Is It Stupid (Or Crazy) Enough To Work?
I used to work in sales and marketing for a big telecom company here in Montreal before I decided to go solo. It was a big building, 14 floors I think. On each floor you had a different department (or many).
I remember the 9th floor where all the creative people used to spend their days; designing the next version of the website, the colorful posters, writing kick-ass sales letters, thinking of a new logo and all.
I ended up working there for a couple of weeks (although they ‘needed‘ me in another department, and I eventually had to leave… damn-it!). And almost everyday we would see people coming in to give their resume. Most of them didn’t seem interested in the creative stuff and looked like they just needed a ‘job‘.
Well, one day this guy showed up with a red chair, and he wanted to meet the supervisor, he said he didn’t care about the HR guy, he wanted to see the immediate supervisor so he could talk to him for a sec.
So there he was with his red chair, he waited for about 15 minutes, then the supervisor went to meet him, and the guy said:
- Hi, my name is [shall remain unnamed], I want to work for you guyz. I brought a chair, you can keep it, you will never see me sitting on it if you hire me. My name and phone number are written on the chair. Call me.
And he left.
The following monday, ‘the guy with the red chair‘ got a call, and a job.
Why Did He Get The Job?
That company probably gets hundreds of resumes every week, and they picked the guy with the red chair. Why?
I’m sure many of the resumes they received were great, if not impressive, and I’m sure there was a hundred people better qualified than this guy. But they hired him.
The guy proved them he was creative and confident enough. He wasn’t afraid to just go ahead and try it, even knowing it was a kinda crazy (who would show up just like that with a red chair?).
He got the job.
What About You?
Please take a minute to share your stories, I’m sure some of you did something similar (I did! But that’s for another post). It would be interesting to read your ‘crazy‘ stories. How you managed to get a job, or a gig. How a stupid (not so stupid if it worked) idea helped you get a contract. ;)
Jon
******
picture of the red chair by Nate Steiner.
******
Related Posts:
50 Rockin' Comments
November 9th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
I have never had any luck with crazy ideas as for getting a job. I agree though, sometimes being a little out of line or crazy really helps as it shows your personality of what you can do and how willingly.
I remember reading an article in a magazine. he was the one who made the logo for “Rolling Stone”. He said ” I just went in there and told I am the one who can do the job for you and nobody else ” and he got it made the logo and the ” Rolling Stone” logo became one of the most powerful branding logo for them for years.
November 9th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
To me, it seems like that kind of thing is becoming more and more what employers seem to look for, and I don’t really think it totally qualifies you for a position.
It does show you have some creative thinking, but not everyone does, and not every job calls for being creative. I do think it is a way to stand out in a crowded field of gray.
Great post, thanks. Scott
November 9th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
WooooEE! Do I have a story for you!
There was a time when I was living in Toronto and I needed a job by pretty much the next day. There are many, many reasons why this situation should not have occurred, but it did, and I was screwed.
It occurred to me that the only industry I could consider on that short of a timeframe while still keeping my clothes on was waitressing. Good idea. One problem. Never waitressed before in my life.
After a few glasses of my neighbour’s wine, I figured that the only way I could legitimately claim to have waitressing experience but no resume was to be an immigrant. I spent a few years in England when I was little, and I can do a not-bad English accent. Not great, but not passable in front of those who don’t know any better.
I mosied on down to the local (Irish!) pub and begged. I told the most ridiculous story imaginable, involving the actual words “I just stepped off the plane today. I don’t know where to go. I miss my family so much already.”
I worked there for six months, faking being English the whole time.
(Note to readers: if you ever decide to do this, please remember that Bass Ale is pronounced with a short A sound. Rhymes with ass, not face. Do not call it Base Ale. This will very likely blow your cover.)
November 9th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
It seems that creativity is something that employers like. Creative people are problem solvers. They have confidence in themselves.
