Columbia Business School Alumni

by Peter Gray ’97

Have you ever fantasized about landing a job by pulling a crazy stunt?

When I was in business school, there was an urban myth going around about a guy who rented a flatbed truck and parked himself in front of his dream employer’s office building, with a billboard saying, “I won’t leave until you hire me.” In the story he gets hired, which to me proves it can’t possibly be true.

I feel like I’ve seen countless movie scenes where a likeable star with a light résumé but a lot of heart buttonholes a hiring manager and carries the day with an endearing “you’ve just got to hire me” speech. To which I say: there’s a reason they call Hollywood “the dream factory.”

Speaking of Hollywood, according to David Rensin (author of The Mailroom), it was routine for mail clerks at famous talent agencies like William Morris to read agents’ private mail in their quest to get promoted upstairs.

Have you ever thought that you could land the job of your dreams if you did something out of the ordinary, something memorable, something bold and risky?

If you have, my instinct as a recruiter (and a tight poker player) is to offer one word of advice: don’t.

Why not?

Because most crazy ideas are bad ideas that fail.

Because most employers hire by committee, and a committee tends to make the safe choice — not the interesting one.

Because interviewing is a balancing act that requires you to conform impeccably to certain professional conventions on one hand while arguing your distinctive ability to create economic value on the other hand.

Because I’ve received unconventional pitches from candidates, and I’ve heard from employers who have, too. They often take the form of non-standard résumés (odd format, a video, an object, etc.) or an unscheduled in-person visit from the candidate. Generally, the reaction is resoundingly negative.

For all these reasons, most of me says take the safe path. All of the clichés surface: Dress for success. Polish your résumé. Practice your elevator speech. Formulate your value proposition. Network, network, network.

But a small part of me rebels at constantly counseling the safe, boring approach, at crushing inspiration and playing the killjoy, at recycling the usual clichés.

That part of me looks for an exception to the rule.

That part of me says, who am I to coach you to conform to a bloodless kabuki process of ritualized interview choreography?

That part of me says, if most crazy ideas are bad ideas that fail, doesn’t that mean that a few crazy ideas are good ones that succeed?

That part of me wonders, aren’t there some employers who just might respond favorably to an unconventional pitch from a job seeker?

What about small business owners? Don’t some entrepreneurs thrive on the courage of their convictions, a nose for sudden opportunities and the ability to make snap decisions based on snap judgments about people?

I’d like to hear from you: did you ever land a job by doing something utterly unadvisable? Did you ever hire someone because of some memorably wacky thing that person did? Drop me a note at pgray97@gsb.columbia.edu.

Peter Gray ’97 is the head of executive recruiting at QTI Professional Staffing in Madison, Wis. If you have a question or an idea for a future column, contact him at pgray97@gsb.columbia.edu.