CEO shows applicant in shorts the door, this turns out to be the mistake of a lifetime

Goes to show, you should never judge a book by its cover

The CEO of this company made a big mistake when he turned down an applicant. The company was struggling and could use every extra pair of hands. Still, the CEO chose to reject a promising applicant because he didn’t think his appearance was professional enough. This choice was given a tail.

Curious about what happened? Read on quick!

The CEO

Johan Hautzig was the CEO of a company mainly engaged in buying and selling goods. He had founded the company fourteen years ago and had had great success. In the first decade after the company’s inception, named Hautzig Co., Johan managed to capture a large market share with his aggressive and innovative purchasing strategy.

In the last four years, things have not gone well. Hautzig stuck to the strategy that had brought him high profits for a decade, while competing companies’ approaches adapted to the changing market. The profit of Hautzig Co. dropped a bit every year, so much so that Johan was starting to get nervous.

The company was heading for its worst year to date. Johan finally saw that it was time for a breath of fresh air.

Hautzig Co.

In today’s constantly changing world, the company struggled to keep pace with the market. In the ‘golden age’, Hautzig Co. managed to get hold of a beautiful business property in the heart of Berlin, but this building was also at stake now. Although there are about 20 people working at Hautzig Co., every decision was made by the CEO: Johan Hautzig.

Johan was very proud of what he had achieved with his company. This had convinced him of his own genius in business. Unfortunately, this had left him stuck in his approach. After years of declining profits, Johan had finally accepted what the rest of the employees had known for a long time: it was time for a new strategy.

Johan decided to hire a new marketing manager, but unfortunately this did not go as planned…

The applicant

Things hadn’t been going well for a while, so it was time for a change. Johan had been pointed to a recently graduated marketing expert by his environment, who, after graduating as a freelance consultant, had helped several companies with their strategy. This sounded exactly like what Johan Hautzig and Hautzig Co. needed!

Although the marketing expert had previously worked on a freelance basis, Johan had set his sights on bringing him in with a permanent contract. He wanted to be one step ahead of the competition again, as before. That didn’t work if his marketing expert could also help the competitors. No, this expert would be his alone.

If only he had known how disappointed he would be…

Appearance

That morning, the CEO had put on his best suit, along with his favorite tie. Johan was firmly convinced that if you are successful, you must also radiate success. In addition, a first impression was invaluable to him. He would show that new applicant who he was.

Johan did not hide his opinion about others. If he were to make a ranking of ‘most important people’, he would put himself at the top. Somewhere at the bottom of the list, there were the people who were “different”. One of his favorite pastimes was criticizing the trends of today. Ridiculous, he thought. “Act normal, then you act crazy enough”, he often said.

He would be confronted that day with the fact that not everyone has the same taste…

Looking forward to

Johan had put his tie back on four times during the morning. The tie just didn’t fit right. He had to make sure that he would look great. Johan would have preferred to do everything himself, but if he had to call in the help of an expert, it was necessary that he clearly let him know who was in charge.

The other employees had been used to Johan’s self-glorification for some time. They could clearly see from their CEO that he found this job interview very exciting. It was, of course, about the future of his company. After fourteen years, Johan’s identity had become so entwined with his business that he couldn’t feel good while Hautzig Co was doing bad.

His future depended on this much-needed breath of fresh air.

Exciting day

Johan’s nervousness wasn’t just caused by the job interview he had scheduled that morning. It was an important day in general. The interview was followed by other important meetings: a weekly board meeting and a meeting with an investor who wanted to provide the company with a capital injection that it could put to good use.

It seemed like everything came down on this day. In the first ten years of his business, everything had gone smoothly. He only had to adjust a little bit and they were already making a profit. But with things slowing down, board support, an investment and a new strategy were all critical.

Little did he know he was about to become his own worst enemy…

That morning

The day started with a quiet morning. Johan made some phone calls with business associates, read the newspaper, and answered his e-mails. He could not concentrate well on these tasks. In his mind, he was already preparing for the day’s important meetings.

