WORK IT, BABY
CVs are getting quirkier and braver. 3D art, a Flipkart ‘product listing’, even a 20page magazine — there are no limits when the prize is a dream job
How far would you go to get your dream job?
Today’s young, confident go-getters are not afraid to punch above their weight.
Asked ‘why should we hire you, instead of someone with an MBA’, one young man offered to sing and dance to prove how much he wanted the PR job; another designed a CV that looked just like the magazine he was applying to — complete with cover, contents and subscription ad.
Yet another pitched himself to Flipkart with a CV that looked just like a Flipkart product listing.
Does it work? Well, the Flipkart applicant, Aakash Mittal, didn’t get a job at Flipkart, but he did get 14 other offers — and 3 proposals for marriage! He took up one of those, the job offers that is, and now works with a logistics company.
‘When I saw his CV, I saw passion to bring about a change and that is exactly what the logistics field needs,” says his employer, Mahesh Hariharan, CEO of Bagirathi Logistics.
“Interestingly, the unconventional approach is not limited to the ‘creative’ professions any more. As competition gets fiercer, we’re seeing it even in fields like engineering and IT,” says Sarabjeet Sachar, founder of recruiting agency, Aspiration Jobs.
Some of the approaches are downright audacious. “I got a CV from a guy applying for a job in trade marketing. It was a book that told the story of his life. And he had left the last few chapters empty, asking us to help him fill them up by giving him a chance,” says Lohit Bhatia, head of staffing at IKYA Human Capital Solutions. “It certainly made us sit up and take notice, but sadly he didn’t fit the job profile.”
One guy who did get the job is Vishal Chopra, 24, a Roadies fan who was so upset by his failed audition that he went home and created a video making fun of the show. His video went viral, MTV saw it, and hired him to do spoofs reviewing each episode of Season 9.
“VC’s ‘angsty video’ did quite well on the web, which made us realise that he clearly had potential. So we hired him to make the same videos to engage viewers, but this time for MTV,” says Eklavya Bhattacharya, then head of digital content for MTV.
It’s a fine line, though, warn headhunters. “Sometimes, creative applicants can lose the plot completely,” says N Shivakumar, business head at recruitment company Teamlease.
“I’ve seen speedometers and funnels used as work experience charts. It makes no sense. If you can’t execute your idea really well, you’ll just end up coming across as immature or inarticulate.”