
Sir, every time you say "dude" or "bra" in this interview I'm subtracting it from your already low IQ.
With our company you get 104 personal days a year!!! They're called Saturday and Sunday.
It's pretty amazing how the wrong punctuation and spelling can change an extremely well thought out cover letter into an email that we pass around the office to laugh at and then it ends up hanging out with the other idiots in the trash can.
Now if you are a grammar nazi, or just have a brain, you'll have noticed that my grammar in this blog is FAR from perfect. The difference is, I'm not looking to get a job out of it. If you don't like my grammar... blow me (is that grammatically correct enough for you?). However, what I have to say to the resume submitters - a mistake or two in your cover letter MATTERS big time! So just like they told you in elementary school: proofread, proofread and then proofread again!!!!!
Here are some resume submission examples that I got a kick out of and saved over the past couple weeks:
The clothing I have had in my closet the longest are those timeless pieces - my LBD, nice house sweater, slippers (that could probably be replaced now), items that either are never going to go out of style OR no one will see them in public to KNOW they're going out of style.
Now this goes mostly for gentlemen (if you want to call them that) I've met, but ladies too, that t-shirt with holes and armpit stains - not the best choice for your interview.
Man calls our office to see what hours we're open for walk ins, when I tell him it's over in 45 minutes he says "okay I'll clean up and be right over."
15 minutes later a man walks in. Now I would feel rude calling this guy filthy afraid of actually offending the filthy people.... this guy was absolutely, completely, utterly repulsive. His t-shirt was the leader of the pack of armpit stains- the salvation army would throw this guys shirt away, a homeless man would be embarrassed to wear this shirt, someone looking for a cleaning rag would think twice before using this shirt...
Me: "Wow, that was fast!"
Man: "I've mastered the 10 minute shower." - Doesn't smell like it buddy.
Some ham-sammied conversations are the best, I encourage drunk-dials/high-dials (is that even a thing?) always - especially if you sound like something straight out of Sesamea Street (see below), but NOT AT WORK IDIOTS:
What were you thankful for last Thanksgiving? I was thankful for good family, good friends, and of course... good beer. Apparently an employee and I were on the same page:
Three call outs: $150, Forgetting lunch and ordering chinese food: $15, 3 Monster drinks to keep me awake: $7 , Employee walking in with a turkey hat and wings screaming GOBBLE GOBBLE at the top of his lungs with a Miller Highlife 40 taped to his hand... priceless.
If you're old enough to work, then you're old enough to not have to have mommy call out of work for you. Period.
Only time it's acceptable to have mama bear call us for you, is if she is holding you so close that it makes for a good office joke:
"I'm calling out for my little shnookums because my sweetie has a runny nose and he wont wash his hands enough on his own."
Maybe it's time to change the background picture of your cell phone from your mom to... anything else, let go of her skirt hem, grow a pair and CALL ME YOURSELF TO PATHETIC KITTEN!
Laziness comes in many forms, in fact some of the greatest inventions are inspired by laziness - take sliced bread for example! But not everyone can translate their lazytarian attitudes into genius.
Heres one instance of a lazy sloth from yesterday: If you have a question about the application and sit at your desk in the lobby yelling "hello! excuse me! hello!" over and over until we hear you and come out to find out what's wrong instead of you walking to the office like we instruct you to - I'm going to ignore you. No pat on the back or Nobel Prize for you.
Seriously, drugs are bad. Now since starting here I have many times seen something that crosses the line of disgusting and verges into the line of kissing your grandmother and slipping her the tongue. I know I can't make people stop but it's just beyond NASTY and what I CAN do is embarrass anyone who does do this publicly.
If you have an extra long pinky nail and all your other nails are clipped... I know what that means. I've seen the movies, I've heard the stories, I and everyone else have deciphered your code you damn fool! It's disgusting and all you're doing is actually publicizing your drug habit! Aren't you embarrassed to walk around with a honking sign on your pinky that says "I do drugs!"?
Clip your nails kid... oh yeah, and don't do drugs.
Art can be expressed in many ways, but the tricky question is where do you place that art? Your living room, your bedroom, even bodies are used as canvasses, but there's one place art should just stay the fuck out of it- your nails!!
