In a weird way, I think you and the authors sort of agree -- their premise is that many applicants don't want to work at companies that they perceive to have a

In a weird way, I think you and the authors sort of agree -- their premise is that many applicants don't want to work at companies that they perceive to have a more traditional workplace culture, so they should tailor their applications, personal presentation, etc., accordingly. It sounds like following this advice might make candidates less attractive to your company... but then, it sounds to me like your workplace culture is, at least in some sense, a more traditional one, so (no offense) the target audience of this article probably doesn't want to work there. To the extent that the job application/interview process can match the right employee up to the right company in terms of cultural fit, everyone benefits, and the corollary is that the process should facilitate not matching employees and companies up whose ideal office cultures align poorly. For my part, having done a bit of interviewing and resume-reviewing, a memorable application is extremely important, and while I would probably be a little weirded out by someone submitting a song they wrote, resumes and cover letters that just list fraternity leadership positions and the like are unlikely to make the cut. Likewise, if you're a suit person, I have no objection to you wearing a suit to an interview, but lots of programmers are not suit people, and showing up to an interview dressed in a way that obviously makes you uncomfortable does nobody any favors.