Yeah, I've dealt with this nonsense, but I found it heightened my chances of landing the job. No, silly. I'm not creative. It did, however, give me the chance to take the piss out of their unorthodox application method and myself.
Let me explain: A certain advertising firm in Austin, Tx (we'll call it GSD&M for now) offers the same online scheme. You're greeted to the Careers Section by neon script asking "Are you a creative? Yes or No". Yes, essentially leads you to their text box populated application. Answering 'no' links you to the IRS site. Still not impressed? Seriously, what warrants itself as creative anymore? Hell, I know folk who consider staples placed on the top right-hand corner of paper to be art.
The application is designed in a fill-in-the-gap format. So, first questions as follows: 1) I want to leave my present employer bc _______. 2) I can (verb) (superlative) than anyone I know. 3) My skills are _____. Open-ended for the most part, allowing free reign for answers. Naturally, I had a good time with it. In fact, what I firmly believe landed me an interview (and subsequent job offer) was a recycled Simpson's quote. Something to the effect of "if there actually ever was an an Outstanding Award in the Field of Excellence, I ..." You can't ever lose w/ a simple Simpson blurb. Somebody's ears are bound to perk in the People Dept. and get you in for an interview. Honestly, during my first interview out of University, I dropped what I thought was a somewhat obscure Derek & Clive reference (I was interviewing with a British lady), got her sides to split & chatted about P. Cooke the rest of the time. Landed a job in Tokyo for the next five years.
There's no moral to this tale, but you might want to toy with the idea of throwing some good 'ol fashioned satire in their laps. The position with GSD&M was a Media Coordinator position w/ heaps of accounting responsibilities. If I can get away with a hint of jesting with accountants, you can do it with anyone. (Apologies in advance to all you boring accountants out there!)
Have fun, think outside the polygon! Or, if you feel like re-locating to Austin, go here:
www.gsdm.com