Career advice 101: Don't be like Aleskey

They say that any media attention is good media attention, but one student at Yale probably would beg to differ. When Aleksey Vayner sent his résumé complete with video to a Swiss bank UBS, he got more attention then just from his potential employers. reports The New York Times.

Vayner's video showed him in a mock interview holding forth on his philosophy of life, interspersed with clips of him power lifting, playing tennis, dancing with a scantily clad woman and breaking bricks with his bare hand. Apparently, someone at UBS found it amusing enough to put the video on a blog and then it showed up on YouTube, along with harassing comments.

"I felt demonstrating competency in athletics is a good way to stand out, because the same characteristics are the same in business," Mr. Vayner said. "The need to set and achieve goals, to have the dedication and competitive drive that's required in business success."

But Vayner is not happy about all the media attention and feels that it has probably damaged his prospects landing an investment banker job. Since his address, email and phone number have been posted for all the world to see, people have been sending him critical comments and threatening email. The dark side of social networking is rearing its ugly head once again.

Some students at Yale have parodied the video, making their own versions by telling their own stories about Mr. Vayner on the Web, fabricating stories of bare-handed killings and handling nuclear waste. Some are questioning the validity of claims Vayner made on his résumé, such as whether he ran his own charity and investment firm.

The tone of the video seems too serious to be parody, yet too over-the-top to be credible. After sharing the clip, fellow students at Yale, he said, began telling their own tales about Mr. Vayner on the Web, fabricating stories of bare-handed killings and handling nuclear waste. The Internet scrutiny also raised questions about some of Mr. Vayner's claims in his résumé, including assertions that he ran his own charity and investment firm.

Mr. Vayner and his lawyer, Christian P. Stueben, said they discussing legal options against UBS.

"As a firm, UBS obviously respects the privacy of applicants' correspondences and does not circulate job applications and résumés to the public. To the extent that any policy was breached, it will be dealt with appropriately." said a UBS spokesman in a statement.

But a piece on Fox News questions why Aleskey should be complaining about his newfound fame. On Fox, PR expert Fraser Seitel says the video shows why Aleskey would make a great investment banker.