How not to fill out a job application
Posted By MBHQ On December 26, 2005 @ 4:29 am In Humor, Strange | Comments Disabled
The Japan TImes reports [1] that a 28-year old Tokyo resident named Hiroki Okano celebrated Christmas Eve by sitting down at his computer, going to the Starbucks website, and filling out a job application with phrases such as:
I’ll set fire to all of your stores in Shibuya on Christmas Day and kill all of your employees.
Starbucks apparently decided that they didn’t have need for his particular skills, and passed his application on to the Tokyo police department. The police read through the application and apparently interpret the above bit as, well, a threat or something. So they pay Okano a visit at his home (being the conscientious applicant that he is, I assume he probably put his real address on the application), and after talking with him, they arrest him.
So, this Christmas ended a little sadly for Hiroki Okano. But his story touched my heart in a way that made me want to find out more. I spent a little time and managed to find a copy of the full text of the application he submitted.
Here are some excerpts from the application.
Section 1. Career goal
- What positions are you applying for?
- Killer, person to set fire to things, greeter
Section 3. Problem-solving at work
- Imagine you have a minor dispute with a Starbucks coworker. How would you attempt to resolve it?
- Kill.
- A dispute with a manager?
- Kill.
- What communication tools do you find most effective in dispute resolution?
- Fire.
- Imagine you have a customer who is creating a problem in your Starbucks — disturbing other customers and/or staff. Describe in detail how you would attempt to “diffuse” the problem.
- Kill.
Section 6. Management
- In times of financial difficulties, Starbucks managers often need to make “hard decisions” about issues such as staff reduction. Explain how you would approach staff reduction as as Starbucks manager.
- Kill.
- Managers guiding Starbucks overall growth sometimes need to make hard decisions regarding overall cost reduction, including closures of unprofitable Starbucks stores. Explain how you would approach that task.
- Fire.
- For management positions, Starbucks seeks candidates with a “can do” attitude who are willing to “go the extra mile” for Starbucks stakeholders. Describe the extent to which you would go to Starbucks stakeholders.
- I’ll set fire to all of your stores in Shibuya on Christmas Day and kill all of your employees.
So from that, I think we can see that he was at least, well, consistent in his comments. I’d think that consistency would be something that Starbucks would seek out and value in employees. But, hey, maybe that’s just me.
Article printed from Tokyo Metblogs: http://tokyo.metblogs.com
URL to article: http://tokyo.metblogs.com/2005/12/26/how-not-to-fill-out-a-job-application/
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[1] reports: http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20051225b2.htm
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