Stupidity or Brilliance?
May 4, 2007
A CareerBuilder survey of hiring managers uncovered these “Top 12 Odd Resume Inclusions.”
- Candidate included that he spent summers on his family’s yacht in Grand Cayman.
- Candidate attached a letter from her mother.
- Candidate used pale blue paper with teddy bears around the border.
- Candidate explained a gap in employment by saying it was because he was getting over the death of his cat for three months.
- Candidate specified that his availability was limited because Friday, Saturday and Sunday was “drinkin’ time.”
- Candidate included a picture of herself in a cheerleading uniform.
- Candidate drew a picture of a car on the outside of the envelope and said it was the hiring manager’s gift.
- Candidate’s hobbies included sitting on the levee at night watching alligators.
- Candidate included the fact that her sister once won a strawberry eating contest.
- Candidate explained that he works well nude.
- Candidate explained an arrest by stating, “We stole a pig, but it was a really small pig.”
- Candidate included family medical history.
It is important that a hiring manager not discriminate against a candidate because they included something strange in their resume.
When reading resumes like this, and subsequently interviewing candidates, it is also important to consider your corporate culture. Introducing a personality like candidate eight, who enjoys sitting on the levee at night watching alligators, may bring new life to a monotonous day at the office.
LOL. I am speechless. Were these brilliant tactics to stand out from the crowd or the result of a lack of common sense?
Fortunately (or not) the resumes that fly across my screen tend to be less colorful.
-R
Funny stuff.
In my previous position, I was hiring Teaching Assistants and Clerical Staff. I sat on the committee for one gentleman, but did not run the interview. I had not said a word except “hello”. However, for the entire interview, he addressed his remarks to me, the only male on the panel.
Another interview had a gentleman who never looked at a single person. Still another had a woman who, in mid-interview, had her contact lens shoot across the table. Another woman showed up in sweats and untied work boots. One clerical candidate had a resume that was clearly quite short, but was spread across 5 pages because she could not get it formatted properly. She was applying for… (wait for it)… a Secretary/Typist position.
I was continually amazed.
Vinny, you found me! Thanks for the post. We had a guy once who started wearing open toe shoes (sandals, flip flops) to the office. But he didn’t come to the interview that way. He pulled a bait and switch on us.