Have you ever interviewed a candidate who was arrested for stealing a pig? What about other odd resume inclusions, or interview occurrences? A recent CareerBuilder.com survey found several strange items included in resumes. Have a good laugh, and learn some principles for dealing with these oddities as a hiring manager.
Resumes are intended to set a good first impression, catch a hiring manager's attention, and to give an overview of a candidate's skills and experience. Some candidates go a little beyond the normal limits in the items they choose to include.
Most employers who have interviewed for a few years have a funny interview or resume story to tell. A recent CareerBuilder.com survey found 12 rather strange items included in resumes. There's a good chance that these were intended to catch the hiring manager's attention. We don't know if these inclusions increased or decreased the chances of getting an interview. But, we do know that many of them will catch your attention.
It is important that a hiring manager not discriminate against a candidate because they included something strange in their resume. If an odd inclusion gives you a laugh or catches your attention, give the candidate credit for doing something out of the ordinary and take a more serious look at the professional skills they offer.
Everyone has a life story, and many of our stories contain bizarre elements. These strange events, hobbies, and nuances about people are what make them unique and shape the way they think. Although the writer of this article is a little uncomfortable knowing that candidate 10 (above) works well nude, he does think it would be rather interesting to create a series of difficult interview questions to ask candidate 11 about what he learned from stealing the really small pig.
When reading resumes like this, and subsequently interviewing candidates, it is also important to consider your corporate culture. Introducing a personality like candidate eight, who enjoys sitting on the levee at night watching alligators, may bring new life to a monotonous day at the office. It is very likely that he (or maybe she) has a series of interesting stories to share at the water cooler. A few interesting discussions can spur on creative thinking and help accelerate the development of relationships that help a team bond and work well together.
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