Another perspective after re-reading the OP is this… I once applied for a design job doing baby toys… the hiring manager contacted me and said he loved my work and my style and that he just came from Black and Decker where he was the design manager. And if he was still at BandB he would hire me hands down, but he felt my style didn’t fit that of baby toys. To hard edge and aggresive vs soft and gentle. He explained that he needed a designer to hit the ground running and couldn’t take the risk that i wouldn’t be able to adapt my style. Looking back now and learning from some of the post i’ve seen on Core I could and should have done two things… Created a baby toy to add to my portfolio before sending it to show my adaptability, or Asked the hiring manager to provide me with a factitious project out line and designed a toy for him to prove that i could adapt my style.(as i felt i could)