Talk about stepping in it . . .

Submitted by Dr. Diane L. Young

As the HR hiring manager for a large company in a small town, the most memorable interview still makes me laugh. As background, on this planet there are few people more committed to dog rescue and adoption than I am. I founded and was the director of an animal rescue organization and dealt with abuse situations everyday. Back to the interview: this candidate seemed nice, thoughtful, capable, etc. I told him I was going to proceed with a background check and if there was anything he needed to tell me ahead of time, he needed to tell me now. He said no that his record was clear. Oh, except for one conviction he had but that was a while back. Our employer can deal with some issues so I asked him what the conviction was for. He said, "It was only animal abuse involving a dog." He was sitting in my office which has dog pictures on the walls, on my desk, dog calendars, and other doggy items. I was almost speechless but did manage to usher him to the door. After a short period of deep breathing, I told my supervisor and a few of my coworkers why I was not asking him back. They knew me so well that they all broke down laughing about it saying the guy would have been better off telling me he was a convicted serial killer.