Creative jobseekers are swapping cold calls and emailed CVs to say it with cake, to help sweeten the deal with prospective employers.
Cold emailing used to be all the rage to cut through convoluted hiring processes and gain an edge over the competition.
But as companies face flooded in boxes and AI-generated spam that often goes unread, a new trend has emerged that applicants hope is a recipe for success.
“Cold caking” started doing the rounds in California's tech landscape and UAE resident Hamzeh Abu Omar decided to try it for himself.
Bake in business
Cold caking has the same premise as cold emailing, where a person seeking a meeting or a job sends an unsolicited message to a company or boss to attract their attention. The difference is that the new trend involves sending a cake with a resume printed on it rather than firing off an email.
The Jordanian-American has a social-investing start-up app and hopes to work for and team up with Sarwa, an investment and personal finance platform in Abu Dhabi.
He applied for a role at the company two months ago but did not hear back. This prompted him to adopt a new tactic.
“I wanted to see what is happening in San Francisco and untraditional to the region, and try to mimic it here,” he told The National.
Sarwa last month became the first UAE-founded FinTech platform to reach $1 billion in client assets, with Mr Abu Qamar viewing this achievement as an opportunity to make a connection. “The worst case is they're going to get to know me. It's a door-opener,” he said.
Icing on the cake
Mr Abu Qamar hand-delivered the cake, which had finance memes and a QR code linking to his portfolio, to Sarwa. He walked out of the office disappointed, as most of the team were working remotely that day.
It was only later he noticed the buzz – employees had posted a photo of the cake on Instagram and the chief executive of Sarwa, Mark Chahwan, then contacted him.
“Wow, that's so good! Thank you, Hamzeh, for the gesture. We did something similar with the consulting firms when we started out but didn't go all out with our faces on the cake. I will DM you,” Mr Chahwan wrote on Mr Abu Qamar's LinkedIn.
Mr Abu Qamar believes his effort was worth it. “A meeting is in the works,” he said. “Hopefully we're going to set that, which I would consider a huge win … if I get a job and at the same time we agree to some sort of early partnership.”
A senior figure from the company told The National the gesture had certainly caught their attention.
“Our first reaction was probably the same as everyone else’s. Who sends an unannounced cake to an office? The second question was 'what flavour is it?'” said Amen Ghebre, Sarwa's advisory and investments vice president.
“It was a creative gesture and it definitely made people smile. But while it caught our attention, it did not influence our hiring decision. We have a structured interview process that is designed to be fair and consistent for every candidate. While the cake was memorable, every candidate is assessed against the same criteria.”
Origins of cold caking
The phenomenon of cold caking emerged only this year. However, it was Tynan, a Las Vegas resident, who was behind the first documented case before it even had a name. Fifteen years ago, Tynan, who never discloses his surname, was trying to get the @tynan username on Twitter (now X). Frustrated, he decided to go to Twitter's office bearing a gift.
“Everybody likes cake and if they think that I'm the delivery guy for this cake, probably they're just going to let me into the office,” Tynan told The National in his first interview on the matter.
The effort paid off – Tynan ended up with the coveted username within a day.
He had not realised how big cold caking has become since. He, like Mr Abu Qamar, believes people have nothing to lose.
“I think in a world of AI, where there are a lot of people trying to do similar things, it's good to stand out,” he said.
Selling like cold cakes
Norwegian William Lindholm, 20, dropped out of law school to turn the idea into a business called Daymaker.
“Instead of sending an email to VCs [venture capitalists], we printed the whole pitch deck on a large cake,” he told The National about his first cold-caking experience.
He launched Daymaker eight months ago in Norway and provides cold-caking services mainly to companies looking to attract clients. He now operates in cities around the world and has even had companies from Dubai get in touch.
Since he started offering cold-caking services for people, the demand has been astronomical. In February, the company invoiced $6,000-$7,000 for cakes, and last month it was $120,000. He says the success rate is 30 per cent, much higher than cold emailing.
“Email marketing isn’t going to work any more – it’s getting saturated by AI. Anyone can send 30,000 emails in a day. We have to take a step back and actually become more human,” he told The National.
For him, it is not just about cakes – he is ready to pivot to more personalised solutions when people get tired of eating icing.
“In the future, it’s about figuring out what sequence of messages or gifts will make someone respond. Whoever wins will have the most data on what kind of gift people actually want,” he said.
Fishing for compliments
David Mackenzie, group managing director with recruitment firm Mackenzie Jones, ended up hiring someone in the 1990s who delivered a box of mackerel – and their CV – to his office.
“The message on the front of it said 'I'm applying for your graduate scheme, I hope you like this. I'm just fishing for it.' We thought it was a brilliant idea. The guy joined us and did very well on the scheme,” he told The National.
“We've recently had people actually come to the office and drop off a CV, with a bespoke note on the front. Or they've written us something on LinkedIn,” he said.
Mr Mackenzie believes there is a fine line between an interesting idea and a gimmick.
“if you're in the creative industry and you do something creative, I think that's fantastic because you're appealing to an industry where they like innovative ideas,” he said. “If you're applying to an HR role and you send them a bunch of doughnuts, it may sound a bit like you're desperate.”
He has seen recent graduates and juniors leading these creative efforts. Instead of sending cakes, he encourages an early start and says a network is key.
“The best way of connecting with somebody in this market is through referral or having a direct contact with a recruiter who knows you. When you're starting your job search, do it a year in advance and start building your relationships. The best thing to do is contact your network and ask 'can you recommend me to anyone?'”
Mr Lindholm agrees that the whole package, not just the cake, will lead to the desired outcome.
“There’s a 100 per cent chance everyone in the firm will see and eat the cake,” he said. “The cake gets you seen … but that doesn’t mean you’ll get the meeting.”
Will employees of highly sought-after companies eat cake every week because of this new phenomenon? Only time will tell.
