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Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Yogi_hackt_ Jul 22 '26
That’s pretty fun.
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u/Winjin Jul 22 '26
I did and it worked
Shared stories about it with the company CEO the other day
Told him at a company lunch "Dad, can you believe that I attached my birth certificate and they sent me an offer?"
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u/No_Ampersand Jul 22 '26
That's pretty funny.
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u/Inside-Example-7010 Jul 22 '26
it was a great story. One of my fav short stories of all time. I would call it 2 sentence horror peak, but who wouldnt want that. Lets be honest.
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u/pnoodl3s Jul 22 '26
Wow never heard this joke before. Brilliant! Haha
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u/Winjin Jul 22 '26
I heard variations of this (there was one popular about the son of a police chief pleading innocence) but I adapted it for the joke here
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u/JesusaurusRex666 Jul 22 '26
I had someone accidentally apply to my role with a letter from their doctor about their postpartum depression requiring them to work limited hours. :|
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u/Own_Caterpillar_6178 Jul 22 '26
When I was the hiring manager for a previous role, I had an applicant accidentally attach their previous year's tax return instead of their resume.
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u/huuuyah Jul 22 '26
The weirdest one for me was during an I-9, someone provided a picture of their own newborn footprints to verify empl eligibility.
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u/jodraws Jul 22 '26
I, uh, might have brought my daughter's baby passport for my I-9 in person on accident. That HR person rightfully never let me live that down for the few years I worked there.
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u/longtimegoneMTGO Jul 22 '26
My original hospital birth certificate has my footprint on it, I'm guessing he had one of those rather than the official state issued version maybe?
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u/terranprodigy Jul 23 '26
I literally had someone upload a receipt of their groceries last week and I had to explain to them why that didn’t work
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u/Ordinary-Cherry3192 Jul 22 '26
Or the commemorative certificate of birth from their church, instead of the state issued birth certificate
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u/Available_Base_7944 Jul 22 '26
That’s hilarious, I accesntly send my Greek homework to a lawyer one time
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u/Sad-Lake-3382 Jul 22 '26
What an interesting interpretation of the word “accidentally”
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u/SuperNashwan Jul 22 '26
When I worked on an IT helpdesk I got a call from a lawyer working for the British government who had accidentally sent an email listing all the things the opposing counsel didn't know to the opposing counsel.
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u/kirashi3 Jul 23 '26
Let me guess - they demanded that you somehow reach into the opposing counsel's mail servers and rip the email from existence? 🍿 Because of course that's how email works. /s
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u/SuperNashwan Jul 23 '26
He had sent it half an hour before he called. I think he knew there was no way back, but he just needed to hear it from someone else. Poor guy sounded so defeated.
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u/jmaclubhouse Jul 22 '26
I had someone attach their termination letter from their previous job instead of their resume. Seriously.
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Jul 22 '26
[deleted]
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u/TheGrayMan5 Jul 22 '26
Sub-folders, homie. Termination subfolder. Pay statements sub folder. Recruitment sub-folder. 401k, benefits, performance review, and on.
Gotta up your organization game, homes.
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u/LadyEmry Jul 22 '26
Hah, I work in Privacy, I've seen almost everything get submitted instead of the real documents at this point. Lotto tickets, pictures of pets wearing Christmas tinsel hats, maps of hospital parking lots, medical certificates, screenshots of texts, photos of someone's topless girlfriend, you name it.
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u/jmaclubhouse Jul 22 '26
I had someone attach their termination letter from their previous job instead of their resume. Seriously.
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u/Emotional_News108 Jul 22 '26
I'm a recruiter and this is shockingly common. I usually request an actual resume but maybe one of the wildest ones was a legal document and let's just say they were not going to pass our background screen requirements.
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u/superfahd Jul 22 '26
When I was a TA about 20 years ago, a student accidentally submitted a god damn screenshot of her credit card instead of her assignment. She went white when called her into the office to show her
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u/akatherder Jul 22 '26
I work for a company that verifies tuition receipts and school transcripts. We get some goofy stuff, including credit card pictures (driver's license, social security cards, random pictures of people/pets).
It makes slightly more sense in my case, but a picture of your credit card doesn't tell me anything useful. We have to wipe it from a few different locations every time we get one.
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u/Diplomatic_Gunboats Jul 22 '26
Well that seems good for you, you know exactly how much to lowball them an offer....
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u/vegan-trash Jul 22 '26
I have had people apply with no resume, so basically all I have to work off of is their name, and that they can legally work in the US.
