David Martin, CEO of Sterling Martin Associates, shares one of his most memorable interview stories in If These Résumés Could Talk, a Wall Street Journal feature in which recruiters and headhunters share their wildest and most interesting stories. From fake particle physicists to forgetful recruiters, this article has it all! Read more here.
Read the Excerpt: Jaws of Life
I had a candidate who flew in to town to interview at a company that was based in Tennessee. They were far enough away from the airport that they flew her in for the interview and then had a car service pick her up.
The candidate was in the car, stopped at a stoplight, when the car was rear-ended by this truck. They had to pry her out of the car using the Jaws of Life. Thankfully, she wasn’t seriously injured, she was OK, but they took her to a local hospital.
The company got wind of the accident, and the CEO was horrified that this happened and so he beelined it over to the hospital to say how sorry he was and check if she was OK. She was so good-natured about it. And she joked, “This is the first time I’ve ever had a job interview from a hospital bed!”
She ended up doing a proper interview, and I think she got the job!
—David S. Martin, Sterling Martin Associates
