What To Send As A Writing Sample

What's your writing sample that shows me how you think?

"Could You Send Me a Writing Sample"

Why your writing sample needs to become your REAL resume.

"Could you send me a writing sample?"

That's my new response to early career professionals who want to speak to me about their career.

I ask this for two reasons:

I want to read what they believe is their writing sample. It teaches me a lot about how they think, what they care about and how they write.
I want to see how they react to the question. Yes, the reaction to being asked for a writing sample is perhaps as important as the writing itself.

Do you freak out when someone asks for a writing sample? Does it make you nervous? Do you respond with forty questions — what does a writing sample mean? Should it be on a particular topic? How long should it be? Does it need to have footnotes?

I just want a writing sample — something you are proud of. If you don't immediately have something that you want to send to me to read, then that says a lot to me.

What piece of writing have you done that you are proud of and WANT people to read? If you don't have a piece of writing you are confident in to send to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, then you should do whatever you can do to get one.

If your reaction to my question is a lot more questions, asking me for more time or simply going dark, then I know there is probably something else hiding beneath the surface (either a lack of confidence in your writing or perhaps a lack of depth to your thinking — both of which aren't good.)

Writing Stands Out

I recently wrote a story about Matthew Busel — and it's a story of the power of writing as much as anything. Matthew wanted to break into tech and did what most people do (especially those without a technical background): he sent off his resume to every popular tech company in San Francisco.

"Facebook, Google, Snapchat all rejected me," he confided. "I applied to them when I was applying to consulting jobs. I applied to them after my consulting job. They all rejected me, but more than that, they didn't even look at me. Not one of them gave me a first-round interview. It was like I wasn't even good enough to even be considered. Snapchat actually rejected me within about an hour of applying. Like who knew they even checked resumes that quickly?"

Matthew was one of my top students — receiving the second highest score in my class. But how do you translate that to a nameless, faceless "Jobs@" email box?"

You write.

You show off your thought process and depth.

Fast-forward to 8 months later and on Matthew's personal site, the second section down is called "My Writing" where he shows off a dozen things he's written (including one published by Sports Illustrated).

He's able to show off the depth of thought, analysis and insight rather than force someone to wonder "what makes him different than the other 1,000 resumes we received today?"

Why Writing Samples?

I want to hire people that are gifted thinkers. And what I've found is the single greatest way to assess someone's ability to craft complex, insightful thoughts is through their writing.

What should you write on? It's best if you are writing about something you personally care about — something you can talk about to a stranger for an hour. If you don't have that, then write that. Just take a position on something and write it.

How do you make sure it's great? Reach out to your high school English teacher and ask them to read it and give you a grade. If you don't receive an A on it, then try again… (Sorry to all the English teachers I just gave a bunch more work to, but you know it's always great to hear from your former students right?)

Here's my short-hand for finding or developing your writing sample:

Send something you've given to at least five people you trust for their feedback and insights.
Send something that takes a position — I want to read your "argument" for or against something. How do you offer your "take"?
Offer something that gives me an insight into you — the author. Include a story or an anecdote that tells me something about you.
If possible, tell a story. I want to see how you summarize stories, interviews, quotes, etc.

Every early career professional should be working to create a deep piece of writing that you're excited to send to people. Show off your depth of thought and your ability to translate it into written word.

"To Think is to Convince and Explain."

Can I see your writing sample?