Classified ad with a wording twist produces desired results

Personal Assistant/Housekeeper Wanted. Duties: Anything I ask that's not illegal, immoral or fattening.

Those were the words that appeared on a classified page in the Enterprise on May 24, and the Omena man responsible for the somewhat mysterious ad said it produced the effect he was looking for.

“I have a friend who has been extremely successful in his car wax business, and he told me that anytime he ran an ad for new employees, he used this wording,” said Brad Lutz. “I thought it was hilarious, and it just always stuck with me, so I used it.”

He said the ad worked beautifully, generating between 20 and 30 calls.

What was the callers’ reaction, especially to the part about not doing anything that’s “illegal, immoral or fattening”?

“Most people didn’t say anything about the wording of the ad, but a few did. A few of them thought it was really funny,” he said.

Lutz said the ad created attention for the job, but also a little bit of confusion, too.

“Many of the people when they showed up for the interview were like, ‘Okay, now what exactly is it that you need me to do?’” he said with a laugh. “We just wanted to find someone who wasn’t going to put all kinds of constraints on what they would or wouldn’t do for the job.”

Lutz, 48, and his wife, Linda, 44, have three children, ages 12, 10, and 5.

Within the past few years, they have become permanent residents of Omena.

“It has always been my plan to retire when I was 40. Linda and I worked really hard, started several businesses, and then invested in real estate, so that now we can afford to do what we really want, which is to spend time with our children,” he said.

The three children are home-schooled, but Lutz made it clear that seeking help in their home was not for the purpose of hiring a nanny.

“We aren’t the types to hire someone to take care of our kids while we go off to Barbados or something. We thoroughly love every minute we spend with our kids. We placed the ad because we have other big projects we’re working on, and we could see that we needed an extra set of hands around the house,” he said.

He said he got all kinds of respondents from the ad: young and old, couples, single mothers, and college students.

“We had a ton of really qualified candidates interview for this job. We realized how difficult job hunting is in Leelanau County. We wished we could hire more, but we only needed one,” he said.

They eventually hired Mary Beth Fawcett, a 2005 Suttons Bay graduate, who is a junior in at Michigan State University. She thought the wording of the ad was “really goofy,” but was glad she applied and got the job.

“This was probably the hardest, most thorough interview I’ve ever done for a job, and I was involved in BPA (Business Professionals of America) through high school and have been on a lot of interviews. They asked really good questions,” said Fawcett.

Lutz said he’s pleased with his new employee.

“She’s just going to work out great. She’s a college student with a lot of spunk, and we’re really happy to have her come work for us,” he said.
Lutz also promised that whatever work is ahead for Fawcett wouldn’t be illegal, immoral or fattening.

“No. We wouldn’t do that. Of course not,” he said.

Fawcett will return to Michigan State in the fall, when the Lutzes plan on continuing their quest of taking family trips throughout the country on their RV.