Two job seekers apply to be a sales representative. They have similar names, educations, skills, and levels of experience. But one of them adds a little extra to his resume: “I have a proven track record of turning caffeine input into productivity output,” he writes. “The more coffee you can provide, the more output I will produce.”

Is the joke cringey? Definitely. But it also worked. This applicant’s personal website got three times more traffic than a serious competitor’s and was contacted nearly 1.5 times more frequently by recruiters.

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