The application flyer is a hotly debated method in the job market and perhaps even the trend of the future. The goal is to fit your resume, professional experience, and personal introduction onto one A4 page and present yourself in a condensed form. There are various design options and content elements that must not be missing.
Content and design – with a professional application photo
Comprehensive documents are not required for this form of application. The flyer focuses only on important professional milestones, education, and your own motivation for a new job. Potential employers are interested in concise hard and soft skills, as well as relevant qualifications and further training. A visual highlight is a professionally taken application photo. After all, you must first grab attention before new employers read the information on the flyer. Finally, contact details and your own signature must not be missing.
While classic application documents consist of a cover letter, cover sheet, and resume, the application flyer requires a rigorous editing process. What remains is the long side of a standard A4 sheet, which is divided into three columns. Each column has a width of approximately 99 mm. However, the common layout suggests 100 mm for the two text blocks and 97 mm for the column with the application photo. A possible layout would look like this:
- Page 1: Application photo, name, contact details
- Page 2: Professional experience and further training
- Page 3: Personal qualifications
For the design, you need a meaningful and suitable application photo. In addition, all important facts regarding your resume and qualifications must be selected. Next, it is time to print the flyer. At the beginning, it is worth printing small quantities to test the success rate of this form of application.
Who is the application flyer suitable for?
Application flyers require basic knowledge of design and image editing. Therefore, they are more suitable for employees in the creative industry who can use the flyer to demonstrate their skills and are familiar with design and good layouts. Furthermore, the flyers are ideal for distributing at job fairs if you want to boost your career. For introductions to various companies or for a speculative application, they leave a pleasant impression and are much handier than a complete application folder. Basically, the flyer combines the function of an application with the practical utility of a business card.
Advantages and disadvantages at a glance
Application flyers are particularly suitable for media designers who can present their qualifications directly and use this as a good entry point into a potential Job interview job. The special format arouses the interest of the HR department and brings some momentum into the everyday application routine. The short and concise information is well-received and processed faster. In addition, the flyer can just as easily be sent as a PDF in an email. Especially in the area of “first impression”, it brings many positives and is suitable for job fairs and similar events. The format is very handy, easy to distribute, and shipping by mail is significantly cheaper.
However, there are also disadvantages. The content must be heavily shortened, and important information may be lost. What is important to the applicant might not be what the HR department wants to know. In addition, the application flyer must graphically distinguish itself from a simple advertising leaflet. It only really has an effect with a professional design and a clear layout.
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Conclusion: Success is questionable
Whether application flyers will really catch on in the career world remains questionable. They are at the forefront of seminars on the topic of applications. Recruiters no longer want to read endlessly long resumes and professional qualifications. The candidate should be able to introduce themselves briefly and concisely. However, this approach will not work in every industry. Anyone who is not familiar with design and has little creativity should opt for a short application or a short profile as an alternative. The content remains similar, but the format is not designed as a flyer.
