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What Worked for Job Applicants (And What Flopped)
CHICAGO -- Would you hire a job applicants who sang his answers during an interviews? Dressed as a clown? Or printed his resume on a chocolate bar? Maybe yes, maybe no.
"Employers typically aren't looking for the most outrageous candidate. They're looking for the best fit," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. "Thinking outside the box is great, but the stunts that work best are the ones that showcase your relevant skills and abilities. The focus of the interview should be why you would be a great addition to the team, and not what you're willing to do to get noticed."
Hiring managers and human resource professionals recounted their experiences in a recent CareerBuilder survey.
Here are a few approaches that worked:
- Contracted a billboard outside of an employer's office.
- Wrote a resume on a chocolate bar.
- Showed up in a suit and white dress shirt -- with a red T-shirt under the white shirt. The red T-shirt caried a message: "Hire me, I work hard."
- Asked to be interviewed in Spanish to demonstrate his multilingualism.
- Designed the cover letter to look like something like a wedding invitation only it turned out to be an invitation to hire her.
- Climbed on a roof the employer was repairing and asked for a job.
- Played a song on the guitar about why he was the best candidate.
- Volunteered to help making copies when he saw interviewer's assistant was getting frazzled.
- Repaired a piece of company's equipment during the first interview.
- Sent a message in a bottle.
And here's what other candidates did that backfired:
- Back-flipped into the room.
- Brought items from interviewer's online shopping wish list.
- Sent a fruit basket to interviewer's home address, which the interviewer had not given her.
- Did a tarot reading for the interviewer.
- Dressed as a clown.
- Sent the interviewer some beef stew with a note that said, "Eat hearty and hire me."
- Placed a timer on interviewer's desk, started it, and told interviewer he would explain in three minutes why he was the perfect candidate.
- Sent interviewer a lottery ticket.
- Wore a flourescent suit.
- Sent in a shoe to "get his foot in the door."
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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