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 early birthday present. 

Inside I found a folder, a card, something wrapped in tissue, and a large round tin. 

Inside the folder was a multi-page resume on very thick, expensive paper. Inside the tin was a cake. The card included a hand-written note saying that he thought he was the perfect candidate for the job & somehow used the word “cake” in a pun. And inside the tissue paper? A framed color photo of the candidate. Think: Glamour Shots in a suit and tie. 

I was so incredibly creeped out by this gesture. I didn’t know whether to laugh or execute a restraining order. I was afraid to eat the cake and couldn’t look at him and didn’t even call him for an interview.

A framed photo!  To display on one’s desk?!  What is the thinking here?

(Actually, I will tell you what the thinking is here: It’s caused by the charlatans of the job search advice world, telling people they need to “stand out” and be “memorable.”)

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  1. Jamie*

    I’m curious if the OP looked at the resume, and if so was it good enough to make it to the interview pile on it’s own.

    Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care if you’re Bill Gates applying for a position as a Windows admin – this gets you an immediate ticket to the crazy pile…but it would be sad if the resume was good enough to stand on it’s own.

    1. Jamie*

      One more question – how good looking was he?

      I can’t imagine how handsome one would have to be to think a framed photo would be welcome…but I’m thinking pretty darn handsome. Am I right?

    2. Anna*

      Why do I get the feeling that this guy would not have made it past the inbox even without the creepy gimmick?

      1. Scott*

        Not surprising. As we’ve read here many times:

        “overpresented” resume + multiple pages + gimmicks = weak candidate (most of the time)

  2. Juana*

    I wonder if the candidate would have done the same thing for/to a male hiring manager. From my perspective, this person knows the hiring manager is female and thinks she can be influenced with cake and trinkets instead of actual qualifications. Someone correct me if I’m over thinking this, but the gender element is the first thing I see in this (after creepiness)!

    1. Kerry*

      Me too, actually! It reads like he heard the advice, “think of the hiring process like dating” (like, don’t come on too strong, sometimes they’re just not into you) and got it COMPLETELY WRONG.

      1. Amouse*

        ha! I was thinking this would creep me out even from a guy I was dating unless he meant it clearly as a practical joke. This remind me of a time a girl I know received a wooden chest full of teddy bears surrounding a framed photo of the guy she was dating as a gift for Valentine’s Day. She was never sure if it was a joke and was thereby creeped out ever after by it.

        1. Amouse*

          The cake and photo frame part would creep me out from a guy I was dating, his resume would be an insurmountable red flag

          1. Jamie*

            I don’t know. If I were dating (which I’m not – my husband frowns upon it) I would want to see their resume first.

            I don’t think I could be attracted to a man who used an objective or listed tasks rather than achievements.

            Or maybe people need a dating resume. Same rules apply, you don’t need to list the short relationships – but be prepared to explain the long term ones that ended badly. What skills you’ve picked up along the way.

            That could really work.

            1. Amouse*

              haha my boyfriend frowns on it too :-) Yes if it were a resume specific to dating maybe that would make things easier for people. That’s kind of exactly what online dating site profiles are

            2. Daria*

              A dating resume would be pretty nifty. You’d know exactly what you were getting yourself into. Haha.

            3. Diane*

              Dating resumes SHOULD include an objective. I’m on the fence as to whether they should be functional or chronological , but I sure as hell want a skills section. I also propose creating a society to administer neutral dating skills assessments and certifications.

              1. Amouse*

                haha sample certification test results:
                “You are hereby certified to pursue long-term meaningful relationships”
                “You have failed the certification test. Please stick to flings as you are emotionally incapable of longer term commitment at this time”

                1. twentymilehike*

                  haha sample certification test results:
                  “You are hereby certified to pursue long-term meaningful relationships”

                  hahaha … this is great! How about suitable as a mating partner?

              2. Dorothy*

                Love this!! An objective would be perfect. You should create an online dating website and require these things. I’d totally join and pay you money for this service!

            4. Ellie H.*

              This is sort of the premise of dating sites. But it would be awesome if there were some standard, accepted, socially normal-seeming “resume” type format that everyone could use. I am not a huge fan of dating sites because I think the format encourages people to be picky . . . as if you were hiring. You make snap judgments about people. There are so many examples of couples where one half has some characteristic the other half thought was a “dealbreaker” before they met. I think maybe one of the ways hiring/applying isn’t JLD is that the interpersonal chemistry is demonstrably more significant. Ha.

