Job applicant sends a hilarious sketch after employer demands video resume for minimum wage job

Editor's note: This article was originally published on September 20, 2022. It has since been updated.

Who among us hasn't encountered some real pieces of work while on the market for a new job? While most of us wave off such experiences as part of the process, one Reddit user revealed how she went the extra mile to give an appropriate response to a prospective employer who wanted her to jump through hoops for a minimum-wage job. In a post shared on the r/MaliciousCompliance Reddit forum, u/itchyspiderbutthole—aka Casey—shared how she filmed, edited and shared a whole comedy sketch when asked to record a video resume to show that she and she alone deserved the position of a sales assistant in a small clothing store.

"You'd like a video resume? You got it! Okay, so this happened about 7 years ago and I just never really thought to share it here until now," Casey wrote in the post. "I was looking for jobs in small shops in my town. I had just recovered from a nervous breakdown so my husband was stressing that the goal of this job was to dip my toe back into daily life, which meant anything that even hinted at being stressful was not an option. (We were very very poor and was husband was working three jobs to keep us afloat while I recovered, he's quite literally the best.)"

"I dropped off my resume at a cute little shop and heard back by email, asking me to write a brief essay about why I wanted to work at her store. I knew I wasn't supposed to go work for someone difficult, but I was trying to stay positive, so I wrote the essay," she continued. "It felt weird and insulting to have to find different ways to be like 'I'm super passionate about registers and dealing with rude people?' But I did it."

However, the employer came back with yet another demand: to create a video resume. "To make minimum wage. At a small clothing store,” Casey pointed out. That was where she drew the line.

Since Casey and her husband had experience creating comedy sketches, they decided to respond to the employer in their own special way. They set about filming an incredibly funny video in which she lists her "incredible skills" that make her the perfect person for the job of a salesperson: an impeccable sense of style, owning five hangers, knowing how to fold and the fact that she doesn't steal (or do drugs) at work.

Speaking to Bored Panda about creating the video, Casey said: "It was a team effort. When I first received her request for a video resume, I got really down as it had been the third job I applied for in the area that had crazy hoops to jump through. Adam told me 'Just forget it, she's clearly going to be awful to work with.' That's when I decided, hell, why not do the video as a means of venting out my frustration with all these ridiculous expectations from retail gigs?"

"Including set up, filming, and editing, the total amount of time was probably 6 hours. Set up one hour, filming one hour, and editing for 4. There was no script, we improvised and it was actually one of our favorite videos to make because it was so completely off the cuff," she revealed. Funnily enough, when Casey sent the video to the employer, they actually took it as a serious submission. "She then told me, unfortunately, I didn't present myself in a professional light (lol) and she was not interested in hiring me because the video didn't show me shining with customers," Casey wrote.

After multiple bad experiences in the job market, Casey eventually decided to start her own business. "Every job I got after that was extremely stressful and I essentially had to just force myself to find calm in spite of toxic workplaces," she explained. "In the end, the only way I could have a healthy business life was by starting my own. Now I run trivia shows in Buffalo, before that I ran shows in the Bay Area. I'm very fortunate to have a partner that made it possible for me to do that!"