Ethics
in the early afternoon on Friday, the 28th of July 2006 by Chad
If there ever was a day that said “you should go home early, have a beer, and relax” it was June 18, 1976. But today is a close second…
But besides that. Suppose you are a hiring manager for a job. The posting goes in the newspaper, and a week later HR shows up with a stack of envelopes of resumes.
You open the envelopes, chucking most of them directly in the circular file, but you have 5 solid candidates. And then you open one more envelope, and attached to the resume is a 100$ bill. Besides that, the resume looks pretty solid, and would be a potential fit.
Would you…
- Return the resume and the money, and act all indignant about the candidate.
- Keep the cash, but no interview, just the form letter saying “sorry, we got someone better,” and hope it wasn’t a test HR was playing on you.
- Give the guy an interview since it shows very creative thinking, but return the 100$ during the interview, showing how ethical you are, since it obviously had no bearing on the consideration.
- Give the guy an interview, but return 10$, and comment on how good lunch was that day. If the guy doesn’t complain about receiving only 10 bucks, you give him a serious shot for the job.
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July 28th, 2006 at 10:18 am
keep the cash, tell your closest “associates”, send the guy a brief letter saying you forwarded the original resume to a department manager, say you saw something in the resume that caught your eye, ask him to send you another with a “bit more information”.
July 29th, 2006 at 2:11 pm
Don - good thinking! I like it! See just how much he wants the job…
July 29th, 2006 at 10:31 pm
thanks! i think that is about as unethical as i could think of at the time. it would be one of those “what if’s” to see how guillible the guy really is or to catch HR or someone else in a test, scam, or setup.
i think number one is pretty close to what i would actually do. i would return the money (cashiers check) with a note explaining that my company does not require a fee for consideration of employment.
July 30th, 2006 at 9:10 am
I’d have to go with #1. Decent resume or not there’s no telling what kind of person they are if they are willing to stoop to sending $100 with their resume. And if it is HR testing you then I would think you passed with flying colors.
July 30th, 2006 at 9:17 am
Let me change the scenario a bit then.
Company is struggling a little bit, and this is for a sales job. You need every edge you got to keep the company in the black. And while you won’t condone outright bribery of customers, you’re looking for creative thinking in a salesperson. Do you reconsider?
July 30th, 2006 at 11:20 am
I would definitely have to go with number one. I mean, of course it may seem appealing, especially if one has financial woes in the company to put it in the kitty–but logic and morals take over in the end–send it back and trash the resume. Who wants someone that thinks they can bribe you to hire them working for them? I mean, maybe they would plot a ‘take over’ or some other betrayal. I am letting my imagination run–but they could be one of those people that are obsessive and if you fired them come back to try and shoot everyone. Anyhow, I thoroughly enjoyed this unique post!
July 30th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
yip. i would consider it. if it is a sales position and the resume fits i would go with number three. give him the interview and his cash back, but setup a couple or three tough customer scenarios as criteria for the position, using previous customer situations as case studies or invent, and see what he would do, see if he can uncover some windows of opportunity. if he provides workable ideas or concepts, he may be worth a shot at it, hire him and have him sign the company ethical standards document.
July 30th, 2006 at 2:05 pm
just a thought - by sending cash with the resume, he almost positively knows someone at the company will be contacting him, so he probably has some plan for stage two also…
July 30th, 2006 at 5:23 pm
That’s a great point about knowing someone would be contacting him. Funny thing is, I posed the same question to the guy who hired me at work, and he said he’d definitely give the guy an interview at least. The 100$ wouldn’t be a pro or a con, it just showed a bit of “out of the box” kinda thinking.
Myself, if the resume is good enough, I’d probably give the person an interview at least just to find out what kinda person would do that.
On the other hand, if it was a resume for some kid just outta college with no experience, they’re just begging for a shot, and once again, I’d give an interview, for some sorta entry level position, but definitely give the 100$ back in that case.
I’m not saying at all that I recommend someone to do this to get an interview…