              1. Jamie*

                Absolutely. I am 100 years old and married without the online thing, but I don’t think that would have ever worked for me because it’s lacking they visceral component that’s so necessary. You can find hundreds of people who look good on paper but, it’s one in a million that make you all shivery because of how sexy their hands are as grip the steering wheel.

                I think the reference checks would be interesting. I definitely have an ex (or several) for whom my only reference would be relationship verification: Dates of relationship, nature of relationship, would I take him back if I were single yes/no. A smart reference checker would be able to tell what I wasn’t saying in my stoic tone.

                1. Amouse*

                  I guess my case is an exception because my boyfriend and I met through a free dating website I signed up for for kicks with thousands of profiles and have been together almost three years very happily :-) Hopefully I’ll be able to say one day “Married happily for 50 years” bleh that sounded so girly. But it’s true.

    2. K.*

      In a word: no. I so, so doubt this guy would have sent this gift to another man. The framed photo reads like “Look how hot I am! Don’t you want to look at me day after day?” to me.

      1. Rana*

        I would have been tempted to put it up in the breakroom and turn it into some sort of humorous mascot or something, because I can be evil that way.

        The dude should have thought it through though: if she’s got his fab picture, why would she want to hire the real guy to stare at? This way she gets the eye candy (assuming he is such) without any of the hassles of working with him.

        1. Jamie*

          Ha! That is awesome! And the rejection letter could let him know she’d have hired him in a second just to look at him, but thanks to the dreamy pic she doesn’t have to.

      2. jensmack*

        I just don’t understand what he expected me to do with the picture? Place it on my desk as the standard to which all other applicants must behave? CREEPY.

        1. Jamie*

          It would be even creepier if everyone did this – so you had tons of photos. Maybe take them out of their frames and make a little Tiger Beat magazine out of all of them.

          Their pics, likes, dislikes, hair tips…then you could really compare candidates.

  3. Daria*

    This is quite possibly the weirdest thing I have ever heard. A cake is one thing- you know, I could maybe see the sense in that. Maybe. But a framed photo? That is just… Wow.

      1. Anonymous*

        Speaking of “Binders Full of Women”, AAM would you consider giving your thoughts on some actual ways to combat the wage disparity between men and women?

        1. Ask a Manager* Post author

          Part of it, frankly, is that many women make less money because they make different choices than many men do (that’s not all of the issue, but it’s a larger chunk than is generally acknowledged), but that discussion would quickly turn heated, so I’m going to decline, at least for now… (Thanks for asking though, and maybe I’ll do a separate post on it at some point.)

          1. Anonymous*

            I just think it is a really important thing to acknowledge and talk about despite it being a “squicky” topic.

            I’m really interested if it is actually those choices that make the difference or it is the perception that women make those choices (or maybe even just a rationalization for the disparity)? If choices are actually being made, why is that? I know in my case I made that choice to take time off because despite being in the same field/career track as my better half, I made less so it made “sense” for me to take time off..

            2. Anonna Miss*

              The $0.72 women make to the men’s dollar is something of an overstatement. It’s true if you compare the average pay of all women in the workforce to all men, but it becomes less true once you control for factors such as education and years in the workforce, at least early on. Early in their careers, women’s pay is more or less equal to men’s in the same field. Something like 98% after you control for education and some other factors, but that that 2% is there is disturbing. But that mysterious “Unexplainable other factors” grows and grows, until you get to the executive level, where women’s pay compared to men’s (with the same education and years in the workforce) is such a pittance that it’s kind of an ambition-killer for younger women.

              But many women do any one or more of the following things that impact their earnings. (1) Choose pink collar jobs that pay less than blue-collar jobs that are more male-dominated. (2) Leave the workforce for several years to raise kids or care for aging parents, while their male peers continue advancing. (3) They don’t negotiate salary as often or as forcefully as men.

              However, I don’t want women to shoulder all of the blame for their crappy situation. (1) That women go into certain fields and those fields pay less sounds like the societal discrimination is following the women, not the other way around. (2) As much as feminist women (and men) gnash their teeth about it, child care is overwhelmingly expected to be the mother’s job, rather than the father’s. Not to mention that if she is getting paid less, it “makes financial sense” for her to give up a paycheck, if a couple decides one of them should stay home with kids. Where I gnash my teeth the most is when a woman is expected to give up her job to care for his elderly parent. (3) Men who ask for more money are viewed as strong negotiators. Women are seen as demanding bitches for the same thing. Women are often in can’t-win situations in the workplace.

