Following news that pickings in the finance sector are growing slimmer by the day, an online job ad is causing quite a stir around the web.
A hedge fund in Palo Alto, one of the USA's most expensive cities in which to live, is on the hunt for software developers. The desired applicant will have degree (undergraduate, Masters or PhD) in computer science or mathematics, and experience in programming & software development.
But job seekers are asked to send in more than just a CV and cover letter - they're also expected to toss a coin 50 times, record the results, and send them along as well.
Needless to say, conspiracy theories abound.
Some chalk it down to an honesty test. Theoretically, when a person tries to make up seemingly random results, they usually do a pretty poor job. So a 25/25 split of heads and tails would be a dead giveaway that the applicant was lying. For more on Benford's Law.
Others think it might be a programming test, with Microsoft products like Excel or home-made programs able to do the job for you.
Still others say it's just a stupidity test. No comment there.
But luck plays a huge part in the success of hedge funds. A report by a risk management consultant found almost three of every four hedge funds trade primarily on luck, not skill or experience (which could go some way to explaining how the economy arrived in its current state). So for an industry that lives and dies on luck, it makes sense to ask for the simplest test of all - flipping a coin.
There's a running joke about the HR manager who threw away every other resume because she didn't want to hire unlucky people.
It may just be that they're screening for people who have actually read the ad, so that they can throw out the ones who blindly send their resume to every related job in IT categories.
Regardless of the reasoning, it's now also an example of successful viral marketing. Make your job ad weird, surprising and/or humorous, and you're bound to get the most (and arguably the best) from your advertising budget.