November 9th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Not so much out there, but proactive. When I was at uni, one day in 1997, the lecturer asked if anyone knew how to make web pages because he had a job for a conference site and would have a meeting with the potential web developer in a week. I knew nothing about it HTML but figured I could learn it in a week. I confidently raised my hand and he picked me. That day I bought a book on HTML and haven’t looked back since.
November 10th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
That is a great story, Jon. I did my resume up more like a company brochure once and got hired for job with no difficulties whatsoever (turned down what they offered, though, so I never worked for them). My resume was the most original thing they had seen in years. I absolutely knew without a doubt that I would be offered the job when I was creating it.
November 10th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
ya he is creative alright and show some determination on his part. and that’s how we usually try to judge for things. uniqueness standout from the rest. i guess it is just human behavior. we do unique things so people would think we are special. we pick unique people who want to attract us because when they do that to us we feel that we are special.
November 11th, 2007 at 4:17 am
Thanks for sharing your stories guyz. Interesting stuff!
haha, Naomi, that really happened? ahh, the things we do :)
Michelle, that’s how I started, just like that, someone needed a website and I raised my hand, hehe
November 11th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
great story. i will have to share that one!
November 12th, 2007 at 3:35 am
I got my current job using a utube video resume.
November 12th, 2007 at 3:47 am
I went for an interview, there was the usual Q&A then the usual “hypothetical scenario” they gave me to solve. I described in detail how I would solve the scenario but stopped just short of giving the final solution.
The panel asked me to go on and I told them “Well if I went on you’re going to have your problem solved for free and you won’t need me”. They looked at each other and whispered something and told me they’ll get back to me and thanking me for my time.
I walked out of the room telling myself I probably blew it. Two weeks later I got a call saying I got the job and my first assignment; solve the “hypothetical scenario” which I did in 1 month from the day the hired me and 5 years on I’m still with them.
November 12th, 2007 at 3:48 am
That’s inventive, I would give it to him just to find out why he would never sit in it?
November 12th, 2007 at 4:04 am
because he gave it to the company, if he wasn’t hired, he wouldn’t sit in it cause it isn’t his anymore.
November 12th, 2007 at 4:08 am
Actually he says:
“you will never see me sitting on it if you hire me”
So if you hire him, he won’t sit on it. Otherwise all bets are off.
November 12th, 2007 at 4:11 am
I usually submit with my resume a picture of myself and a 10 foot tall geodesic dome I built out of plywood and some cable ties in my back yard last summer. Also, I don’t bother with resume templates, I just spent about 5 hours carefully writing mine freeform. Whenever I post my resume now I get lots of responses and most HR people I’ve spoken to remark that they like my resume, it’s fun to read and the picture at the end is great. It’s good to stand out from the crowd. Especially when you consider a lot of companies end up hiring people only to find out they’re pretty uninspired, unspecial, and are just there to get a paycheck. If you want a job, show that you have some passion in some way, shape, or form.
November 12th, 2007 at 4:20 am
He demonstrated inventivity, creativity and will to do hard work to supervisor. He deserve to get that job.
ps. for sitting, there are many other chairs.
November 12th, 2007 at 5:05 am
My interpretation is:
It’s the chair he was sitting at home doing nothing and got tired of that and wanted to take action and get the job. So he said “you will never see me sitting on it”
November 12th, 2007 at 5:11 am
Hey, guy in this video made an awesome creative resume! Shame it didn’t work out for him… I wonder where he went wrong?
http://www.superdeluxe.com/sd/.....D6E1AFFFAC
November 12th, 2007 at 6:12 am
Me and my friend went to our design school where we had attended night classes in advertising and graphic design, to get feedback to our work samples (which we sent in to get in to the school but were rejected).
