Did you hear the one about the candidate who applied for a job with a beer bottle?

Tweet

Did you hear the one about the candidate who applied for a job with a beer bottle?

I took a call recently from my brother in law telling me he heard an interview on RTE radio with an enterprising young jobseeker from Ireland, who applied for a job on beer bottles. Seriously! 

Now the casual observer would think, what a great idea, as my bro-in-law did. He works as a journalist for the Star and saw a story looming. But I’ll tell you what I told him. CREATIVE ideas like that normally only work if you are looking for a job in a CREATIVE industry.

In Hays, our consultants provide recruitment expertise in Accountancy, Administration, Banking, Construction, Engineering, Financial Services, Insurance, IT, Life Sciences and Procurement. So our advice to any of our candidates would be to keep their CV design as plain as possible. The more generic, the easier it is for trained CV readers (such as recruiters and HR professionals) to read it, before they move on to the many other CVs they have in their to-do pile. Anything wacky or CREATIVE is just a pain, as they are not looking to hire someone for their creativity.

We recommend customising your CV for every job you apply for, but only in relation to matching words and phrases with the job specification. It’s not about using the hiring company’s corporate colours or font in your typeset, it’s about making your relevant experience clear on your CV.

However, since I’m a marketer, I applaud this guy for doing something different. I once applied for a university placement year with Liverpool Football Club using a football as my cover letter. It didn’t result in a job offer, but I did receive a nice rejection letter, on the official headed paper. That was the best rejection I’ve ever received (and I’ve still got it!).

I tried something similar, a few years later, in December. I was looking for a job with an advertising agency in Dublin. I researched the top 10 agencies and found the client director in each company and sent them all a ‘Christmas present’ via courier. It was an impressive shiny box with a nice big bow - like the Americans do. Inside, it had ‘treats’ from brands I had worked on with a Belfast agency – Tayto crisps, Vodafone golf balls, etc. Subsequently, I got three interviews in a couple of days and accepted a job with Cawley Nea, TBWA.

But enough about me. The beer boy received what I received from LFC – thanks, but no cigar. He’s probably gutted now, but he’s had some serious PR since the response: the RTE interview and a feature on joe.ie which shows his ‘application’. Reading the joe.ie article I was able to find out he was applying to a drinks company, which was a relief. And he was a marketer, which was a double relief!

He was told he didn't have enough experience. Which reminds me of the previous blog written here by my learned colleague, Mike McDonagh, Business Director. Mike was highlighting how companies are looking for talent, when they should be looking for potential. And believe it or not, it inspired me to an idea for another blog, a follow-up to Mike’s on the value of looking beyond the obvious. But that’s for another day....

I don’t know the full story behind the drinks company's rejection of our plucky applicant, but in fairness to the firm behind the rejection, they might be under pressure to deliver on this project i.e. hiring a marketer to a specific high standard. Subsequently, it’s difficult for them to go out on a whim and take a risk.

One thing’s for sure, this guy will have a great story to tell in his next interview. It will leave a lasting, positive, impression on the interviewer. And that is something we definitely recommend in ANY job interview.

Stephen Flanagan is Senior Marketing Manager and is currently looking for a marketing intern to join his team. Apply here.