Ladies (and a handful of men we've met here), there's a fine line between tasteful manicures and Rainbow Bright talons.
When your finger nails look like their going to intimidate Medusa's hair, I think it's time to break out the clippers.
We have a lot of wicked stupid slang, and to be honest I'm a habitual user of most of it. However there's one bit of slang that just makes me want to round house kick whoever uses it in the mouth for being the armpit of Webster, that word is: legit. Now does anyone actually know the real definition of this word? Don't fear, I'm here to educate:
Speaking of identity theft (if you read the previous post), who's teaching kids about identity theft these days? Is it taught in school, by your parents, the dope-dealer on the side of the road? No. The only ones who seem to be educating are commercials these days, but how else do you learn right?!
WARNING- This could be you:
In an interview we ask you all about your skills. Old skills, new skills, red skills, blue fish. We understand that everyone (seriously, stop lying to yourself... you did it too) exaggerates in their interviews. In fact, we appreciate it - good liars usually mean good workers... or it seems like they are! But exaggerating does not mean lying (which happens more often then not), so when you come in here with honesty I can tell you - it's GREATLY appreciated.
A woman comes in looking for an office sort of position and I ask if she'd be interested in a retail type position which involves handling cash. Her response:
"Oh man, I'm terrible with money. In fact, my credit score would probably benefit from identity theft at this point."
Thank you for the laugh... now go find a financial advisor, NOW!
Sometimes instructions don't need to be followed, but it's at your own risk. For example, those washing labels inside your wool clothing. "Hand wash. Lay flat to dry." My thoughts - "you wash your own frickin' clothes by hand sucker, I have a machine!" However, when my new sweater can fit a toddler - I'm not going to cry to the company needing a new sweater... my ass didn't follow directions!
There are other instructions however that should be followed if for no other reason then... there is no other option. We have a sliding door to get into our office, and right on the door is a BIG sign that says "Door Slides - Please Slide This Way ---->" - yes, the arrow is included.
So here's what I have to say to you gentleman who we watched ferociously try to pull the door open and then angrily calls us and screams that our door is locked: that was your first test.
POP QUIZ TIME- Multiple Choice Style!
You come in for an interview and you left your previous position because you didn't get along with your boss.
Question: The interviewer asks you, "So why did you leave your last job?" your response should be:
A- You say "my boss and I did not see eye-to-eye" and leave it at that.
B- You turn it around and say "my boss and I didn't get along and I felt I could be more productive in a harmonious work atmosphere."
C- You say "my old boss was a jackass and is terminally ill and I hope he dies."
Those of you who answer A and B- thank you. Guy who came in a said "C" - go to hell.
Part of my everyday work routine is sitting at my desk casually eavesdropping on the people sitting in the lobby filling out applications... lots of good material.
We often here singing, babies crying, sweet turtledoves cooing, but WAY too often we here fighting. Now this one conversation was a normal bicker between lovers over the ever-so-common fight: food. Guys hungry, girls asking him to wait until after the interview, guy whines that he can't "hold it" anymore, girl tells him he's pathetic, guy throws a c-bomb (don't know what that is? It's similar to the turtle shell in MarioKart... google it), girl starts getting a bit louder "what did you say to me?"... this is when I decide to interject and get up, blood is really hard to clean out of carpet.
Now this is not the best part of this dynamic-duo. This guy had a real technique, a real flare for douchbaggery, he had mastered the art of asstardism. While his girlfriend is in her interview he comes to me and asks "do you mind if I get a pizza delivered here? I need to piss off my girl."
I don't know, it depends... can I have a slice?
I think we've heard it all as far as reasons that employees call out go but people, lets get our facts straight! One woman who's job entails dealing with soy milk calls into our office to let us know she's not going in. When we ask her why:
"I'm calling out because I don't like handling products that come from animals."
.... okay, Jessica Simpson. For anyone that doesn't get that reference:
You can generally place our employees in 3 different categories:
1. There are the employees we love, they brighten your day with their happiness to work and it's a pleasure to work with them.
