I once had an encounter with a young lady during a recruitment process at the office. She was quite articulate, great appearance and etiquette with good energy; I mean without much effort, she could easily make it to the next stage of the interview, which she did anyway.
Now, on to the next phase for shortlisted candidates who have been successful in the first interview. The process is to contact each person and then schedule them to meet with our client. Upon retrieving candidates’ contact details, I notice something rather strange. The following conversation ensued between myself and the receptionist;
ME: Annabella! Annabella with the same surname as the lady that intrigued us? Bring out her CV.
Receptionist: These first names are different, they shouldn’t be or does she have two names?
Me: No! At least if she is to have another name asides her first name, it still doesn’t correlate with any of the names on the CV she presented during the interview.
Receptionist: The phone numbers are different too.
Holding both the sign-in register and the CV, I’m now confused as to what is going on.
Meanwhile, the name on the register matches the name on the CV that was originally sent to our mailbox which was used to shortlist the candidate.
I call the number on the CV that was sent to the mail box and this happened;
Me: Hello, (I introduce myself) am I speaking with (I call the name I’m seeing on the mail)?
(Note that SJS stands for supposed job seeker)
SJS: Yes please.
Me: Were you present at the interview today?
SJS: Uhhhhh, no!
Me: Okay miss, we have someone here on our list with your last name that just stood in your place for the interview. Do you want to shed more light on that?
SJS: Uhhhmm, yeah yeah…. That’s my sister; my twin sister. I’m not around so she came in my place for the interview.
Me: (Now I’m thinking really, is this a joke to these people? Impersonation???) Please make me understand, you saw the job advert online and you were interested right? (I continue not wanting a response just yet) then you applied. We contact you because we were impressed by your CV then you were invited over and you agreed to be here today only for us to speak with someone else definitely not with the same personality or experience we invited?
SJS: (Pause) Uhhh, yes.
Me: Ok so if I may ask, who wants the job?
SJS: I want the job but I’m not around so I asked her to go instead because she wants the job too. I thought your company deals with the people that appear for the interview not the CVs you get.
Me: Wow! (I couldn’t contain my disappointment). Madam (managing to be polite), Recruiters ask for the CVs to be sent before an interview is scheduled to check if such candidate is fit for the said role, we then invite them to see and hear more from them.
SJS: Ohh… I’m sorry.
Me: No problem Angela, have a nice day.
From this conversation it is evident that these set of twins are not new to impersonating each other. This must have been happening all the way from their schooling days, they haven’t been taught a lesson that’s why they would think it’s okay to bring it to the career setting without any implications.
Of course neither of them got the job and in fact, they have both been blacklisted from future recommendations to our clients. I can only hope that they have learnt something from this experience and will do better next time.
Dear Job seekers, it is okay to look out for family and friends but try to do it in a less complicated or rather dignifying manner. If you see a job advert that you think is a good fit for their career path, please let them know about it and encourage them to apply or you might as well send their CVs forward to such website.