              1. Answeringbeforecoffee*

                I don’t get the whole deliberately taking pink-collar jobs thing. Why not go for a field you’re good at? Also, some female personality types actually do better with fewer women in the office; it’s not a competition thing, as it usually gets put down as, it’s just an “I get along best with my female friends two states away” thing.

                Personal bias: I am female, in a traditionally strongly-to-completely male field, and a single mother. (I also suspect I may have just landed the highest starting pay on the team, and THAT would be thanks in large part to things I’ve read here. Many thanks!) I got this by deliberately looking confused when people claimed that a woman can’t excel in maths/engineering/aerospace and staring through/icing out anyone who tried to treat me as a secretary. I’m not thick-skinned at ALL. There are actually an amazing number of men in the traditionally male fields who will go to bat for women with brains and drive; it balances a lot of the old *rude words here* who don’t see us as anything more than decoration. The stereotype is that it’s all *rude words again*, but it’s not, it’s really not anymore.

        2. Person*

          Google did a study on this:

          – women don’t nominate themselves for promotion
          – women tend not to take jobs if they don’t see many women around

          http://www.businessinsider.com/google-hiring-data-reveals-two-things-women-can-do-to-get-hired-and-promoted-more-2012-8

          *part* of the solution is to stop treating “women” as a special group. people with green eyes don’t care if they see other green eyed candidates.

          “Now, a woman interviewing at Google will meet other women during the hiring process.”
          is the wrong solution.

          1. Daria*

            I’ll admit, as someone who works in the tech industry and works with an awful lot of men, it is disheartening to see a lack of women in the office.

            1. Person*

              I happen to be a female, but I don’t think this matters. I also happen to have blue eyes.

              I work in an office with 32 people. There are 2 blue eyed people in the office. Do I care? no. Do I find it disheartening? no.

              1. Anonymous*

                Do blue-eyed people get discriminated against or have unique life experiences due to having blue eyes? It’s really hardly the same.

                1. Anonymous*

                  No kidding. Why didn’t just start their comment with the obligatory, “I’m not a ___, but ___”

                2. Ask a Manager* Post author

                  Anonymous at 1:56, that seems unwarranted to me, and I say that as a woman. In any case, we’re way off-topic now, so let’s not go any further down that path.

          2. moss*

            when I interviewed for my current job about half of my interviewers were women. I was excited to work with strong smart women. It was and is a big plus for me.

      2. Daria*

        Binders Full of Women is quite possibly my favorite thing to come from this election. And the internet response was on point.

  4. Anna*

    Is it just me, or has there been a spate of sending gifts to hiring managers lately? In addition to this post and the one yesterday, another blog (possibly Brazen Carreerist) posted something about why baking cupcakes for a hiring manager isn’t smart.

    1. Jamie*

      Why am I being left out of this trend? I haven’t even had a good IT bribe in over a year.

      I’m sad that I have so little power no one feels the need to seduce me with cupcakes. Preferably chocolate. Butter cream frosting.

      Throw some multicolored sprinkles on there and I’m yours.

      3. moss*

        I miss the days when I worked in a lab with expensive equipment and would tag along with the lab manager out to fancy meals paid for by the vendor’s sales reps.

        …well not the creepy lab manager, but I do kind of miss the free stuff and food.

        1. perrik*

          I used to work in a hospital department with a busy outpatient clinic. Oh how I miss being there during the holidays to greet the drug company reps bearing food gifts. Sigh. Tins of Danish butter cookies and caramel corn, doughnuts, brownies, cookies…

          And drug companies had the *best* pens. But I digress.

          1. Jamie*

            The best promo things are those little tins of thinking putty.

            I have one from a vendor and use it every single day – if the purpose is to keep their name in front of me done and done.

            It really helps when thinking to have something to fiddle with that’s silent and odorless. Although it’s a little sticky because I used it before my lotion was absorbed the other day and it hasn’t been the same since.

            Just a little PSA for you marketing types out there – everyone loves thinking putty.

            1. Anlyn*

              I used to toss a little stuffed spider beanbag, until I found it was driving my coworker batty. Apparently the beans rattled enough that she could hear it.

              1. Jamie*

                Yep. Stress toys that are silent and have no scent are the best give-aways ever.

                Now, if this candidate had left a tin of smart putty with his pic on it, instead of the framed photo…okay, I still would have thought he was crazy, but I would have kept the putty.

