So I put in my 100 hours. I made a custom resume that I illustrated with little Evernote-style animals. I got out my guitar and sang a song about why I wanted to work there. I designed a custom iPhone app for them. Eww. Talk about trying way too hard.
That part definitely put me off too, but I wouldn't chalk it up to "trying too hard". I have a problem with the author's idea that putting "extra work" into a resume with animals on it actually made her a better candidate for the job in any way. It's worded as if she's surprised the song she recorded failed to actually demonstrate her competency to the hiring manager any better. Of course it didn't. No one hires soft…
I got the impression it was a designer job. The work she did made sense in that context.