Johan attached great importance to appearances. Not only had his suit and tie been carefully chosen, but the words he spoke were thoughtful too. Johan was currently mentally preparing for the job interview. How would he walk into the room? How would he shake his hand? Which opening words would he choose?

Nothing was left to chance, but all these plans went out of the window once the conversation took place…

On the way to the appointment

Around five to eleven Johan’s secretary informs him that his appointment is a bit earlier. If he has time, he can talk to him now. The job interview wasn’t supposed to take place until eleven o’clock, but because Johan had been pacing around his office for a while at that time, the time change suited him well.

On the way to the room where the conversation took place, Johan stopped briefly at the men’s toilet. There he pulled out a comb and made sure his hair was neat and tidy on his head. He looked very professional, he thought. As it should be.

He had no idea what awaited him…

The job interview

Johan had already rehearsed the job interview dozens of times in his head. Every question, every possible answer had already crossed Johan’s mind. He thought he had already weighed every possibility. So it came as a great shock when, when he opened the door to the room, he saw something that he had never expected.

And how could he have ever expected this? What he found was so diametrically opposed to his own standards and values ​​that he had never been confronted with such a situation even in his worst nightmares. All of his inner alarm bells went off. Johan was a man of principles and if he knew one thing it was that what he saw went against several of these principles.

He couldn’t believe his eyes…

‘Being yourself’

As you read earlier, the CEO of Hautzig Co. thinks it’s important to appear successful. He believed that your appearance says a lot about who you are as a person. In a professional environment, you should dress professionally. In his eyes you could never be taken seriously if you didn’t dress ‘seriously’.

Johan was also disgusted by people who always wanted to ‘be themselves’. Be yourself? You can do that at home, he thought. An employee of his company worked about 40 hours a week. Johan couldn’t imagine that it was a big sacrifice not to ‘be yourself’ for 40 hours. Not that Johan didn’t have an opinion about what people did in their spare time, but in the office he was the boss.

The boss who was now face to face with someone who didn’t take it all that seriously…

The applicant

There he was, the marketing expert the entire industry was raving about. Johan’s secretary had already set out a cup of coffee for him. With a broad smile, the applicant stood up to shake Johan’s hand. But Johan made no move to accept this handshake.

The broad smile was not returned to the applicant. Instead, Johan frowned at the man across from him. He’d been so nervous before the interview, but now that the time had come, he couldn’t take the applicant seriously. The person standing in front of him had such different principles… Johan couldn’t overlook that.

Johan couldn’t believe that someone would come to a job interview like that…

Shorts

How ridiculous! The job applicant standing in front of him in the room contrasted sharply with his own carefully selected tailor-made suit. Instead of a smart blazer, trousers and nice shoes, this man chose to come to his job interview in shorts.

It might be warm outside, but this choice of clothing was anything but professional. Johan couldn’t take the man seriously like that. Even being so highly regarded, even while having such strong ideas about a new purchasing strategy… Johan would never be able to talk about his company, his baby, with someone in shorts.

The applicant had not yet realized how badly he had missed the mark…

The conversation

“Very nice to meet you—”, the marketing expert began. Johan wouldn’t let him finish and cut him off halfway through his first sentence. “Do you think we’re some kind of beach bar or something?”, he interrupted the man. Johan thought the applicant’s choice of clothing was evident of a lack of respect.

The man had applied for a position at his company. If the man didn’t take the company seriously enough to look decent, Johan wouldn’t take him seriously enough to have a conversation with him. No, he had to get this man out the door as fast as possible.

This turned out to be a huge mistake…

Lecturing

It felt as if the applicant had punched him in the face. Johan turned red and started yelling at the man in the shorts. “By behaving so unprofessionally, by coming to an interview like this, you will NEVER make it! NEVER!” he roared. “Do you think I got to where I am now by pretending this is some kind of circus?”

“How dare you come to your job interview like this?”, Johan continued. He looked at the man, out of breath. He had yelled so loud that his secretary now came back to make sure everything was okay. She looked in amazement at the two in the room.

John had no idea that he had just made a huge mistake…

Source: https://www.tips-and-tricks.co/various/ceo-shows-applicant-in-shorts-the-door/