A Teachable Moment

Aside from being innately hilarious, I consider myself an educator. Yep, I do. Sure, I am a well-known member of the Grammar Police, but only in hopes to make people better. Why? Because people judge you; as the Facebook group's title reads, I judge you when you use poor grammar. And, especially when it comes to me reading job applications, cover letters, and résumés.

Aye, but that's for another day. Today's -- this week's -- tale does not stem from me judging people, per se. It comes from an overly-ambitious job applicant who, many have felt, stepped over the line. To assert his interest for an open position, he did a little research to discover the personal e-mail address of the hiring manager... me. Our story begins:

Mr. White,

I know this is somewhat out of the ordinary to send an email like this to your GMail account; during my job search I tried to use any potential resources to make sure my resume was seen about jobs I really cared about. In this case, the only email resource I could find was this email from your blog. I would really enjoy this position, so I decided that was worth taking a chance on sending an email to you.

It's nice to have a reader. Take 'em how you can get 'em, some would say.

I understand that any organization always needs motivated and hard working employees.  I believe that describes me perfectly, which is why I am writing to express my interest in a position with [company], specifically as [position].  I have recently finished my internship and graduated, and am looking for an organization to begin my career with. I have always enjoyed [industry of work], and gained a strong love of [line of work] while researching my senior thesis.  I will also be pursuing my MBA part-time at [university] beginning this fall.

And such. I should point out that from the above paragraph on, we've entered a verbatim copy-and-paste from the originally-submitted cover letter. After my first read, I wondered why it seemed familiar.

I'll share just the following bit of the letter, as it becomes relevant later in our tale:

I also earned a first-class education during my time at [university].  In 2008, it was ranked by U.S. News amp; [sic] World Report as one of the top ten most promising schools in America.  

And, no, I'm not just including that because of the fun fact; I am curious, though, how he knew I only read applications from alumni of the top ten most promising schools in America. No, no... that's not true. I did enjoy the inclusion of the statistic, but really, isn't that like winning the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist -- a veritable kiss of death? Or, perhaps more aptly, receiving an award for "Most Improved" Anything? Don't you have to suck and improve a skosh to get such an honor?

Again, I promise that the above -- the quoted text, not my tangent -- will become relevant shortly.

So, anyway, this was all received on Tuesday. After processing my incredulousness and letting it simmer, I opted to attempt turning this into a teachable moment earlier tonight, and sent the following belated reply:

[Name],

After thinking about this for a few days, I thought it would be a nice gesture to provide some constructive feedback here: 

Firstly, in the future, I do not recommend following up in the way in which you have -- that is, writing a potential employer at their personal e-mail account. As it was, I had received your application, cover letter, and résumé from our Human Resources department earlier in the day on Tuesday; reaching out in this manner certainly didn't yield the positive response that was likely expected or intended. Especially of note is the fact that the position is in the environment of customer service: While some employers' reaction may be, "He's a real go-getter", I can't help but think, "If he'll go to these lengths to contact me, what could he do in relation to our customers and their privacy?" While I feel the necessity of this concern is probably low, the thought is triggered, all the same.

Additionally, rather than go through the lengths to which you went to obtain my personal e-mail account, time would have been better spent by contacting our HR department -- for which the phone number and e-mail address are listed on the application page -- and asking for the hiring manager's name and work e-mail address. (If you did attempt this, but did not receive said information, one would be best served to take that as a hint.) While your ultimate method of contact was somewhat unorthodox and not well-received, it would have been less off-putting had it been directed to a work address. Furthermore, naming conventions are not too horribly difficult to guess for business e-mail addresses, especially with having my middle initial at one's disposal. (Receive a bounce notification? Try, try again.)

Finally, in your message, you noticeably copied and pasted your cover letter from the receipt confirmation e-mail you received, as it reads, "U.S. News amp; World Report" (ampersands are converted to "amp;" by the text-only application page). By overlooking this, it does show a lack of attention to detail. When it occurs in the submitted applications, I overlook it, as there is no way for an applicant to know; in this instance, it stands out.

With all of that said, I wish you the best of luck in your job search, [name]. I do hope that this feedback is well taken, and is implemented in the future.

Sincerely,

Micah White

I do and do for these kids.

Within the half-hour, he replied:

Mr. White,

Thank you for the feedback.  I will take it to heart, and appreciate the help.  I apologize for this obvious mistake that I made;
I let the stress of a prolonged job search get to me and did something I would normally never do.

I'm sorry.

[Name]

Teachable moment -- complete.

I mean, "creeping" ("cyberstalking", in its true definition, seems a bit harsh) has its proper place and time. But, instead of the above application, I say, save the information gained for an interview setting, to name-drop some of my personal favorites: "That reminds me of something David Letterman said the other night!" Or, "You know, I was just at Chick-Fil-A/Jamba Juice/Five Guys! Boy, are those nuggets/Pomegranate Paradises/regular burgers with a bag full of fries tasty!" Get to know me, then tug at my heartstrings! All the same...

Was I right to react as I did? Or, was the lad simply "taking initiative", as has been suggested? (Or, both?) And, was my response justified and/or generous... or should I have left it as it was? I ask you, my dear readers.

-- Mr. White