CrossFit HQ Hire Me | Production Sample

2014/10/22 in Video

CrossFit is an extreme fitness training method and a rapidly growing company, and I am a big fan of both. Being a devoted fan, I wanted to see if I could work for CrossFit’s headquarters as a writer/content manager. But…there were some challenges:

1. CrossFit rarely (if ever) posts job openings, so their staffing needs are relatively unknowable.

2. CrossFit only seems to hire people that they know or that impressive them. I was neither.

3. Thousands of people want to work for CrossFit, so I gaining visibility would be difficult.

Confronted with an unconventional challenge, I decided to take an unconventional route: I would create a fitness media event, snag CrossFit’s attention, impress them, and score at least an interview (maybe a job). For the event I devised an exercise challenge. I would issue a public challenge to CrossFit, and two weeks after I would do burpees (a loathsome pushup to standing jump combination) nonstop until CrossFit contacted me. To ensure sure CrossFit was watching, I created a website, Facebook page, and the video challenge itself, which I sent to scores of publications, online and print, and posted on Facebook, Twitter, etc., to get the word out.

CrossFit contacted me back almost immediately after I began my media campaign. After thanking me, they informed me that they didn’t currently need a writer.

Disappointed, I looked back on what I had been doing, only to notice that thousands of CrossFitters viewed my video challenge. I had to switch gears. Instead of getting a job, I decided to go after a record: the most chest-to-the-floor burpees in a day. The current record, as far as I could tell, was 4000. 4020 it would be. And two weeks after I issued my original challenge, I beat the record and received a remarkable response from my viewers. 1300 unique viewers had tuned in to watch my record-breaking attempt…at an average viewing time of 7 hours.

I may not have snagged the job I wanted, but I certainly earned respect from the CrossFit community.