What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen in a résumé? Did it work? If you said “no,” see if your experience topped these HR pros’ hiring tales.
CareerBuilder asked survey respondents to share the most memorable and unusual applications they have come across. Here are a few of the oddest:
If at first you don’t succeed …: Résumé was submitted from a person the company just fired.
Bad-mouthing right off the bat: The application listed the candidate’s objective as “To work for someone who is not an alcoholic with three DUIs like my current employer.”
Ban on texting: Candidate used language typically seen in text messages (e.g., no capitalization and use of shortcuts like “u”).
Too short and sweet: Résumé consisted of one sentence: “Hire me, I’m awesome.”
Gaming guru: Application listed the candidate’s online video gaming experience leading warrior “clans,” suggesting this passed for leadership experience.
Best left in the baby book: Candidate included pictures of the candidate from baby photos to adulthood.
And, finally, one of our favorites: If you liked our previous column about the Illinois Department of Employment Security’s (IDES) website translating their site into Klingon, you’ll like this one. One applicant paid respect to Star Trek by submitting a résumé in the Klingon language.