Shock tactics

[Badshah Mamun]

Shock tactics

By David Wilson

David Wilson uncovers some of the more outrageous methods used in the hunt for work.

On a job hunt, you can easily cross the line between creative and crazy.

Long-time recruiter Doug Downer has witnessed every job search stunt in the book. Some applicants, he says, send out four different or false CVs in the delusional belief that nobody will notice. Others brag about driving fancy cars. Still others come on to the hirer, using flattery, then follow up by suggesting a romantic date, or offering a gift.

When all else fails, an applicant short on discretion but big on ambition may resort to embarrassingly up-front nepotism techniques.

Other applicants sacrifice their dignity through tacky photography.

"One of the most common weird tactics I've encountered is applicants attaching a photo of themselves with clothing that is not business-appropriate," a marketing director, Alex Shapiro, says. "This includes drunken pictures, outlandish outfits and photos which border on the risque."

The trick is to strike a balance between creativity and professionalism, so you are remembered for the right reasons.

Read about some of the worst cases witnessed by strategist Barry Maher and business consultant Wayne Weiner.

Call the police

One inventive job seeker, keen to snag a charity marketing job, researched the names of the company's key contacts. He then cut out letters from a newspaper, pasted them to make words and sent each board member a series of snail mail messages.

The first consisted of the individual's name: say, "John". The second read: "John Smith", the third: "John Smith is", the fourth: "John Smith is going" and the fifth: "John Smith is going to blow". The next screamed: "John Smith is going to blow you away!"

Before the applicant could post a follow-up letter with his CV and an explanation he was just thinking figuratively, the police knocked.

Insane clown posse

At the start of every interview, a job-hungry designer routinely wheeled in a model of a theme park exhibit that he had devised.

With him came three clowns playing musical instruments.

After flouncing around for a bit, the trio would go, leaving the exhibit for the interviewer to peruse at leisure.

Despite its creepy, back-woods circus show feel, the ploy worked, yielding a job offer.

Fat chance

A jobseeker repeatedly sent his CV to a hiring manager in the form of icing on a chocolate cake. The tacky, calorific CV failed to win the candidate a job. The only gain was in weight. Everyone at the company packed on a couple of kilos.

Honeytrap snap

A female jobseeker sent a potential boss a "thank-you-for-the-job-interview" card that she concocted on her computer. On the front of the card was an extraordinarily unflattering snapshot of the woman on a beach, her middle-aged body crammed into a microscopic bikini.

"Hope my next vacation I'm working for you," the caption read. As word of the low-rent ploy spread, snarky staff at the target company retold the caption as "Hope my next vacation I'm working under you."

Fancy footwork

A college graduate seeking her first PR job sent three firms a shining shoe in a box with a note saying, "I'm just trying to get my foot in the door". The gimmick worked - presumably because, although cheesy, it was clever.

Intimate strangers

In a new twist on nepotism, a devoted husband handed a hirer his wife's CV. If, the husband reasoned, his wife was good enough to be his spouse, she was good enough to work for the hirer.

Pushing the boundaries even further, a father hit on the classy idea of enlisting his six-year-old daughter as an ambassador and sending her to talk to a hirer on his behalf. The little girl duly explained why her dad was the right man for a job. The hirer was unimpressed by the ploy's child labor overtones.

Source: http://content.mycareer.com.au/advice-research/interview/shock-tactics.aspx