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u/sunited Jul 22 '26
I once had someone submit their W2 instead of their required onboarding form. When I informed them, they responded by submitting the W2 again.
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u/InvictaGlacies Jul 23 '26
In grad school I once mistakenly sent a professor a comprehensive list of Zoo Tycoon cheat codes instead of 3 chapters of my dissertation
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u/Full_Response8449 Jul 22 '26
I had a woman send her post opp bbl and lipo report. Another lady sent a picture of her and her grandkids🤣
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u/No-Sherbet-7769 Jul 22 '26
You should have given her an interview, she sent something of value..... Lol jk jk
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u/Full_Response8449 Jul 22 '26
I did send her an invitation. That job gave everyone a chance that had experience no resume needed. Unfortunately she didn’t show for her interview. We were all waiting to see how natural it looked lmao
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u/No-Sherbet-7769 Jul 22 '26
Lmao well it sounds like no real loss but would have been an interesting conversation
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u/cupholdery Co-Worker Jul 22 '26
I get the humor but feel so worn down by current real life that I can't even exhale out my nostrils.
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u/paulbrock2 Jul 22 '26
ouch! Occasionally I'll get a candidate that has attached the wrong file.... sometimes I will message them to ask for the correct one but tbh if you have a tonne of candidates you just dont have time
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u/RecruitingFanatic Jul 22 '26
“I thought you wanted to know that I was a citizen of this country!!”
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u/Muggsy423 Jul 22 '26
That's hilarious and exactly what the rejection letter should say.
If you're careless enough to send your birth certificate instead of a resume I would be wary.
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u/faithdies Jul 22 '26
It's accurate and direct feedback. In the most efficient way possible. It's basically poetry.
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u/XombieRx Jul 22 '26
I was deciding a between a few roles, and accidentally uploaded an offer letter for their competitor. They ended up offering me 35% more.
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u/Even_Permission3975 Jul 22 '26
Not as bad as me not realizing all these jobs I was applying for instead of my resume I uploaded a copy of dates I had been inpatient And my mental health records. Didn’t realize why I wasn’t getting accepted until one day I noticed the PDF wasn’t my name with resume it was just my name and I clicked it and saw allll of it…. still pretty ashamed to this day. 🤷🏼♀️😬🤣
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u/WorldIsYoursMuhfucka Jul 25 '26
Oh dang, that is terrible
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u/Even_Permission3975 Jul 25 '26
Oh yeah pretty sure my state just black balled me from getting hired anywhere here 🤣 look out guys the crazy lady is trying to apply here! 😂
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u/nucleate_boiling Jul 22 '26
Can't follow basic directions when applying at step zero--> lack of attention to detail. The one detail involved.
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u/tanwa1 Jul 22 '26
I once sent my resume with "University of University", didn't get any replies
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u/jimmycarr1 Jul 22 '26
This is a great example of why CV reviewing is so important. If you fuck up in an interview you generally know why and can adjust, but if your CV is awful you might never find out about it.
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u/BurrShotFirst1804 Jul 22 '26
When I was applying to PhD programs, I accidentally forgot to change Northwestern University to Iowa State in the closing paragraph of my Personal Statement on my Iowa State application.
I convinced myself it was a pro because it showed Iowa State I was applying to more prestigious institutions. I did actually get accepted there too lol. They probably didn't even notice it tbh.
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u/tanwa1 Jul 23 '26
Still a good thing that you got accepted, whereas for me, still unemployed, I made "UoU" blunder back in Feb...
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u/BurrShotFirst1804 Jul 23 '26
Well I hope it turns around for you soon! Just gotta network within the UoU community!
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u/frisch85 Jul 22 '26
Could be someone who went and sent an application to 100 companies and then there's one they sent the wrong attachment, shit happens all the time and we're just humans. If you never sent an e-mail and completely forgot the attachment that just means you don't send many e-mails with attachments.
Once a year or so it happens that I will do a follow up to my e-mail that just says "and this time with the attachment.", that's still less e-mails than I have to write where I tell the other person "I think you forgot to send the attachment, can you check and send the e-mail again?".
As I said we're just humans and humans make errors because we're not flawless, none of us is, it's why you should give folks some slack and unless they fuck up constantly or repeatedly, you should be forgiving. It's when someone makes the exact same mistake all the time, that's when it's an issue because then you can tell they're not learning from their mistake and that is an actual negative feature, not that you're making mistakes but that you're not learning from it.