2. There are the average keep-to-themselves employees, I'd say those are my favorite - you do you, I do me, we live happily ever after apart!
3. Then there are the employees that send me through the roof, Willy Wonka Glass Elevator style!
On that note, here's a nice little story for you! Once upon a time it was roughly 12:30 in the afternoon on a beautiful Monday and my co-worker was lucky enough to be on vacation... or stay-cation in this case. She was out to lunch that afternoon when she notices an employee who is the LEADER of category #3 - a pest is an understatement, lets call this woman Dory.
Now according to my co-worker, Dory was not going for an afternoon stroll, she was going for an afternoon stumble! She was drunker then drunk, ham sandwiched if you will, she should have been arrested for a WUI- Walking Under the Influence. She wasn't out there trying to hide her magoogled behavior, she was brown paper bag handy! What's the logical thing for her to do in this instance you ask? OF COURSE, call her employer!
The phone conversation Dory and I had was one of those "you had be there" conversations that don't translate well after writing, but needless to say our conversation didn't get very far. It was a cluster-fuck of massive amounts of slurring, her randomly at points screaming "two, two, two, two..." for what reason I have NO idea, her continuously asking someone to turn the music down.... when there was no noise in the background, the incredible awkwardness of her blatantly hitting on me (yes, my ears DID throw up), and just massive amounts of pure drunken comedy.
The next day Dory shows up at our office with no recollection of the hilarity that ensued just 24 hours before, and claimed someone hit her on her bicycle.... I'm guessing it was the invisible man that always shows up when you've had too much to drink.
Seriously, I feel like I shouldn't even write the moral of this story. But because we get these calls all the time and this is just one of the many, I will. Please when you are cocked off your ass- call your employer... if you're not looking to keep your job.
Welcome to your first Friday! Friday is a fun day because Friday is the oh-so-sweet pay day! Everyone coming in to pick up their checks makes the questions endless, repetitive, and extremely entertaining.
New Employee: "Do you pay in cash?"
Me: No, we only pay in Trident Layers, "No sir, this is a business. That is why you filled out your W-4."
New Employee: "Then how do I make this check turn into money?"
If you stick it in the pot at the end of the rainbow the leprechaun does his magic and BOOM, gold coins!
I have lots of hobbies! Fishing, hiking, writing, crack (if you took that seriously, then I also like hookers and blow)... these are things I do alone, I do with my friends, who cares. That being said, my fishing and snorting abilities have nothing to do with my work, work ethic or experience.
So this is not a note to the resume builders, but to the teachers... those claiming to educate but are really the armpit of the resume society. You do not need a "hobbies" section on your resume. Please don't teach people they do, it wastes valuable space that they could be putting RELEVANT information. I'm sure they're a great, fun person, but in this instance- I.Don't.Care.
Here's just a small list of the hobbies that have been listed on multiple resumes (I swear, I can't make this shit up):
- Treasure Hunting
- Roller Derby
- Crazy Hippy Dancing
- Hacky Sack with my Friends
- Singing songs from Musicals
- Metal Detector Adventurer
- Masturbating... okay that wasn't really on a resume, but I bet someone's been tempted.
There are SO many more but this is a collection of my favorites. So please take note, no more "hobbies" section okay... unless it's "money giver" and in that case - HIRED.
Did everyone see on the news the woman who was kicked out of Walmart for wearing a bathing suit? Yes? Okay good. No? Quick suckling the teet and please view:
People treat our office like the local dump. They leave their trash everywhere! We find it tucked into chair cushions, gum under chairs, paper shreds on the floor, the list goes on. Every once in a while people forget more important things in our office, we've come across cell phones, ipods, wallets, but they all come back for that stuff (what you didn't want to come back for that gum you saved under the chair?).
Recently however, someone left a real treat for us (get your mind out of the gutter). After a hectic afternoon of interviews once everyone had gone, what do we find sitting right there in the lobby? A pair of sneakers! What, were you airing out your feet before the interview? Were they hurting your feet? Did they not match your outfit? AND DID YOU WALK OUT BAREFOOT?! Best part of all, they're still here.
