The owner of a new tech website decided he’d pass along some suggestions on how to apply for jobs — to the 900 people he was turning down.

A recent Gawker.com story explained how Shea Gunther, who had advertised for writers for his new “clean tech news site,” decided to notify the 900-plus applicants who were rejected.

Gunther went through the normal rigamarole about not everybody being a good fit, how some people looked promising but didn’t have quite the right experience, and blah blah blah.

But he also included a list of 42 — count ‘em, 42 — suggestions he called “writing job applications dos and don’ts.” He said he “couldn’t help but jot down ideas on how some of you could improve your job hunting email skills.”

Just a few ‘don’ts’

A sampling:

  • Don’t tell me how great this job would be for you.
  • Don’t send me your picture.
  • Don’t ask me questions.
  • Don’t write badly.
  • Don’t use the word “passionate.”
  • Don’t challenge me and my writers.

There’s more — lots more — but you get the idea. And as you can probably imagine, more than a few of the people who read Gunther’s email didn’t take all that kindly to the unsolicited advice.

“I don’t find it helpful,” one rejected applicant told Gawker. “I just find it arrogant.”

Gunther defended himself on Salon.com, saying he was just trying to help.

A question occurs to us: If he was really trying to help, why didn’t he lay out his 42-point plan when he advertised the openings?

 

 

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