After a peptalk with the head of the advertising program we decided to impromptu swing by an ad agency on Kungsgatan (Stockholm’s Madison Ave.) and force an interview on somebody. It was lunchtime so they tried to fend us off, but I was quick to say that if it was lunch, nobody was busier with anything other than to down that foot long sub. Having said that, a project manager agreed to see us, together, competing for the same job as an assistant.
We both had ugly boxes with our works in them, tied together with string and looked like we hadn’t had sleep in over a week. And my friend started out showing his stuff, and I was baffled at the quality, so much that when it was my turn I hesitated, verbally, to showing them, but my friend convinced me.
So I showed my subpresentable crappy work and she said that we were both interesting. I am though sorry to say that there is no Hollywood ending here, as she said she would call one of us for a trial period of one month, but she never did. She also said that her business card were at the printers, so we never had an idea to who she was after a week - being that we where constantly looking for a job.
November 12th, 2007 at 6:25 am
Friend of mine when graduating high school, brilliant student applied to harvard. He was required to submit a 10 page paper, on the biggest risk he has ever taken. He submitted 10 blank pages and on the last one conluded with, “this is the biggest risk I have taken..” He was accepted but went to Standford instead.
November 12th, 2007 at 8:10 am
I would say he promised never to sit on it because he would be busy all the time working for the company.
Anyway, if you talk to HR managers you will get one answer most of the times: Eccentric ideas like the one above usually won’t do.
There is so much more to a job application than coming up with a creative presentation, and you bet that many HR managers have seen enough different/crazy/haha ideas already…
November 12th, 2007 at 8:37 am
When I was first out of college I took a job as a consultant for a applications development company. I enjoyed computers, programming, and technology but my first love was video games. I had zero practical experience in game development and was on the opposite side of the country so my chances were minimal.
I decided that since I had no chance I might as well try something different so I sent my resume with a cover letter entitled, “Help! Save me from a life of boring computer code.” I told them how much I loved gaming and my how much I could bring to their company.
I ended the letter with, “Please don’t let me become another Bill Gates clone…”
I landed a job at Sega of America in San Francisco, CA. It was the best year of my life and I learned one very important thing. Don’t hesitate to do something different.
Great Article! I look forward to reading more.
Carlton
November 12th, 2007 at 8:57 am
I think the general message is he won’t be sitting around on the job. Duh.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:07 am
My first real job out of college was perfect for me. I could do the job and was being recommended from the inside by the person I would be replacing.
Problem is the company didn’t really like the person who was recommending me and figured I was just going to be more of the same.
After two months of run around, I was told once again that they still had to think about it and should call back in a month, I was pretty upset to hear that there was still going to another delay, but said OK and hung up.
I had to catch a subway immediately after that call. I sat thinking on the train that this was ridiculous … I was the best candidate for the job and they’d be lucky to have me. And I was absolutely certain of that.
At the next stop, i jumped off the train and ran to a pay phone (I didn’t have a cell phone in 1996).
I called back the person who was putting me off and when he took the call, without letting him talk, I said, “i was thinking about what you said, and I’m standing on a subway platform right now because I jumped off a train the moment I realized why you aren’t hiring me …. hiring a new person is a big commitment because I’m an unknown entity. But I can do this job and I can do it better than anyone you would hire. I’m so sure that if you allow me to start working, i guarantee that within 3 months, i will prove it. And if in three months, you don’t walk over to me and tell me that I was right, I’ll clean off my desk and you’ll never see me again.”
This is almost word for word of what I said, and when I was finished the guy didn’t say anything for a few long moments. Then he said, “Let me think about it.” It got back to me in a few days later that the guy was “thoroughly stunned by my tenacity” — his words.
