Given
how competitive the job market is, it's vital to make a strong
impression during the interview. But as some intrepid job seekers have
found out, there's a right way and a wrong way to make yourself stand
out.CareerBuilder recently asked more than 2,000 hiring managers to share the most memorable ways that job candidates made their mark. The takeaway? Bold does not always mean better. These were the most outrageous things the hiring managers said they saw:
- The candidate back-flipped into the room.
- The candidate interviewed in a clown suit.
- The candidate delivered a container of beef stew, with a note that read, "Eat hearty and hire me."
- The candidate sent a potential employer his shoe, hoping to "get a foot in the door."
- The candidate read an interviewer's tarot cards.
- The candidate found an interviewer's online shopping wish list and bought items from it.
"Employers typically aren't looking for the most outrageous candidate; they're looking for the best fit," Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder, said in the release."The focus of the interview should be why you would be a great addition to the team, and not what you're willing to do to get noticed."
So what does work? Hiring managers reported these were some of the best tactics:
- The candidate rented a billboard outside his future office.
- The candidate requested that his interview be conducted in Spanish.
- The candidate played a song on his guitar about why he was best for the job.
- The candidate created a wedding-style invitation in place of a cover letter that welcomed the employer to hire her.
- The candidate offered to help the interviewer's assistant make copies.
- The candidate fixed a piece of office equipment while on his first interview.
- The candidate put his resume on a bar of chocolate.
"Thinking outside the box is great," Haefner said. "But the stunts that work best are the ones that showcase your relevant skills and abilities."