NEW YORK, July 22: What could be the most outrageous thing to write in a job application? As per a latest survey, it is a candidate calling himself a ‘genious’ and inviting the hiring manager to his apartment for interview.
On the other hand, the cases like a candidate giving the resume the form of a marketing brochure promoting herself as the best one for the job, and another one sending the resume in the shape of a fine-dining menu for a food and beverage management position, figure among the most creative ones.
Another creative resume that won over the hiring managers, as per the survey conducted by research firm Harris Interactive in the US for leading human capital solutions firm CareerBuilder, is the case of a stay-at-home mom candidate listing her skills as “nursing, housekeeping, chef, teacher, bio-hazard cleanup, fight referee, taxi driver, secretary, tailor, personal shopping assistant and therapist”.
The survey was conducted among close to 2,300 hiring managers across the country, wherein they were asked to list out the “the most memorable and unusual applications that came across their desk”.
The list of most outrageous resume mistakes was topped by the candidate calling himself a genius and inviting the hiring manager to interview him at his apartment.
Other such unusual applications included a candidate’s cover letter talking about her family being in the mob, resume mentioning phishing as a hobby, resume decorated with pink rabbits, a candidate applying for an accounting job saying he was “deetail-oriented” and spelling the company’s name incorrectly and the cover letter containing the term “LOL”.
The survey said that many candidates try a creative approach successfully, make a positive impression on the employer and, in some cases, ultimately get hired too.
These included one candidate crafting his resume to look like Google search results for the “perfect candidate”. Although not hired ultimately, he was considered for the job.
“One-in-five HR managers reported that they spend less than 30 seconds reviewing applications and around 40 per cent spend less than one minute,” CareerBuilder’s Vice-President of Human Resources Rosemary Haefner said.
“It’s a highly competitive job market and you have to clearly demonstrate how your unique skills and experience are relevant and beneficial to that particular employer,” she added.
Asked to list out the most common resume mistakes that would make them automatically dismiss a candidate from consideration, the employers said these include typing errors, copying large amounts of wording from the job posting, mentioning inappropriate email address, non-inclusion of list of skills, resumes that are more than two pages long and resumes printed on decorative paper. (PTI)
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