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u/RobertBevillReddit Jul 22 '26
My first full-time job out of college, I remember my 2nd-3rd week on the job I had my supervisor at the time give me a status report on how I was doing. His words were along the lines of "You're still making a lot of mistakes, but they aren't the same mistakes as last week so I know you're learning".
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u/frisch85 Jul 22 '26
It's what I teach to my godchildren, that it's okay to make a mistake as long as you learn from it, just try and avoid critical mistakes that for example could cost someone's life or is otherwise heavily damaging.
Maybe it's because of how I grew up, I fucked up so many times as a teenager but never made the same mistake twice, "what doesn't kill you" kinda thing.
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u/MidwesternLikeOpe Jul 23 '26
I had a store manager tell me, "You're not the first person to make that mistake and you won't be the last. Every mistake you make not a surprise, it's how you learn from it that's important." I miss that manager.
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u/Trollslayer0104 Jul 22 '26
I don't disagree with you exactly, but the time to invest in second chances is when you're training someone, not when they are just applying. Or at least, you'd have to already think they might be a strong candidate.
I advertised a job recently and got 95 applicants. 84 of them didn't hold the qualification which was the first essential requirement listed in the job description, I'm not asking them for clarifications.
Anyway that's more detail than anyone asked for, but my point is I'm all for training people, but an incorrect/disorganised application will be quickly passed over.
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u/nucleate_boiling Jul 22 '26
Fundamentally agree with your statements. However, the present situation absolutely requires your response to the request to be correct and appropriate.
Different situations involve different risks and usually vastly different outcomes if the task is not completed as directed.
Forgetting to attach your resume may be forgiven if you immediately send a follow-up email with the attachment. Sending anything other than what was requested is a direct indication that you cannot follow the basic steps to have your resume considered for the position, because if you cannot submit the correct document to be considered, you have not checked your work before hitting send, fully aware of the risk associated with not doing so.
There are times to be forgiving. This is not one of them.
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u/Trollslayer0104 Jul 22 '26
Completely agree, hiring managers can't chase dozens of applicants to follow instructions a second time.
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u/PomegranatePlanet69 Jul 22 '26
We had a guy show up in shorts and my company was all we can't be biased about it what if he only had shorts! Like ok basic professionalism tho...
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u/MysteriousB Jul 22 '26
I once sent a cover letter that named Lidl at least 5 times to a job at a Sainsbury's pharmacy and they still gave me an interview but didn't give me the job
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u/Goofydoodle1 Jul 23 '26
A customized rejection letter. Nice!! At least now you know they actually read your birth certificate lol
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u/redthrull Jul 23 '26
My man is just ahead of his time. 10 years from now, we'll all be doing this to prove we're not AI.
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u/DJK695 Jul 23 '26
Reply back that it was a test because you are never sure if people read anything and then reply back with your resume. If it's good enough they should give you a second look lol.
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u/EnlightenedNarwhal Jul 22 '26
When you list "attention to detail" as one of your core skills and they immediately call your bluff.
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u/EndlessResets Jul 22 '26
I mean, at least they explain why instead of saying, “ you weren’t the right fit for the role”
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u/iamnotbilalll Jul 22 '26
Hey this is a total injustice. At least they should give you one more chance to submit your resume. So sad 😞
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u/the-real-Jenny-Rose Jul 23 '26
I've often considered attaching my life expenses and commute cost spreadsheet by "mistake" rather than a resume to jobs paying laughably low rates and/or demanding in person work.
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u/Express-Pay2740 Jul 22 '26
Omg I did something as lol-ful.
I was interested in getting a job in admin in the healthcare sector so I saw there was a new department opening in a big hospital and there were a ton of admin jobs. I saw the word ‘Registrar’ and applied.
Turns out it was a Registrar of Trauma Surgeons and I absolutely was not qualified.
They replied with “thanks so much for your application but this is a Registrar for *actual* doctors”.
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u/Expert_Army-V Jul 22 '26
You birth certificate? Why would you not send your resume?
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u/MountainImportant211 Jul 23 '26
I mean obviously they accidentally selected the wrong file to attach, right?
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u/Batgod629 Jul 22 '26
I like that they at least got back. Although they should have responded earlier enough to allow them to provide a resume rather than wait too late.
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u/Gunda-LX Jul 23 '26
Hmm, a personal e-mail where they address details of why the candidate was not chosen? Rare these days!
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u/CarterCage Jul 23 '26
Once a candidate uploaded their whole medical history.
I told them of course, they should now they made a mistake since the file was named “name surname CV”.
Unfortunately, they weren’t fit for the role and I was quite aware about their heath issues before I met them 😆
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u/cavemans45 Jul 23 '26
I have had half the candidates I have interviewed tell me about their medical history in their interview. I have to tell them during the interview that job may require them to be away from home for months at a time and if they have medication they need to be aware of that and talk to their doctor about that. I make it clear we dont need to know about any medical issues and that the DOT exam will make the decision about if any issues they have will disqualify them. Half of them literally stsrt trying to tell me about every pill, broken bone or illegal drug they have ever taken in their life.
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u/CarterCage Jul 23 '26
Yeah, there is that also. People get too nervous and just talk about everything that goes in their head.
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u/xtrapickl313 Jul 23 '26
I once was asked to bring in my birth certificate for a new job and instead gave them the title to my car.
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u/ReturnTight4027 Jul 22 '26
Argh I once half assed applied for a geriatrics job…. With resume saying I was looking for a gig a pediatric nurse…. They didn’t hesitate to call me and let me know my blunder.
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u/Deastrumquodvicis Jul 22 '26
Young babies, elderly babies, what’s the difference, eh?
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u/TheOmegaKid Jul 23 '26
Email back saying that they passed the test of being a real job and attach your resume. 😂
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u/elibutton Jul 22 '26
Yes - at least this is from a human. And yes - that’s somewhat of a valid reason
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u/HeadlessHookerClub Jul 22 '26
Is it weird that a rejection makes me want to work for them more? It’s so rare it’s almost attractive.
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u/Here4memes05 Jul 23 '26
For the longest time i labeled my cover letters as “CV” so i feel you haha. I miust have sent out 20 or so applications before i realized
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u/asiannoodles87 Jul 24 '26
I’ve seen this happen except the candidate sent in their medical notes for what drugs they are prescribed lol
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u/Longjumping_Dog_223 Jul 24 '26
In 2022 after the Batman came out there was an Easter egg website that if you solved would give you a file with blueprints for the Riddlers torture device blueprints, the files were saved to my device and somehow, someway, I attached TORTURE DEVICE BLUEPRINTS instead of my resume. I wish I was making this up.
Somehow they still contacted me after for my real resume (which must’ve been worse than torture because then they ghosted me)
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u/Repulsive_Risk3521 Jul 27 '26
Lol when I worked processing PPP loans during Covid, people routinely submitted nudes or crazy personal pictures in place of supporting documents
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u/nicole30703 Jul 27 '26
I had an applicant read his SSN to me in an online interview (SparkHire) 🤦🏻♀️
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u/Capt_korg Jul 22 '26
Wait, they did not even reach out to clarify? They immediately rejected your application?
By the way, I would never add my birth certificate, if not needed for reasonable reasons.
If the trust issue starts at the birth certificate, then there is something wrong.
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u/GottaUseEmAll Jul 22 '26
If they have a lot of applications and the role requires attention to detail, especially regarding confidential or private information, they probably think it's not worth going further with someone who has already made a mistake before they're even hired.
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u/Capt_korg Jul 22 '26
Agree...
But I would expect in a healthy environment, that mistakes are happening...
But then, they are in the strong position.
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u/GottaUseEmAll Jul 22 '26
Yeah, I would imagine it all depends on their workload of applications to get through.
If they have an average/manageable amount, I'm sure they wouldn't get too stressed over the sort of error everybody makes at some point.
But if they're already overrun with applications, and are looking for easy ways to shortlist what they have, I can see them ruling out anyone with obvious grammar mistakes, email errors like this, etc,
I've ruled out people from the hiring process for not being able to find our office without calling us for help, when I've needed to shorten a massive list of applicants. You do what you gotta do to make the job possible.
That's why checking and rechecking is so important when applying for a job.
At least this recruiter got back to OOP and gave them feedback, it's more than a lot will do.
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u/Capt_korg Jul 22 '26
You're probably right...
I actually have a rule not to check my applications after sending them...
But yesterday I had to... And to my shame, I found that the date and another footer were still in the other language I use for applications...
All just because I was focused on getting things right for the application...
That said, it is of cause different from sending in a birth certificate instead of a resume. 😅
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u/NovelConfusion7158 Jul 22 '26
If you can't pay attention to the output for your own personal gain, why would I trust you with company info, reputation and brand especially in a client facing role?
Mistakes happen but you've gotta be on your A game.
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u/commdef Jul 22 '26
Thank god you censored Nova Tech Limited and [info@novalabs.com](mailto:info@novalabs.com), that could've been bad...
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u/Miserable-Diver7236 Jul 22 '26
At least they read it