Hiring Horror Stories
Posted by By G&A Partners at 31 October, at 15 : 58 PM Print
Guest post from the Million Dollar Employee
Just in time for Halloween, G&A Partners is resurrecting one of our most popular topics: Hiring Horror Stories!
If you’ve seen my video (it’s right here, at www.milliondollaremployee.com) you may remember meeting a certain job applicant named Doug.
Mr. ACME had quite an experience during Doug’s tenure at his company. Let’s hear Mr. ACME tell his story…
It was a dark and stormy night. I’m sitting alone in my office at midnight, wishing I was home. But instead, I find myself staring at a scary sight: stacks and stacks of paperwork that must get done tonight.
I just got my dream business up and running, but right now it looks more like a nightmare. Every day when I come to work, I find myself devoting most of my time to administrative and HR issues. I know this stuff is important, but I didn’t start a business just to do paperwork!
I need to hire some help- fast. Most of the people I interview do not have expertise in all the areas of HR I need; that is, until I interview Doug.
Doug seems like a breath of fresh air. He comes to the interview on time, is dressed for success, and assures me that he is an expert in all the requirements for the job. I hire him on the spot.
But when Doug shows up on Monday (late), I begin to wonder if this is the person I hired…or his evil twin. Doug’s appearance is frightening enough. Gone is the professional suit, replaced by a wrinkled shirt and old jeans (talk about business casual), an unshaven beard, and the look of someone that has given up on shampoo.
It only gets worse from there. I spend a good amount of money acquiring the right software Doug needs for his job. He assured me in his interview that he was an expert, yet on the first day it becomes apparent that he doesn’t know these programs at all. When I ask if he needs help, I find him posting pictures on his personal social networking pages. I try talking to him, but during our conversation he keeps texting people on his phone, and abruptly leaves the room to “take a call.”
Well by then I had had enough. Needless to say, Doug didn’t last much longer at my company. Luckily for me, I soon found the Million Dollar Employee. My nightmare is finally over, and I am able to do what I love most: watch my business grow.
Wow, what a story! Do you have a hiring horror story to share? Let me know in the comments section below. Best story wins a FREE $100 American Express Gift Card just in time for the holidays!
In the meantime, I’d like to stay in touch with you via Twitter and Facebook.
Let’s stay connected,
The Million Dollar Employee
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Stehanie Phillips, 1 year ago
From an employee hired perspective, I’ve experienced a couple of hiring nightmares, for example:
I was hired as a 25+ year experienced tax manager in public accounting and told on the day I started a position with a local CPA firm in that because of some experience I had previously with compilations and reviews, that they also wanted me to do some audit work. I was hired in late January and let go before April 15th supposedly because I blew the budget on the first audit I ever conducted on my own. It also came to light that the recruiter fee was due around mid April since I had been with the firm for almost 3 months.
Title Gal, 1 year ago
I wanted to check out the “Too Good To Be True” closer before hiring her but the boss felt that her appearance said it all. It wasn’t until 4 months later when I received a phone call from one of my clients that got a late notice on his mortgage (which should have been paid off 3 months prior) that I discovered that escrow checks were being exchanged for Cashier’s Checks made payable to the mortgage holding bank all of which the closer had accounts at….deposits not payoffs. A very large hiring mistake and it wasn’t me with egg on my face, I know how invaluable your service is.