candidate showed up in-person for a Zoom interview “to demonstrate their interest” by Alison Green on August 1, 2022 A reader writes: As part of my job, I’m responsible for hiring processes for director level positions. We first conduct a phone screening, then a Zoom interview, and then pay for finalist candidates to visit our city for the the final round of interviews. Recently, following the phone screenings, I scheduled Zoom interviews with our […] Read the full article →
don’t send chocolate or lottery tickets to hiring managers by Alison Green on February 4, 2019 I wrote a piece for Slate today about gimmicks in job searching — the reasons some candidates feel compelled to use them, some of the weirdest stunts people have tried, and why they really, really, really don’t work. (And yes, I mentioned last week’s lottery ticket sender.) You can read it here. Read the full article →
what’s the worst “you need to show gumption to get a job?” advice you’ve heard? by Alison Green on October 12, 2017 There’s a whole field of career advice that’s based on the idea that you need to show “gumption” to get a job: “Walk into their office with your resume and ask to speak to the person in charge!” “Call every day until they agree to give you an interview!” “Send your resume on special paper through […] Read the full article →
should I create a video of myself and send it along with my job application? by Alison Green on April 18, 2017 A reader writes: My question relates to gimmicks. I recently decided that I wanted to create an interview question video to answer some general questions. My reasoning was to (1) show that I can create modern content, (2) give employers a face to the name, (3) answer questions that they might have before they have […] Read the full article →
should you list a fun but fake fact on your resume to intrigue an employer? by Alison Green on February 4, 2015 A reader writes: I am currently job searching and have heard that sometimes people put one fun thing on their resume that normally wouldn’t belong, which might seem to make them more interesting to a job recruiter who would want to know the rest of the story. One such suggestion was to list that you […] Read the full article →
I sent chocolate to a hiring manager but haven’t heard back by Alison Green on April 28, 2014 A reader writes: I have applied for a job I would love to have. In attempts to stand out to the hiring manager, I sent my resume in with two bars of chocolate, a dark chocolate and a milk chocolate. I had read a Forbes article on creative ways to get a job interview, and […] Read the full article →
a job applicant stopped by with a plant and candy by Alison Green on June 7, 2013 A reader writes: We’re hiring for a social media person at work, and had an applicant show up out of the blue today with a bamboo plant in a vase and candy and a card and try to give it to the hiring manager. The hiring manager flat-out told her it wasn’t really appropriate and […] Read the full article →
more terrible ideas: your resume should not be an infographic by Alison Green on February 5, 2013 Your resume should not be presented as an infographic. This is a terrible, terrible idea. First, it means that your design goals end up trumping quantity and quality of information. In the examples I’ve seen, there’s far less information than on a traditional resume, because it needs to be fit into the constraints of the […] Read the full article →
when a candidate sends you a framed photo of himself by Alison Green on October 17, 2012 Aggggh! A commenter on the recent post about not sending fruit baskets to your interviewer tops that with her own account involving A FRAMED PHOTO. She writes: I returned to my office one afternoon to find a beautiful gift bag on my desk. I thought that maybe it was from a secret admirer or an […] Read the full article →
bad ideas: advertising your job-hunting spouse on a billboard by Alison Green on August 31, 2012 I don’t even know where to begin about what a bad idea this is. Read the full article →