HR Professional’s HR Horror Stories Part III contest received
more than 25 entries from across Ontario, including many
hair-raisers that show how crazy this profession can be. We
narrowed down the top five and let HRPA members vote for
the three best. Here is what they chose:
FIRST PRIZE: IT PAYS TO PROOFREAD
Years ago while working as a recruiter, I received an interesting resume
from a photographer. The man had all the right skills for a
professional photographer, but unfortunately the first line of his
resume was a little perplexing to me. When I contacted the gentleman,
he told me he was quite grateful to receive my call because he
had been applying for work for over a year and had sent out hundreds
of resumes with no response. He had been looking for work
as a professional photographer of school and sport team pictures.
I told him I thought he may have made a huge error on the
very first line of his resume that could be deterring prospective
employers – instead of stating, “Over 20 years in the photography
industry,” his resume read, “Over 20 years in the pornography
industry.”
He was shocked he had never caught the error before. His
computer program had incorrectly autocorrected his resume and
placed the word pornography in his resume. No wonder he wasn’t
hearing from any schools or sports teams! The man contacted me
alphaspirit/Shutterstock.com
HR Horror
Stories
PART III
28 ❚ MAY/JUNE 2016 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL