Jerry and the 3 Interviews That Never Showed Up

A cartoon illustration of a person wearing an orange uniform shirt, sitting at a counter with a white mug in hand. The background features a waiting room with several empty chairs, a closed door, and a clock on the wall showing the time as 7:00. The overall setting suggests a quiet, waiting environment.

Jerry and the Three Interviews That Never Showed

Jerry ran the floor at a small factory just outside town. He didn’t need a full team of unicorns—just three people. Three folks who could show up on time, punch in, do the job, and hopefully not set the building on fire.

He posted the job online. Paid extra to “boost” it. Rewrote the listing twice to make it sound more exciting—“fast-paced environment,” “opportunity to grow,” the whole nine yards. He was expecting a few bites, maybe a dozen decent resumes.

Instead, he was swamped.

Within hours, hundreds of résumés poured in. Some were clearly copied and pasted from jobs that had nothing to do with manufacturing. One applicant claimed to be a dolphin trainer—Jerry didn’t even have a water cooler, much less a dolphin tank.

He clicked, sorted, filtered, flagged, and narrowed it down to three solid interviews.

All scheduled for the same Tuesday.

Jerry cleared his calendar. He even cleaned the breakroom, set out fresh coffee, and made sure the air fryer didn’t smell like burnt fish sticks.’

A cartoon illustration of a person wearing an orange uniform shirt, sitting at a counter with a white mug in hand. The background features a waiting room with several empty chairs, a closed door, and a clock on the wall showing the time as 7:00. The overall setting suggests a quiet, waiting environment.

First interview: no-show.

Second interview: rescheduled, then ghosted.

Third? Jerry waited fifteen minutes past the hour, then poured himself a second cup of coffee and stared at the three empty chairs in front of him. He didn’t even like coffee.

That day, Jerry swore off job boards.

 

The next week, he tried something different. He called Synergy HR.

Instead of a flood of resumes, he got a short list of pre-screened candidates who were ready to work—and actually showed up. He hired two on the spot and started the third the following Monday. Not a single dolphin trainer in the bunch.

A stylized illustration shows four individuals in what appears to be a factory or industrial setting. Three individuals are seated at a moving conveyor belt, wearing teal hard hats, orange long-sleeved shirts, and beige gloves. They appear to be working with rectangular beige objects on the belt. Behind them stands another individual, also light-skinned with brown hair and a mustache, wearing an orange short-sleeved shirt with a white tag and holding a white mug. This individual seems to be observing the others. Industrial machinery in muted teal and beige tones is visible in the background, along with three hanging light fixtures. The overall color palette is muted and retro in style.

Jerry didn’t just fill roles. He stopped wasting time, stopped playing résumé roulette, and got back to running his floor.

And they all lived happily ever after.

The end.

The Moral of the Story:
Don’t bet your time on a flood of faceless résumés—quality beats quantity every time. When hiring feels like roulette, partner with experts who screen, match, and deliver candidates who actually show up.

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