A good laugh...

I'd love to hear about the things (cover letters, reader letters, threatening e-mails, etc.) that you or members of your staff have posted on a nearby bulletin in the office....those always good for a laugh. There are a few things here, one about a junior varsity crew team which is "having what some people are calling a dream season." ah yes...

 

I got a resume once, and this was maybe 1994, that went on to 12 pages or so, using all of the fonts and display tricks from then state-of-the-art desktop publishing software. It was almost as incomprehesible as some ESPN: The Magazine layouts.

 

Hey, Gizmo font was supposed to be the cool thing. Err, nevermind ...

 

I've seen a resume that was designed like a newspaper front. It went straight into the circular file.

 

I remember getting a resume that had the applicant naming all of the things he'd done in sports .. as an athlete ... and that alone was a load of B.S. We did keep it around for awhile to amuse us from time to time. Best thing, however, was when the guy re-applied a few years later and he had changed a few of those accomplishments!

 

We had a guy apply once as a stringer, whose resume showed his father had been the editor of his college newspaper and his mother had been a lifestyles editor at a paper in another state before moving to our state. The kid had never written anything and was not working for his college paper, but he felt we should give him a shot because as his resume stated, "writing is a strong family tradition with us and I think it's time I entered the field of journalism."

 

I once got a fax from a guy bragging that he'd been named the Saints' No. 1 fan. I scratched my head, said that sounded unpossible and called the team. It was a form letter to season ticket holders. Later that night, what is the closing bit on the local sports telecast from across the street?

 

Twice I've received a resume that came postage due.

 

I like that. It gives off an attractive sense of desperation that means you can low-ball the applicant.

 

Exactly Ace:

"Dude, you couldn't afford a stamp, so we feel pretty confident that you will work for whatever crappy amount we offer you."

It's the american way.

[not trying overly hard for sarcasm here...just remembering my last salary negotiation]

 

Damn you. I spent all weekend on that ...

 

That's interesting -- I made one of my best hires from the same kind of resume. Guy's still a big-time, respected person in the biz.

Yeah, I thought it was goofy. And then I said, "I wonder what kind of writer a guy that goofy is."

He was great, so he got hired.

Not trying to criticize, LJB, but sometimes, you have to look beyond things a little bit.