Craziest Calls I’ve Had
I know these last two weeks have been very tense and anxiety-ridden for all of us. I would like to take this opportunity to bring some levity to us all. I speak with literally thousands of people each year. I often listen to their laments about their peers, coworkers, and interviewers. But, as you can imagine, not all of my client calls remain strictly in the professional domain. And, as I’ve shared with you some of the whacky things my clients have encountered out there in the world, I’d now like to share some of the whackiest calls I’ve had during the course of my career. Let me just preface this by saying that I’m really glad that video calls never caught on to become the norm. Read on, and you will understand why:
- The woman who called me while she was brushing her teeth, and apologized that she needed to rinse.
- The guy who had gone to prison for cooking meth in his house. He didn’t do it. It was the people he was living with. He didn’t know it was going on. But he did the time.
- Recently, the woman who was drunk when I called her. At 1:30 PM ET. She explained that she had been under quarantine for more than two weeks; she was stuck inside with two toddlers under age 4. And that she had just received her wine delivery. I understood.
- Guy who “hadn’t really given any thought” to what he wanted in his next role. Just wanted one in which he could be “left alone. I don’t need anyone up in my business.”
- Dude who was high when I called. Easiest client to work with, EVER.
- Client who had served federal time for securities fraud. Wanted to “get back into the financial services space.” Uh. Okay. Good luck with that!
- Guy who didn’t know what he wanted to do with his career, but whose main goal was “a job I can do from my house,” because living at the beach was his top priority.
- The woman who stopped herself mid-call and explained that she needed to excuse herself to answer the door because there were 4 uniformed police officers on her porch.
- Multiple instances of “Hang on one second. I have to flush.”
- Countless riffs on “My boss is a POS who needs to be tossed in the river” as a response to the question of “Why are you looking to make a move?”
- In a wholesale embrace of the stereotype, multiple conversations with disaffected GenX-ers who don’t want to buy, sell, or market anything that’s bought, sold, or marketed.
- Guy who forgot about our 7 AM PST call. I woke him up. He had to grind his beans and wait for his cup of French press to be done before we could start.
Please stay safe during these trying times. I hope this made you chuckle – or at least smile! And by all means, please share your stories here!