I got the job, I worked there for three years until I was recruited elsewhere. to this day, most of the policies and protocols I created while there are still being used, and the person I hired to take my place is still there.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:10 am
I know of two South African guys who had moved to London and were trying to get a job at Ogilvy. After seeing their Resumé put in a stack with a whole bunch of others they decided they needed to try a different course. So they bought a tent, found out where the MD lived and set up camp outside his house. Every morning when the guy left his driveway they were waiting for him with a cup of coffee and an example of their work. After two weeks the MD eventually conceded and gave them both jobs.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:39 am
i had a teacher tell me a story of him getting a full-size photo of him made (he’s well over six feet tall) and shipping it FLAT to the company he wanted to work for. He didn’t get the job, but he sure got an interview…
November 12th, 2007 at 10:33 am
I know a guy who took out a billboard - HIRE ME. Unfortunately he didn’t get any job offers and 2+ years later is still out of work.
November 12th, 2007 at 11:31 am
NEVER do things the way most do- or you’ll get the same results…and the same boring life!
Dare to be Insane, and everyone steps aside, intimidated, and you take control!
November 12th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Changing of names for a job.
A coworker of mine named Joe was waiting alone in a lobby for a job interview. The interviewer came into the lobby and asked if his name was David. Not one to give up the job to the guy in front of him who was apparently late, he said “Yes my name is David. Nice to meet you.” Long story short, he ended up getting the job immediately and had to go by David the rest of his time there, and still goes by David to this day even though it’s not his real name. I guess when you really need a job you’ll really do just about anything.
November 12th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
One time I took a shit on the interviewer’s desk. I said that if I had a job there, I’d never take a shit during work hours again. That was my first time being escorted out of an office by security.
November 12th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
unfortunately these days most buildings security or then the company security won’t let you int he door without an appointment which you would have had to get with a resume or a phone conversation.
if you showed up with a red chair questions would be asked and you would be localized and isolated by security.
in los angeles you can barely get in any buildings at all.
Think of all the lost creativity shut out because of over zealous security freaks.
vivzizi.com
the fizz of life
November 12th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Just doing something to get noticed won’t help if you have no clue how to do the job. You need both.
November 12th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Certainly a nice ploy to get attention, and show how to market yourself.
It certainly makes the guy sound like a go-getter.
November 12th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
I was interviewing for the job I have currently and we were talking about what the job entailed. The job was a research and development job for the IT department. They were discussing some of the issues they were having and looking for solutions on.
I figured I would go home and do some research on the problems they were having, so I did. They interviewed about 15 more applicants most with BA’s and some even having PHD’s. Did I mention I had no college degree?(Still working on it)
After finding a couple of solutions I e-mailed the manager with the solutions I had found and also expressed that I would have told him before but I needed to research it. About two weeks later I get a call and a job offer. Maybe not a crazy thing to do but really unconventional.
November 12th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Hey everybody!
First of all, i apologize for my bad English. It´s not my mother tongue :)
I read the article and i must say, it inspired me pretty much. Since i live in Germany and am not even german i have hard times finding a job (coming from eastern Europe, Ex-Yugoslavia).
Why am i writing this? I´m very good at many things i did whereelse, before i came to Germany but still, either i dont get any response at all when i apply or i get No, Thanx.
The question,….would it be REALLY ok to make my CV the way i need it at the certain moment?
I seems like everybody did it already but sill,…i´m confused.
November 12th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
When I finished high school one of my friends was working as an art dept junior for a newspaper….she left to go travelling…the boss told me that since they had just gone over to these whizzbang new Apple Mac’s if i could type the job was mine…(After two years of typing classes in school I failed to achieve 30wmp with any sort of accuracy)….Sure I can type I told him…..that was in 1989 & I’ve been working in the design field ever since.
November 12th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
I once got a job because the IT manager found out I had tickets to Phantom and was impressed that I stayed for the tour of of the company even though I had to give up my tickets. Yes, I got the job!
November 13th, 2007 at 1:22 am
Once in an interview in front of a panel they had placed a cell phone right behind me and in the middle of the interview one of their co-workers called it. They told me to answer it and then the guy on the other end asked me to answer the question “What weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?” I think they wanted to see how I would handle something un-expected or if I could answer the question under pressure. I told him I was in an interview and it was very unprofessional for me to be on the phone and that I had to go, then I hung up. It worked out very well.
