Linked by Matt on January 15 2009:
Achatz and Keller: A Tale of Two Chefs
How did current Alinea chef Grant Achatz get a job working for Thomas Keller at French Laundry? He sent his résumé to the restaurant almost every day for a month until he finally landed a job there. The reason Keller gave in: “He had so much tenacity, much the same way I was persistent about my goals and what I wanted to do.” Impressive determination. Though please note: This technique not recommended if you want a job at 37signals.
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10 comments so far
Killian 15 Jan 09
now maybe if you were a tenacious open source ruby coder otoh…..
Applicant 15 Jan 09
Appreciate the hint…we’ll only send them every other day from now on…
Daniel Massicotte 15 Jan 09
Ferriss did the same thing for a startup company in S. Valley a few years back. I think it takes a certain amount guts to be willing to do what, but on the other hand, what do you have to loose?
GeeIWonder 15 Jan 09
@ Applicant
Send them in on prime numbered days up to day 37!
Justin 15 Jan 09
Ha ha. That’s the problem with posting a story of tenacity like that – do you (as an employer) want to get bugged like that every day?
I think tenacity is 50% of the battle; but ability must be the other 50%.
Jason 15 Jan 09
I think the key phrase in the article was “much the same way I was persistent”.
Being a bulldog job-seeker will only be effective if the employer (and the screeners on the way up) sees the value of bulldoggery. In this case, the employer could relate to the tenacity, and had positive associations to boot (after all, it worked for him).
People love seeing a bit of themselves in an employee. It’s like a built-in branding mechanism.
Laurel 15 Jan 09
One person’s tenacity is another person’s assholery…
Peter Cooper 15 Jan 09
This technique not recommended if you want a job at 37signals.
Of course it’s not. Doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work in the right case, however, but no-one would explicitly recommend such a tactic. That’s why these sorts of tactics can yield surprising results.. because they’re rare and not the norm.
I bet if someone who was super talented but under recognized registered iwanttoworkfor37signals.com, had extreme viral success with it, and really made their case well, you’d at least consider hiring them for their tenacity.
Paul Campbell 16 Jan 09
Right, but Keller also head hunts the best staff from all over the US. Keller’s after the best, so this is probably a once off.
Dustin 19 Jan 09
Seems like someone should start a web app that hooks up with amazingmail.com or something to send your resume every day for a month (or love letter, or whatever it is).
call it everydayforamonth.com – make it use some fake handwriting technology so it seems like all the messages are handwritten.
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