                Speaking of pictures on desks – most are of family (usually kids) and not job applicants…but what’s the etiquette on picking up pictures of people’s family to examine them more closely. I stopped keeping framed pics of my kids in my office because it irked me when people would pick them up like they were browsing in a catalog for children.

                This isn’t a normal thing to be bothered by, is it? Just another thing that bugs me and make regular people roll their eyes and wonder what my problem is.

                1. Rana*

                  It would bug me too. I don’t like people picking up and playing with my stuff, even if it’s something innocuous and impersonal like a stapler or a pad of Post-Its.

                  (I had selected a pen as an example, only to realize that I’m actually quite fierce about my pens. Do not touch my pens, no no no.)

                2. Some European*

                  This thing bothers me too. I think its some bad habit from childhood that many people have. They just have to touch everything when they wanna take a look at it. (Or maybe they are short-sighted and they didnt realize their glasses are not strong enough anymore.)
                  I sometimes cannot resist saying “Eyes are for looking, not the hands.”, even though I’m feeling so awkward when doing this.

                  Oh and please explain what “little tins of thinking putty” are? I have no idea what this could be (English is not my first language) and I’m too curious to know. ;)

          2. Blinx*

            Oh I miss those days! We would get stuff from print vendors. From Thanksgiving til New Years there’d be a table in our department HEAPED with all kinds of goodies — cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, nuts, candies, things I’d never seen before, all packaged up so prettily. Devoured by non-decision makers, of course. These days we’re lucky to get a calendar!

    2. ChristineH*

      Probably so that they can say they got their crazy story published on AAM via the hiring manager! :P j/k

  7. C.*

    Is this stuff new? Or have hiring managers been getting hit with this weird stuff going back awhile? Is it just the bad economy and the competition to secure a job? This is the second weird posting on this subject from Alison in the last two days. Just wondering if its more prevalent now than in the past.

    1. Ask a Manager* Post author

      Nah, I don’t think it’s especially new. We’ve had two posts on it here in two days just because the second one was a comment posted on the first (which I thought was so fantastic that it needed to become its own post).

      1. C.*

        Either way it’s a slice of hilarity. Researching a prospective employer now, I’m thinking of sending in a video of myself doing an interpretive dance on why I would be the best choice, that will get my the job for sure!

  8. Yup*

    This makes me feel so endlessly, endlessly bad for the candidates who get horrendous job hunting advice. Because you know there’s blogs and article and coaches (I use the term advisedly) out there telling people to do exactly this. “Send them a framed photo! Have your resume delivered by a guy a costume! Send the interviewer tickets to Maui! It worked for my best friend’s brother’s cousin’s neighbor who knows this guy who knows this girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night.”

  9. KarenT*

    A fruit/wine basket is inappropriate, but this takes the scale to a whole new level. A framed photo? Ugh. What is he expecting you to do with it? Hang it up on your office wall? Keep it on your desk with the photos of your family? Look at it while you eat the cake?

    He is either (a) unhinged, (b) seriously out of touch with how job searching works, (c) so unbelievably egotistical that he thinks his dashing looks would grant him an interview, or (d) the victim of some career coach who told him to make himself stand out any way possible (not that that excuses him).

    OP, please tell us if his resume would have gotten him an interview. I’m just so curious to know if he had submitted a proper resume sans weird gift if he would have been a viable candidate (ie., did this gift cost him the interview, or would he have never gotten one anyway?).

    1. Jamie*

      “Look at it while you eat the cake?”

      This has made me laugh more than I will ever admit to. I have a feeling “Look at it while you eat the cake” will force itself into my vocabulary.

      It’s been a really rough week or so for me – you have no idea how you’ve cheered me up. Thanks, Karen.

      1. jensmack*

        I did check out his resume and he was not qualified for the position that he applied for.

        I have no idea what he wanted me to do with the picture… I did laugh at it for quite a while. :-)

  10. ChristineH*

    Unless this is for a modeling gig (which I seriously doubt), that is way over the top.

    Either people in this horrible market are taking career advice to desperate levels, or they just want their 15-minutes of fame on the blogs ;)

      2. Anonymous*

        I think the thought process was something sassy like “I’m such a great candidate, you’ll want to keep me in the forefront of your mind for this role, so I’ll make that easy for you by providing a framed photo to display.”

        Except it didn’t come out as humorous. It was just weird.

    1. Ask a Manager* Post author

      Bad attention isn’t what you want in hiring. I think some people think that even if it’s bad attention, at least they’ll look at your resume, and maybe they’ll be so blown away by it that they’ll overlook the creepy/weird/inappropriate gesture you made.

