It’s not exactly clear why certain articles have to be packaged as “service journalism” when they are clearly schadenfreude journalism. Is there some rule they teach you in journalism school that says we can’t laugh at others unless we package it with practical advice? Luckily, no-one at DealBreaker HQ ever went to journalism school, so we missed that class. We bring you the straight funny.
A senior executive recently bragged to recruiter Gerard Roche about being such a big gun in the computer industry that he knew the top brass at IBM. “So you must know Palmisano,” Mr. Roche said, alluding to Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM’s leader.
The job candidate responded, “Oh, I know Paul very well,” the Heidrick & Struggles International senior chairman remembers. “As soon as somebody does something like that, I open the trap door and they’re never heard from again.”
That’s Sam/Paul to the left, by the way. More stories like that in the full story.
How to Stage a Strong Recovery When Stumped in an Interview [CareerJournal.Com]
Re: bragging about big guns, my favorite:
Sitting in a Paris bistro, sipping onion soup at a communal table in the old Le Halle market area very late one night in the 60′s. A very well tailored black gentlemen, Jean Pierre, a self descibed very important ambassador from an African country I don’t recall the name of. He is discussing his meeting, in heavily accented English, that afternoon with President DeGaulle, when another diner at the table having listened at greater length to the gentleman’s exploits exclaimed: “You know Jean Pierre, if you were an American you would be the president of General Motors. To which Jean Pierre replied, “ah yes, General Motors, I have had many dealings with him. He is a close friend”.