November 13th, 2007 at 5:32 am
I did many interviews, and all were the same. Stupid questions and unprofessional conversations.
I have two stories, the first one was good as an interview the person who met me was talking in so friendly way, or like I’m friend of him and I believe this way is the best because we explore each other.
the second one was stupid where that Miss met me were she has no background about the work that I’m applying to and she was unfriendly at all and I though if I’m applying to a big company (or a chance) may this stupid person (the interview) wast my chance.
and about your story…as u said ..it is a creative floor
so you need creative people to accept that ‘crazy‘ action and they are not in my town :)
November 13th, 2007 at 10:51 am
My father was part of the New York advertising scene in the 60’s and 70’s (think “Mad Men”), and he used to tell some great stories. At one point he was looking to hire an Art Director. They posted the job in the usual NY papers, and got literally hundreds of resumes in the first few days.
As my father’s eyes crossed and his brain went offline from scanning all these resumes, two leapt out. The first was written on butcher paper in several colors of crayon. It went on top of the “to interview” pile. The second went into the trash and was pulled back out after a WTF??? moment. Among the jobs this fellow had listed were “Photo Editor, Wall Street Journal” (hint: no photos in the Journal in those days!), and “Kamikaze Pilot - over 100 successful missions”.
In the end, neither guy got hired, but they both got interviews. The point of the story when Dad told it was simply that: Resumes don’t get you jobs, resumes get you interviews. If you think otherwise, you’ll never succeed.
November 13th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Hey folks, thanks a lot for sharing your stories, some are really freakin funny! :)
By the way, some people e-mailed me, or left a comment on Digg wondering if that would work in any situation, well honestly I think it would work only if you apply for a creative type of job (no, a law frim doesn’t fall in this category), and of course it also depends if the person, the interviewer or supervisor is open minded and is actually looking for someone creative. Anyway, it does show some creativity :)
Oh, and about the guy in my story, yes he still works there, he’s now in charge of the department, almost 6 years now.
November 13th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Hey Jon,
I’m interested in reading the post with your crazy story.
November 19th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Jon:
I LOVED that red chair story! Quite memorable too.
I have a story I’d love to share with you. It’s not as spiffy as the “red chair” situation but it took a lot of guts and courage to do it.
Let me tell you in a nutshell what happened and then if you want to read the short story of the “Merrill Lynch Interview.” The link is attached to my name above. How’s that?
After numerous interviews at ML, I met with the VP for the final one. At one point he was fumbling with a paper clip, obviously trying to decide if I was up to the job as a stockbroker.
Without warning I lifted my finger, pointed it directly at him and said “Sir, if you don’t hire me, you’ll never know what I can do for this firm.” Time seemed to slow down like in the movies and I was hired.
Click my name above for the full story, I think you’ll enjoy it. :)
April 18th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Thing is, try some of these things these days and you’ll probably get tasered — like that cattle the government wants to treat us like — and die of heart failure. Sounds funny, but I’m damn serious.
Fabio: You’re seriously sick. Maybe you should join Alice Cooper’s tour.
May 30th, 2008 at 5:25 am
I did some marketing for a small telecom based PLC, I knew I had found the right lead, however all my emails went unanswered. In a fit of temper I sent an email saying he was the biggest £$%^&^%& in the world, he called me straight back and within 5 mins I landed a £500,000 contract.
July 12th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I am trying to land a creative job at an agency. I want to big a medium sized fish in a bigger pond. So my idea is a goldfish delivered by me in a bowl with my info and small sample design elements printed on a plastic disk on the bottom of the bowl.
What do you think?
I think its a decent idea because the bowl will stick around the agency for a while (I’ll include some fish food) and thus my info will as well.
Trackbacks
Share your thoughts, leave a comment!