As the job market try to rebound from the recession, unemployed persons are getting downright weird in their attempt to snatch that elusive job!
By Ellen Wulfhorst
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Job-seekers are using unusual gimmicks to grab the attention of potential employers, such as in one case sending a shoe along with a resume to get a "foot in the door," said a survey released on Wednesday.
Almost a fifth of hiring managers report seeing more unconventional tactics this year, compared with 12 percent who said so last year, according to the study by CareerBuilder.com, an online jobs site.
Faced with the highest unemployment in 25 years, candidates are trying a variety of tricks, including:
* handing out resumes at stoplights
* washing cars in a company parking lot
* staging a sit-in in a company lobby to demand a meeting with a director
* sending a cake designed as a business card with the candidate's picture
* handing out personalized coffee cups
* going to the same barber as the company chairman to have the barber speak on his behalf
One job-seeker attached a shoe to a resume as "a way to get my foot in the door," a respondent told the survey.
"The search for employment is taking longer and is more competitive than it has been in past years," said Jason Ferrara, senior career adviser at CareerBuilder, in a statement. "To compensate, some candidates have turned to extreme tactics."
But he cautioned: "While unusual job search antics may attract the attention of hiring managers, they need to be done with care and professionalism so that candidates are remembered for the right reasons."
The online survey was conducted for CareerBuilder by Harris Interactive among 2,543 full-time hiring managers and human resource professionals between February 20 and March 11, 2009. The overall results have a margin of error of plus or minus 1.94 percentage points.
CareerBuilder is owned by Gannett Co Inc, Tribune Co, McClatchy Co and Microsoft.
(Editing by Alan Elsner and Michelle Nichols)
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3 comments:
I like the one about sending a cake in the shape of a business card. :D
I liked the shoe, myself.
I don't know... the shoe could seriously backfire: send a new shoe and you are just throwing away good money send a used shoe and risk making a literally stinking impression.
If you are a woman it's worse... especially if the potential employer has some kind of kink...
As a woman myself, I know that if I received another woman's shoe, two hings would cross my mind:
First: where is the other shoe?
Second: She didn't even guess my size right!
:D
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