How a college student used Snapchat to land his dream internship

Standing out from a crowd of candidates can take more than brushing up your resume. College student Graham Allgood got the attention of his dream workplace by marketing himself in another way with the help of Snapchat.

Allgood designed a custom geofilter for the New York-based advertising agency where he wanted to work as a summer intern in the hopes of catching a hiring manager's eye.

Once he completed the design, a sleek illustration incorporating Horizon Media's logo and Manhattan headquarters, he paid $29.65 to purchase an on-demand Snapchat geofilter ― temporary, location-specific photo overlays often used for events such as weddings or birthdays. He scheduled his filter to run during work hours at the Horizon Media office in early May.

@HorizonMCareers Here it is! Excited to see the snapchat analytics. Horizon Media is the place to be! #horizonation pic.twitter.com/35xyqrQBkd

— Graham Allgood (@causeitsallgood) May 3, 2016

Allgood, a senior at California Baptist University, said in a blog post that he had designed on-demand geofilters in the past, and even used Horizon Media's own Snapchat to determine which day the company used the platform the most (Tuesday, it turned out.)

Once it was live, Allgood tweeted a Snapchat of the filter to Horizon Media, and crossed his fingers the approach would grab the company's attention. And it did: within hours, Horizon Media sent an enthusiastic tweet in response, and by 4 p.m., requested Allgood come in for an interview the next day.

Though Allgood said initially on his blog the company told him all its summer internship spots were filled, Horizon Media eventually offered Allgood a paid summer social media internship― via Snapchat, of course.

When Horizon sends you a snapchat (after my interview in their LA office) to let you know you made the team in NYC! pic.twitter.com/IslZ3Y5ZBd

— Graham Allgood (@causeitsallgood) May 19, 2016

So a word of advice for any college students still looking to land that dream summer internship ― better Snap to it.