HRRecruitingAlert.com » Did they think billboards and singing telegrams would get them jobs?

Did they think billboards and singing telegrams would get them jobs?

June 18, 2008 by Sam Narisi
Posted in: Assessing the right candidate, Hiring, Latest News & Views

Would you give a job to someone who rented a billboard to hang a giant copy of his resume?

That’s OK, most hiring managers would think twice, too.

The Creative Group, an advertising and marketing staffing firm, recently published a report on the unusual lengths some people go to in order to get hired. Among the strangest anecdotes in the report was a guy who rented a roadside billboard to display his resume.

Another job-seeker used the building across the street from a company he wanted to work for to hang a big sign listing the reasons they should hire him.

Some other tactics mentioned in the report: sending a singing telegram to the recruiter, mailing a resume in six pieces that fit together like a puzzle and hanging a poster with the candidate’s portrait in front of an executive’s parking space.

What were they thinking?

If you think that sounds ridiculous, you aren’t alone. Out of the executives surveyed by The Creative Group, only 2% said those off-the-wall techniques might increase someone’s chance of getting hired. More than half said they’d hurt the candidate’s chances.

What do you think? Would you bother with a candidate who did something silly, strange or just plain stupid to get your attention? Have you had candidates try any unusual tactics to get hired? Did it work? Let us know in the comments section.

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2 Responses to “Did they think billboards and singing telegrams would get them jobs?”

  1. MicheleH Says:

    I once applied for a position in a Drs’ office. I was so discouraged in finding a job at that point that I was sure I wasn’t going to get this one either. On the application I wrote off the wall answers for all of the questions, i.e. Home Phone: Yes, Salary Expected: Yes, I don’t work for free, and so on. I ended up getting the job because they needed someone with a sense of humor!

  2. Cindy Hatton Says:

    What about WOW moments in an interview. How successful is that. A candidate brings small race horses with a principle writte on the jockey silks. At the end of the interview the candidate explains that they are from a famous horse racing area and they symbolize the characteristics that they bring to the job … the principles are the pillars for a successful company.

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