      They will not.

      1. Anlyn*

        Seriously. I don’t care if the resume says “Current position: Archangel skilled in playing the trumpet”. I don’t want to be around someone who creeped me out BEFORE the interview…why would I want to hire him?

  12. twentymilehike*

    What is he expecting you to do with it? Hang it up on your office wall? Keep it on your desk with the photos of your family? Look at it while you eat the cake?

    I’m seriously sitting at my desk trying not to giggle too loudly …

    Maybe it’s just me … but I’m so completely picturing the cross-dressing scene from Silence of the Lambs … “I’d f*ck me,” in the mirror. EW.

  13. Mike*

    My friend will sometimes send a tin of cookies after an interview, but he works in hospitality (hotels sales and catering), so for him to show them he can make a little tin and some cookies look extra special makes sense for his role.

    This is just realy really weird.

  14. the gold digger*

    After my husband and I spent a few hundred dollars and lots of FF miles on tickets and a rental car (because his parents won’t drive to the airport to pick us up) to go to his parents’ place for Christmas a few years ago, after we cleaned the cat poop off the floor, cleaned the garage, cleaned the fridge, weeded the entire garden, and brought our own lunch food because they don’t eat lunch so don’t think to provide it for their houseguests, they gave us a framed photo of themselves as a Christmas present.

    They did give us the option of two different frames.

    The photo currently resides in a drawer in the dining room. If my husband drops dead, that photo is the first thing in the trash, to be followed by his boxes of 1997 phone receipts and his employee manual from when he worked at Apple in 1992.

    1. Jamie*

      “his employee manual from when he worked at Apple in 1992.”

      That could be worth some money someday.

      1. Anna*

        In 2008 — a month or two before everything went down the tubes — my mother was looking for her passport (short version: she was letting me tag along to a conference in Seattle, and I convinced her to tack on a weekend in Vancouver). The passport remained unfound but she did find a hundred Euros she’d had since the exchange rate was below a dollar.

        (And before you ask, not finding that passport didn’t change our plans only because we were crossing the border by bus, and you could still use a driver’s license and birth certificate at that point.)

    2. Bridgette*

      Ha! My friend’s in-laws did that to her as well. I would really rather have a homemade cake than a framed photo of someone. I never give framed photos of myself unless requested, and only my grandparents request that.

    3. AnotherAlison*

      My inlaws gave my husband a framed wedding photo of themselves. Not as a gift, but still quite unwelcome because it’s his STEPMOM and dad. They got married when he was like 5, so it’s not like this happened recently and they were distributing wedding photos to everyone. He also hates his stepmom, and has very justifiable reasons for it. I am not sure that we haven’t thrown that away. . .

          1. the gold digger*

            Yes! It is life size! It’s actually kind of cute in a tacky way, but I am not a big fan of More Crap That I Have To Dust.

            Ellie, at least they mailed it for us. But yes, that was my first thought! “Thank you for this very heavy, bulky item!”

            1. Anna*

              As a cat owner I would find a life-size cast iron cat very creepy indeed. And before you ask, I have no idea how my cat would react to such an object (though I would not be all that surprised if she flipped out).

  15. Hari*

    That is so weird and creepy on so many levels lol. I don’t get people sending gifts to hiring managers, just seems so bribe-ish to me that it doesn’t sit well regardless. Anyway the only way I could see this being sort of OK is if you were applying for a job at a bakery and sent a cake or wanted to work at a florist and sent your handmade flower arrangement. Even then though if that was the standard imagine how many cakes or arrangements these poor managers would have to dispose of? Better to submit a portfolio anyway imho but at least they don’t have the bribe-y feel the rest do.

  16. RJ*

    Perhaps someone opens the OP’s mail and that’s how the gift bag made it to her desk, but my first thought is that he may have delivered this in person. That adds even more to the creepy factor for me.

    1. Ivy*

      The mail guy might have dropped it off… If it’s a bigger item, and doesn’t fit in the mail slot, they’ll drop it off at the person’s desk.

      He’d have had to do some real espionage work to find out where OP sits and to waltz into her office to drop it off :P

      1. RJ*

        Sorry, I meant that he may have hand-delivered it to the front desk/receptionist as opposed to mailing it. If the gift bag came through the mail, it would most probably have been inside a box, so I’d expect to find the box in my office / on my desk, not just the “beautiful gift bag” sitting there. Creepily. :)

  17. AnotherAlison*

    I’d love to hear from the one HM who has hired someone who sent in a resume in a gimmicky way. Do those managers really exist? Certain “career coaches” who do promote this gimmickery (?) claim to have success stories from candidates. Sometimes those coaches qualify their advice saying not to do that type of thing for a financial sector job, but they claim places that are entrepreneurial and creative would like it. I’m far from entrepreneurial and creative, but I still don’t think I’d be impressed if I were.

