What's the most shocking thing a candidate has asked you to make part of the job offer?

In my case while I was interviewing a tech exec for a CEO position during the boom he requested that he would only accept our offer if we agreed to purchase his private jet for 1.5 million. So what's yours?

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Permalink Reply by Judy Reynolds on September 21, 2011 at 10:05am

I hired James about 5 years ago who was recently on the show 'Biggest Looser ', he requested a special chair due to his size.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Spagnola on September 21, 2011 at 10:09am

wow - now that was one I was not expecting Judy. Thanks for sharing.

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Permalink Reply by Chris on September 21, 2011 at 10:47am

I've had someone ask for an ergo chair before.

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Permalink Reply by Francois Guay on September 21, 2011 at 1:21pm

Wow Bill, what industry was she from? In my case we did not continue on with the candidate but because of culture fit vs. the jet (the company probably would have accepted but at a lower valuation.

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Permalink Reply by Chantelle Legg on September 22, 2011 at 4:02am

I am afraid, I do not have anything to contribute, but as I literally laughed out loud at my desk at Valentino's comment, I felt i should tell you the amusment this post is giving me! I hope there are a few more stories, though I am not sure 'being whacked' can be topped!

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Permalink Reply by Francois Guay on September 22, 2011 at 8:33am

Valentino, amazing story, it's really quite incredible to what lengths a company will go to to get a candidate. It gets especially crazy when other companies are making candidates like this counter offers, or the candidate tells us they are getting counter offers. I like to call their bluff and get them to bring in a copy of their other offers. If they really do have one, most candidates will bring it in, unless they have already decided to go with another company...

Keep the examples coming. Great stuff. I am sure we could all write a book with the experiences and knowledge we have.

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Permalink Reply by Nery Leal on September 22, 2011 at 11:43am

We had one candidate at a pharma company tell us he would love to work for us but first we need to install an on-site pet sitting service as his dogs were not meant to stay home alone. At least we took comfort in the fact we did our part to ensure the dogs would not be lonely.