Size 11, mens, Air Jordans if anyone needs a pair....
I'm sure you have a beautiful voice... well, I'm sure your parents told you, you had a beautiful voice. But here's a hint: unless you have a microphone in your hands, are standing on a stage, or are in your car, that song that's stuck in your head should stay stuck in ONLY your head. Singing out loud is a common practice for applicants in our lobby, but about once a year a gentleman comes in and takes the cake from all the American Idol Wannabes:
If you are filling out an application with your headphones in and singing along (happens): shut the fuck up.
If you are waiting in our lobby and singing a little tune with your buddies (happens often): seriously shut the fuck up.
If you are singing Jingle Bells in August DURING our interview: GET THE FUCK OUT!
Thanks :)
Okay I know Elle Woods did it (Legally Blonde reference for anyone with a penis or living under a rock), and it seems like a good idea when you're walking around Staples looking at all your options. BUT PEOPLE: Your resume should not be on scented paper, should not be on cloud paper, should not have glitter falling off of it making me look like the Fairy Job Mother! Simple white paper is fine. If you want to go the extra mile there's this AMAZING thing thats actually made specifically for resumes, it's called resume paper!
Many of you have heard this story, as it happened in my very first few weeks with my company and I've shared it with just about anyone that will listen. For those of you who haven't, you're in for a treat.
A gentleman (or something) walks into my office covered in pure filth looking like a caveman right out of a Geico commercial. He's holding his hands out to his sides as if he knows he's so grimy that he doesn't even want to touch himself, afraid of what diseases he might catch. However, surprisingly the first thing you notice about this man is not his filth, but it's his mouth. His teeth, or what is left of them, are there rotting right in front of me, so brown that I think maybe he's so dirty because he was eating a pile of dirt right before seeing me.
Man: "I'm looking for a job because I really need dental insurance."
Me: Well that's obvious: "Please, take a seat."
He leans over my desk as he's sitting down and what happens next?! His TOOTH falls right out and lands right in front of him! I don't mean a piece of his tooth, I mean root and all. Just a dead decaying tooth laying right there on my desk!
He looks at me in what looked like painful shock, scoops up the tooth and slides it in his pocket (yeah you better save that buddy), takes my Clorox wipes, gives my desk a good once over and quietly walks out of my office.
A day in the life of HR... ahhh so sweet.
Just a few days ago a man comes into our office for an interview. I'm done judging people by the cleanliness of their hands or clothes because in general, it's not good. So by personality standards, I was excited to sit down with this guy and hear what he had to say!
We are full into the interview, he has me laughing while still remaining fairly professional and courteous, all in all, it's going very well. THEN... his phone rings, not just just that but I kid you not his ringtone was "Bootylicious." Gross. He pulls his phone out of his front shirt pocket, checks to see whos calling and says "well she's going to have to wait." Good boy, I mean I would have preffered you leave your phone in the car, or just silence it and continue, but nobodies perfect right? So we begin our interview again and not more then 30 seconds later his phone rings once again. Does he silence it this time? No. He sticks his pointer finger right in my face and says "I'm going to have to answer this."
Him: "Hello?"
Lady (I'm presuming is his girlfriend): "Hi honey, hows the interview going?"
Him: "Well it's not over yet!"
Lady: "Well is it looking good so far?"
Him: "Yeah it's looking really good, I think this lady (the lady being me) really likes me." I'd say "liked" at this point... don't you think this could have waited you insensitive time wasting douchebag. He then continues to talk to her for about 5 minutes about every single thing word-for-word we'd talked about in the interview... a phonecall that easily could have happened after our interview seeing as we weren't even close to done. Well, let me rephrase that, we wouldn't have been close to done.
He hangs up the phone and at this point I stand up, reach to shake his hand, and thank him for coming in. He replies, "So, did I get the job?"
I know those years of preparing for interviews everyone has told you that the scariest question is "what is your biggest flaw," and I would agree that it's a tough question.... but when you say "I can be too much of a perfectionist"... I translate that too " I am a pretentious douche."... just a heads up.
