On Thursday morning, I logged in to Reddit and posted a photo of a friend's candy bar resume, captioned with nine simple words: "This is my friend's resume. He got the job."
Little did I know, the internet would eat it up.
The photograph shows a chocolate bar with a not-so-typical label. The name of the candy is "RESUME BAR" which is situated above the applicant's name and a motto that reads "Credentials that will satisfy any organization's appetite."
In less than an hour, the picture ranked highest on Reddit and photo-sharing site Imgur. At the time of writing, the photo received more than 1,910,000 views, nearly 97,000 votes and 3,200 comments.
The resume bar touted ingredients any business would be looking to consume: "100% daily value in Leadership, Creativity, and Business Acumen" and "110% Work Ethic."
"This version of the candy bar resume was used for a 2009 job search when the economy was crashing, so I knew I had to differentiate myself from other applicants," my buddy Nick Begley, the maker of the chocolate resume, said. "It was a way to (hopefully) showcase my creativity, create a bit of a buzz in the department that was hiring and—most importantly—help me stand out in a competitive job market."
Begley created a dozen chocolate bar resumes that he used strategically.
"Some were sent to land me the interview, while others were used as a 'leave behind' after an interview," he said. "I always used it as a supplement to a paper resume or online application since the candy bar was more of a gimmick and didn't provide my work history or credentials." His $30 investment got him the job.
The job filled was a marketing position with an NYC-based company called Sportsvite, an online community for adult recreation athletes.
The comments on the post were equally as delicious as the content.
The post yielded a variety of humorous responses ("that looks hard to email"), as well as thoughts from those critical of the marketing field ("as a scientist, this thing had me cringing"). While some said the resume contained too many buzzwords ("vapid and meaningless"), others found it perfect for such a profession ("a resume you can really sink your teeth into"). Regardless of how users found the content, most agreed the presentation was truly clever.
"It's incredible to me that it took off so fast and how many people took the time to leave a comment," Begley said.
One commenter attempted to sum up the conversation between Begley and his future employer.
Future Employer: "Please bring a copy of your resume to the interview."
Begley: "But I already sent you one."
Future Employer: "Please bring another to the interview."
Begley: "I can't I have a limited amount."
Future Employer: "You have been chosen as a possible candidate. Please bring at least 3 copies of your resume to all 5 interviews."
Begley: "Do I have the job?"
Future Employer: "We must repeatedly review your resume before making a choice. Please send more copies of your resume."
Full Disclosure: The author of this article is a friend of the chocolate bar resume maker.
