it. Take your time.

1. You didn’t go out of your way … to SHOW US HOW YOU’RE DIFFERENT! Remember that for every position we get dozens, sometimes hundreds of applications even. We need to notice your application right from the start. Stand out and stand out smart!

We Aren’t Motivated by $$$
Sure we all need it and would each love a boatload of Benjamins but it’s not what motivates us. Or you. We’re all self motivated and motivated by enjoying what we do – designing creative solutions to communication problems.

Just Do Things
We have a deep spirit for experimentation and learning. You won’t hear “No that won’t work”. You’ll hear “Hey that sounds fun! Do it!” Want to come up with new processes, take the lead on one of our experiments, or tackle a new idea on the side that has potential? Just do it. We love new perspectives and positive change.

We Get Shit Done
We manage over 200 accounts as a small team because we know how to work smart, not just hard. Do you talk and distract or produce and react? You’d be amazed how good you feel when you get so much done instead of sitting in an office waiting for work.

Pretend You’re 5 Years Old
Write on the walls, color things and we’ll clap for you. Maybe even give you 3 stars. Even when you fail you’ll probably hear “Good job. You’ve learned a lesson. Just don’t do it again ”

Make an Impact
Put your mark on the company. We’re small. Your impact WILL … BE … BIG.

No Suits
Wear PJs for all we care. Maybe one day you want to wear a manbra. That’s cool too. Builds character. As long as you are yourself, do what you do amazingly well, and get along with the team (meaning you’re not an asshole, or egomaniac), your diversity builds our culture.

Because Business Isn’t Everything
We care about our local communities and our world. You don’t need to be a venture backed company to improve the world and to change lives. Maybe you can help us build the social side of our business more and come up with other ways we can help improve the world?

Flexibility
Looking for something normal and structured? Shut your computer down and quietly walk away now. As long as you produce, communicate, and manage your work you can do it from a beach in Hawaii for all we care. Though we do initially prefer the team being around each other and physical interaction over purely digital.

You Will Laugh Like This
We admit. Sometimes you simply won’t be able to concentrate at the office. Sorry. Hopefully with your contribution we’ll grow and find a bigger office!

On any day your boss may look like this …

The right time … is now.
This is how most breakthrough companies grow. But it takes awesome people to row up the curve together! If you are awesome, we will all row.

Just read this post on Amanda Rose’s blog and completely agree with it.

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people. Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.” - Steve Jobs, Wired, February 1995