Fiona Townsend wanted an amazing job as a personal assistant but was frustrated by the quality of positions available.

So in 2002 she took matters into her own hands and paid $600 to place an advertisement in the Australian Financial Review featuring her photograph and the heading "I'm available."

The ad spelt out to would-be employers her experience and what she expected of them - a dynamic and challenging role in a fun workplace.

The bold approach worked. Townsend attracted about 30 expressions of interest from employers intrigued by her hard sell and she eventually picked the one that suited her best.

Recruiters call techniques such as Townsend's "cut through" because they allow candidates to pierce the long list of applicants for attractive jobs, such as those in media and marketing. Variations include using a singing telegram as a job application, bombarding a would-be employer with strategic and funny emails and dressing up CVs with balloons and streamers. The common denominator is going the extra mile to get attention.

Brenton Moore, managing director of HR firm Media and Advertising Recruitment Specialists, says showing your flair, confidence and creativity from the beginning can be one way to demonstrate to an employer that you would be a valuable asset to the team.

Moore says he remembers one applicant for a promotions job at a commercial television station who turned up at the recruiting office in her interview best, to hand-deliver her resumewith helium balloons, streamers and wrapping paper. "She didn't expect to be interviewed, she expected to make an impact in terms of delivering her document," he says. "And after we'd cut all the balloons off and opened it up, and went: 'Yeah, we know about her, she's gold. Wow. And she wants the job. Immediately.' She went on to the list of 'must be interviewed'."

Gareth Aldis, HR manager at DMG Radio Australia, which includes the Nova radio network, agrees those who boldly go for creative jobs can succeed by standing out.

He says he can receive hundreds of applications for a single advertised position, as well as unsolicited applications every day. "I've had one email that stood out that just had a whole page filled with 'pick me, pick me, pick me'," he says. "Then they attached a very strong CV that addressed the ad [for an account manager]. They also attached a very strong covering letter that explained why they've applied for the role."

Aldis says the sky is the limit for creative applications for creative jobs because people are not constrained by the same reputation barriers of roles such as finance and law or industries such as hospitality.

"Nova attracts people with the innovation and the creativity, and that reflects in the applications that we get," he says.

Cosmopolitan editor Bronwyn McCahon says the magazine has received more than its fair share of quirky applications.

"One time I got a jar of Keen's Mustard saying, 'I'm dead keen for this job', and attached with the CV," she says. "I once had a girl apply for a junior fashion position and she sent in her CV printed onto a singlet."

As well as demonstrating an understanding of the values and culture of an organisation, creativity can flag a candidate's innovation.

"I'm always looking for a really fresh look and a fresh approach to things," McCahon says. "You don't want somebody who is going to come in and just give you what the magazine's been doing for the last 30 years.

"I would love to see someone send me podcast CV - it shows that they're thinking with the latest technology and they're not just rolling out the same kind of CV that we all did 15 years ago.

"When it's a junior fashion position - it could even be a writing position - you really want to see: OK, show me, give me your best shot, show me what you're made of."

Which comes to the next point: you've got to be able to back it up.

"Sometimes people can send in a CV that might have been workshopped by 10 friends and then they come in for an interview and then you think: 'What happened to this creative genius that sent in their CV, what happened to that person?"'

McCahon says a well-written cover letter can be just as effective as a singing telegram and neither should detract from the professionalism needed to get the job done.

"You also need to come with a maturity and a seriousness in some sense so you show your future employer that you're not just all gimmicks and jokes."

Townsend says her advertisement approach allowed her to "turn the tables" during interviews with prospective bosses.

She has since left her PA job to have children but says she would have no hesitation using her technique again - unless someone beat her to the punch with a similar ad. "I would have to think of something new, wouldn't I?" she says.

Creative or not, a good CV should be clear and catch the eye of a prospective employer. Recruitment expert Brenton Moore outlines what to avoid. Do not ...

* Spend too much time on prettying up the document to the detriment of the information it contains.
* Turn your CV into War and Peace: The Sequel. "Keep it to a few pages."
* Include too much personal information. "Generally, prospective employers don't need to know what star sign you are."
* Try to smooth out bumps in your career path. "Don't lie," Moore says. "You will be found out."
* Forget to check your spelling and grammar. "Have someone proofread it for you," he says.
* Forget to tailor your CV to the job you're going for.
* Just stick to your bare-bones job description. Moore says you should outline anything you achieved in previous roles.
* Forget a cover letter. "A lot of candidates send a CV without [addressing] to whom they're writing and why they're writing."