    1. Ask a Manager* Post author

      Oh, I bet there are a few. But the thing to remember is that a hiring manager who would respond to this (and not see it for what it is) a hiring manager you really don’t want to work for. That’s a manager who is going to reward based on flashiness, not on merit, and that’s a really frustrating place to work.

      2. Yup*

        EXACTLY. How sane can a workplace be if the hiring manager is swayed by gimmicky all-sizzle-no-steak stuff that has nothing to do with the job? Will you be expected to swing from a trapeze in order to be promoted, or what? I’ll pass.

    2. Anonymous*

      I know someone who sent a shoe to a hiring manger and a note, “now that I’ve got my foot in the door…” He was hired – to work in promotions. This was at a radio station known for outlandish stunts.

  20. Patti*

    The smart-a$$ part of me would want to put the photo on my desk and call the guy in for an interview. Just to one-up the creep factor.

    And, yeah… why doesn’t anyone send me cake?

          1. AnotherAdmin*

            Or you could “Eastwood” it and put it in the chair and interview it. Then email the guy and say, “Thanks for taking the time to sit with me today, but we’ve decided to go in another direction…”

    2. Malissa*

      I would take the photo out of the frame and attach it to a dart board. Then play a few rounds. I’d also put a picture of my dog in the frame. Then I’d invite him in for an interview and mention my gluten allergy…

  21. PJ*

    Y’all are missing the most IMPORTANT question in all of this — how did he use the word “cake” in a pun?

      2. Jamie*

        “I can manage your IT as well as your cost accounting – so you can have your cake and eat it, too?”

        Yeah, like anyone in either IT or accounting is running around dropping off gift bags!

    2. Bobby Digital*

      “…fast learner with demonstrated expertise in sales, a range of marketing skills, and, of course, the icing on the cake: I take a seriously sexy Glamor Shot.”

  22. Omne*

    Off the top I wouldn’t eat anything made by someone that I don’t know. Maybe I’m just weird that way.

    Tickets to Maui might make me feel more positive though…..

  23. Rachel*

    One candidate had a pizza delivered to our department! But my boss was impressed so they hired her.

    I was creeped out and didn’t touch the pizza.

    1. KS*

      I’d be so creeped out also! IMHO, that just is too much of a “personal touch” for my tastes but I realize others may feel differently. Another poster phrased it well- things like this just seem like bribery. As in, my experience and qualifications don’t stand out enough on their own so here’s a basket/flowers/pizza to sway your hiring decisions.

  24. KS*

    Wow. That’s very interesting and the candidate sure stands out. For all the wrong reasons unfortunately.

    1. KS*

      And it was either on this site or maybe it was something I’d read elsewhere but one candidate sent a basket of assorted cheeses to the “big cheese” (the CEO), another sent a shoe with a resume inside it to a company (to get a foot in the door), etc.

  25. millefolia*

    This could be an excellent tactic if you know who your competition is for a job… do all this in your competitor’s name!

  26. Hello Vino*

    Alright, I have to ask… is the candidate Asian? In Asia, glamor shots are all the rage. I got glamor shots taken when I got married, but I have a lot of friends who got glamor shots taken at least once a year. Birthdays, holidays, graduations, whenever. They would give their prints to friends, use them on holiday cards, even keep a few handy in their wallet for networking. And yes, I’ve actually seen airbrushed glamor shot photos with superimposed sparkles on business cards and professional websites.

  27. Rob Bird*

    I bet he just forgot to take out the sample picture that comes with all photo frames…I mean really, who would actually send a photo of themselves? ;)

  29. Rob Bird*

    I am waiting for the one that says “I am a hiring manager for Company X, and I received a candidate’s resume on VHS and it started like this: “Hi, I’m Jack. I like long walks on the beach, puppy dogs, and I have this awesome 1978 Camero!”

  32. Rob Bird*

    I can see how, in certain job openings, the tactics in the Guerilla Marketing for Job Hunters books could work. However, that is a very limited number of jobs. It breaks my heart that so many people feel they have to pay good money (that they might not have) to get the help they need.

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