Escalation. Once everybody is doing a shiny, whizzy attention-getting thing, then folks will start competing by being more shiny, more whizzy and more attention-getting than everyone else. Instead of a nicely-designed colourful scrolling webpage people are submitting half-hour semi-interactive animated feature films in which the ghost of Ghandi rises from the grave to tell you all about the advantages of hiring so-and-so while you fight off lizard men and can-can girls.
As soon as you said that, the phrase "unfashionably early" came to mind. I didn't immediately post it because I figured it would be interpreted negatively/argumentatively. That's not really my intent. I am just thinking of your remarks in terms of "fashion trends": Looking back historically, hemlines go up and down again, ties get fatter then skinnier again and so on.
I don't personally read any big significance into the possibility that this is part of a trend towards over-the-top, bling-bling, excessively flashy job-hunting techniques. Maybe it is but I think the value in this particular post/microsite is that he seems to be genuinely interested in this company and that he made the webpage and posted it here rather than sending it directly to the company. So it got notice because other people already vetted it for him so to speak. I think sincere interest in a particular company is always something of value for that company. I remember reading a story where a recruiter at IBM said he would hire the next person who knew what the letters "IBM" stood for because he was so sick of interviewing people who had zero idea what the company did. Most folks who are job-hunting are just looking for a paycheck. There is limited value in that from the perspective of the company.
That's not to point fingers at anyone. I am as guilty of that as anyone and that is part of why I am still stuck in an entry level job in an industry I never had any interest in. I'm a former homemaker who was going through a divorce and I needed a paycheck. I did try to apply to jobs in the field I was training for/had relevant education for but I never completed my bachelor's and ultimately took the first job offered me, having nothing to do with any of that. I am envious of Loren for having a clear idea what he wants to do and being in a position to go after it. In terms of career, I have not ever been in that situation: I either knew and wasn't qualified or didn't know (and also had other significant obstacles). I sincerely wish him all the best. (If his site somehow ends up promoting over-the-top, bling-bling horrors in the future, may he find absolution for this small sin.)