It's not all filth, stupidity and ignorance that walks in my office... that's only the majority. Sometimes they bring their kids in (which if you know me that doesn't make the situation any better) and little glimpses of hope that the future generation will be better then this one shine through.
Right around the time that the big royal wedding took place and Osama Bin Laden was killed an adorable little boy walks in and says:
"I don't mind that it's raining today because this week was sponsored by Disney: the bad guy died, the princess married her prince, and we're all going to live happily ever after!"
Adorable, right? Just give it 10 years kid.
Many times we have to preform drug screens before people can get to work. People pass, people fail, it's a way of life... but the real gems are the ones who lie about it. I'm not dumb - yes I might be wearing this suite to work, and I might talk to you like I have a stick up my ass, but most of it is just an act... I went to college, I CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH YOU ! The best lie I've heard in some time was:
"my roommates girlfriend had been making pot brownies and i was eating them all week with icecream and had no idea there was pot in them!"
Thats F-Awesome, maybe next time jackass.
Your time in the bathroom is sacred, a time for yourself, a time to ponder, a time to... well...
My reason for bringing this up is I don't want you to lose out on that precious time, nor do I want to be part of it. So what I ask of you, no beg of you is, please wait until after you're done in the porcelain kingdom to call me for one simple reason... I CAN HEAR YOU! I don't want to hear that waterfall, I don't want to hear that flush, and I don't want to hear anything else that I consider myself too much of a lady to mention yet you feel it's necessary and appropriate to call me during this moment. And a message for those of you who don't listen to my advise, if I don't hear you washing your hands... I'm probably going to have to give you an elbow bump next time you come into my office, and possibly call you out on your unsanitary behavior.
How much can you really tell about someone just by their handshake? Maybe it's not the ingredient to finding bad guys and solving crime, but this is your only chance to give your first impression. Let me tell you guys, THIS IS A BIG MOMENT (cue Rocky music)! Being a female: men (and some women), please don't crush my fingers... I know you're strong and tough. That being said, if your handshake feels like i'm shaking a raw chicken breast- you're out. There is a science to a good handshake and I truly believe that everyone should learn it, love it, live it.
However believe it our not there's something WORSE then a bad handshake, there is a new epidemic taking over our country and I just DO NOT APPROVE! It is called the "elbow bump," also referred to as the "hippy handshake" and once I even heard it called "bow-shakin'," and it is out of control! It's when instead of shaking someone's hands, to prevent passing germs you gently bump elbows... I know right? It's freakin' weird!
After a little research I learned that this began in doctors offices after everyone peed their pants over the Swine Flu. Gems = gross. Solution? Hand sanitizer! Next time someone tries to elbow bump me I'm probably going to pull some WWE stunt and boot you right out the door. Bump Bye!
Okay, I am not saying I have never asked a stupid question. In fact, well, I wont go into detail... but I ask many questions that do not make me the brightest bulb. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to point my finger and laugh at you too.
Waiting is a pain in the ass - no one likes it, we all tolerate it. When I know I'm going to be waiting, I know I have a few options: suck it up like an adult and shut the F up and wait, or bring something to do while waiting. It's not hard to come up with appropriate things to do while waiting, some suggestions: books, magazines (I'd keep those nudey magazine day subscriptions at home however), crossword puzzles, knitting supplies, rubik's cube, your options are pretty much endless.
But leave it to the interviewees to amaze us once again! One woman took her endless options to the extreme- while I was impressed with her time management skills knowing that "well heres a few minutes to do something I need to get done," we were all surprised, no shocked to see her whip out a handy dandy pair of nail clippers and clip away right there in our lobby!
HELPFUL HINT: This is not a common practice, nor suggested... dumbass.
Ever had one of those jaw on the floor, eyes pop out of your head, "did they really just say that" moments? Because let me tell you, I have them every-single-flippin-day. Working in Human Resources you see it all, you see the Great Bambinos and you see the Buckners... but I can assure you, they keep you on your toes. I have been sharing these "diamond-in-the-rough" moments with my friends since first starting my job but it's just not fair to keep these treasures to a select few!
For privacy of those who apply to our company, my co-workers, and myself, I shall be keeping this anonymous. Enjoy :)