Look, applying for jobs is stressful. Cover letters, CVs, getting recommendations—there’s a lot riding on making sure all of these materials are perfect. But sometimes, mistakes are made. Or people are just simply really, really bad candidates.
Over on Reddit, folks are talking about the weirdest or stupidest things they’ve seen on job applications—and stuff runs the gamut from very bad grammar to inappropriate email addresses to confessions of murder. HR, we salute you for slogging through all of it.
1.
“I was working in retail in high school when someone came and dropped off a paper application. In the section about criminal history they checked yes they had prior convictions. In the space provided to state what the legal issues were they simply wrote ‘rong place rong time.’ We kept that application around for a while.” — BooBoo_the_Gorilla
2.
“Saw a resume that, under the education tab, went from ‘Marine Officer Training School’ to simply ‘Clown School.’ Not even the specific one, just ‘Clown School.'” — Guns_57
3.
“I received a resume that was just their high school football accomplishments, no other experience written down. There was even a link to his highlight video. He also included a head shot of him in his football pads. He was 24.” — sregormot
4.
“I had someone bring in a resume that was scrawled out on notebook paper ripped from a spiral bound notebook and they didn’t even tear off the edge so it was clean! This was for a high level position. They wore a suit, carried a portfolio (which I assume had a spiral notebook in it) and never offered a word as to why they jotted down a resume in the parking lot.” — mrwuss2
5.
“Not an employer but I worked in HR back in the ’70s. One applicant under the question regarding convictions wrote that he’d served 6 years in prison for the murder of his wife’s lover. He finished by saying that he and his wife were back together.” — Penguin-mum
6.
“Had a reference from someone simply known as ‘cheese.'” — farmerofstrawberries
7.
“One cover letter we received said, ‘I am attention to details.'” — wondernever
8.
“One guy listed ‘making awesome guac’ as a skill and then never brought any guac to the interview.” — foxyfoxthefox
9.
“I wasn’t necessarily an employer, but i was a manager of a small restaurant. The owner valued my input but i couldn’t hire or fire anyone without his permission. I had a kid bring in his application, and I guess he was making jokes and forgot to fix it. Under ‘expected pay’ he wrote ‘minimum shit.’ He was hired and he was not a good fit.” — Dumbalinaa
10.
“Was hiring in retail, got an amazing CV, fit the position perfectly. They didn’t put any contact details on the CV.” — hellohumansandothers