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A light-hearted look at recruitment by Rich Wootten I thought I would write down some of the more bizarre and unusual things I have come across in the recruitment industry.
Starting with the CV. Ok, what's the deal with photos on the CV? Most agencies cut these out and pin them on a wall called the Rogues Gallery. The more bizarre, the bigger the laugh. Do yourself a favour take it off the CV if sending to an agency. Unless you are a model.
I once had a CV sent to me that was 26 pages long. At the bottom of each job, he’d listed every single tool he’d used in the job.
The same person listed every job he’d ever had. Including the one that he’d managed to secure straight out of school. Which went something like this “…… I was employed as a Bicycle mechanic in a Bicycle shop. This was not a proper job in the strictest of terms as I was paid in spare parts….” And, of course, he listed all the tools he’d used!
Other things I’ve seen on CV’s which make me laugh is extra information….. Such as your parents jobs or saying “ marital status – Married to Claire for 10 years” or “ dependants – James age 3 and lovely Jessica age 4 months…”. Whilst they may be proud parents, how is that going to help anyone get a job?
Another person listed one of his skills as, "I can do a passable impression of a cash till for my 5 year old daughter" - what possible use is that in a job?
One client asked me to recruit a web designer and asked if I could provide online examples of their work. A candidate applied for the job and he looked good on paper, he’d worked for a web design bureau. The examples of his work were all Porn or Fetish web sites, as this was the only work he’d been given to do. I agonised for days as to whether I should send him, in the end I did and I explained the situation to the client…….. he got the job!
One person had actually stated that because he was gay that would be a benefit to any employer as he doesn’t have the family commitments of a heterosexual and would work longer hours and be better prepared to re-locate.
The Interview: I once heard about a candidate that took an alarm clock to an interview in his brief case. The alarm went off after an hour, where the person promptly made his excuses and said he had another interview to go to.
Another urban myth I heard about, was a candidate once got his wife to call his mobile phone during the interview to pretend to be another company making him a job offer. One candidate kept staring out of the window whilst in the interview, when asked why he said he was concerned about the safety of his car in this area. That made a good impression!
I once was asked, in a panel interview, “ where do you see yourself in 5 years time?”. I levelled my eyes at the Managing Director and said, “ in your job” and made joke of it, I started chuckling to myself but stopped immediately when I noticed no one else saw the funny side. I never got that job!
By way of a conclusion, all I can say is be careful what you say or do at interview or write on the CV as you only get one chance to make a good impression.
by Rich Wooten
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