A colleague of mine came into my office this morning having a difficult time stifling her laughter.
She had just received a resume for a position that she had advertised.
The cover letter read, and I paraphrase:
"I'm living at home. I can't take it anymore. I need to find a job so that I can get out of here. That's why I'd like to work for your company."
It's true. I swear.
So, what job hunting "don'ts" have you folks got saved in your "you're not going to believe this" file?
Sara
I once interviewed someone who, when asked "Why do you want this job" answered:
I just want to learn the software industry basics for a couple of months before I move to California this fall and find a real job.
It was May or June, and this was for a permanent position. Needless to say, he did not get hired.
Janice
I've got a million of them! I just wish I had them saved up...I knew there was a reason to keep a "funny file".
Okay, how about this.
Job Interview, would you hire this person?
In the midst of the interview, interviewee's cell phone rings. Interviewee stops interview, answers phone. (One of my managers was doing the interview and he says he pretty much just dropped his mouth open.)
Interviewee then proceeds to conduct the phone call,
scheduling another job interview for the next day.
:tongue:
I've got a million of them. These kids today.
Andrea
I was interviewing the son of one of my employees. He was in his 20s - not a young newbie teenager by any means.
Q: Why do you want this job?
A: My mother wants me to work here.
Q: What do you know about the job?
A: My mother didn't tell me much about it.
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My most memorable interviewing faux pas was my own. I was in France and had arranged to interview for a job there. It was for the same parent software company that I was already working for as a consultant. I'd got the interview through connections, with the understanding that I did know some French, but that I wasn't bilingual, and that a knowledge of French would help but that it wasn't necessary.
I did no prep work at all - as far as the job went I knew it like the back of my hand. I was single (ok - dating future hubby), willing to relocate (so was future hubby), and thought it would be a fun job to get, but wasn't worried if I didn't.
I knew I'd overlooked something when we switched from English to French for the interview and I suddenly realized I didn't even know how to say 'computer' in French!
It was one of those OMG how stupid can I be moments. As soon as the stunned woman told me how to say it, it was an 'oh I knew that' moment, but definitely any chance of getting the job had passed.
Katherine <- wondering what life would have been like if she'd spent even five minutes preparing for the interview.
Interesting. I was under the impression that computerspeak was universally in English. I actually went to a developers conference in Israel last year - it was given by my company and happened to coincide with my visit. It was really funny to hear Hebrew sprinkled with words like "database" and "objects" and "Java".
Janice
Quote:Originally posted by taurusmoon
"I'm living at home. I can't take it anymore. I need to find a job so that I can get out of here. That's why I'd like to work for your company."
It's true. I swear.
At least it's honest - kind of like the street people in San Francisco with the signs that say "Don't want to work - just want money for beer."
I have been amazed and horrified over the years at some of the mistakes applicants make in cover letters and resumes. In tech fields I've found it's pretty common - almost an attitude of "Hey, I'm a computer geek - why do I need to be able to communicate?"
My favorites:
- An applicant for a Senior Software Engineer position who claimed to be a graduate of Princeton University (with a B.S. in Computer Science) and to have a Masters in Computer Science (from Stevens Institute, I think) had
computer spelled
compuater, comeputre, and computor, all in the same paragraph of his resume.
- An applicant for a Software Test Technician completed her application in ink. In the space for "salary desired" she had written and scratched out two different things (we have no idea what!) then put an * with a reference to a note at the bottom of the page. The note said "$125,000 annually - or whatever you were going to pay, whichever is higher." I did admire her optimism! (At the time the salary range for the job was around $16,000 - $19,000 annually!)
- A man was flown in for an interview after his very impressive resume and a telephone interview wowed the hiring manager and HR person. His resume stated that he had graduated from Lehigh University with an Electrical Engineering degree in 1967. He claimed to have been employed by IBM for 15 years after college, then to have done consulting work. Imagine the HR person's shock when a 20-something man, wearing a tie-dye shirt and baggy jeans, arrived in the lobby (three years ago) for his interview! (He didn't get the job.)