Craigslist Creepers

Much of my job search was done online. Craigslist was my go-to source for quite a while because it was so easy to send my resume in pdf form to the email address listed in the ads. Since you’ve seen my resume, I won’t go into detail about how great it looks in pdf form vs a Word document, which is what quite a few employers asked for. (That surprised me because they were hiring graphic designers and only giving the option of submitting Word documents for resumes! And unless I was feeling especially desperate, I did not even bother applying for those.)

One particular Craigslist ad stands out in my mind because of the creepy guy that responded to my resume application. This was for a job in Cumming, GA for a place that made plaques and trophies and such.

He began by responding almost immediately to my submission. He sent an application for employment (standard procedure) that I emailed back as soon as possible. I tried to be accommodating because I knew potential employers were usually in a hurry to hire someone, but I was used to having to wait a day or two in between emails/hearing back from them. So it caught be by surprise when this guy, let’s call him Dave, acted like my almost immediate responses weren’t quick enough for him. That was my first clue that something was off about this place, but I let it go.

The second clue was when he led me to their website. It was horrible, but I let that go as well. Maybe that’s why they were hiring a designer. They desperately needed an updated version of that mess!

Third and fourth clues came on our Facetime Interview. Dave was maybe in his mid thirties and I could tell he was single. He spent much of the conversation bragging about his father owning the company and how they had just merged with the company Dave was managing. Ok, that’s cool, Dave, but what will I be doing?

Working mostly with Dave. He’d be training me. Day in and day out. Until I got the gist of things.

Well then he asked me when it’d be convenient for me to come to Cumming, GA for a face to face interview. I told him Thursday (it was Monday). He said, “How about tomorrow?” Um…

It was a 7 hour drive from Vicksburg, MS to Cumming, GA. No respect for my time or my current job, but okay, maybe I could make tomorrow work. He was, after all, going to pay for my hotel room and gas to get there and back. I’d have to leave work in two hours to get there at a decent time that night for the interview tomorrow.

The second to last straw came at the end of the conversation when he said if I got there before 8pm, he’d take me out for a drink. Um… just you? No thanks, Dave. But what could I say? There was no possible way I was going to make it there before 8pm, so that was immediately off the table.

Then he told me he’d pick me up from my hotel room tomorrow morning, take me out to breakfast, and then we’d go into the office for the interview. Um… just you? No thanks, Dave. Why did I feel like I was being asked on a date? This was a job interview! I felt like he was being very unprofessional.

After we got off the phone I wasn’t feeling as great about this prospect as I’d started out feeling. Then came the countless emails he sent confirming our interview, confirming my hotel reservation, continuing to email me back to responses that clearly indicated the conversation was over. I had all the info I needed, so why was he still emailing me?! Then came the last and final straw. The email that said, “Hey, I can’t wait to meet you. J” J? Apparently that’s some kind of creepy smiley face (well, creepy when he used it).

Geez, I wasn’t about to drive 7 hours for this creep to show up at my hotel room in the middle of the night. I was a single girl, about to be alone in a place a good 7 hours from any relative or any person I knew. Time to call this off. If he’s creeping me out this bad on the phone, there’s no telling how it will be in person!

He did not make it easy, that’s for sure. I emailed him and made up some excuse about my car needing an oil change before I made the drive. That was just passive-aggressive stalling on my part because I was too weak professional to tell him to F off. After I emailed him, he emailed me back (immediately) telling me to call him. I didn’t. He called me. I figured he wouldn’t go quietly, and I was right.

I finally got him to leave me alone, and I never once regretted it. To this day I’m glad I did not waste my time on that job. Especially considering the amazing one I’ve found in Nashville!