PASADENA, Texas — A new job posting in Pasadena is turning heads -- making some people laugh and others scowl.
The owner of Pets Gone Wild Resort said he put up the hiring sign Tuesday morning. It says "Now hiring non-stupid people."
Driving west down Crenshaw Road in the southern part of Pasadena, it’s a sign that's hard to miss.
“They don’t think they’re stupid so they came in to apply," owner Walter Parsons said.
Outside the resort is a job posting like no other.
“We’re trying to weed out the people that do come in. We hired one last week that lasted three days," Parsons said.
Parsons said the resort has been trying to fill positions for a while. They've made postings online, but haven’t had many applicants and the employees they’ve hired haven’t worked out.
“Repeatedly, ‘get off your cell phone, you’ve got dogs to watch. OK, put the cell phone up, go back out there.' Twenty minutes later, she’s back on her cell phone," Parsons said. “At least be as smart as I am.”
So they tried another approach, one they found on Amazon.
“This was the very first one at the top of the page. We got a good laugh out of it. My wife says get it, and I said alright that’s fine," Parsons said.
Parsons said the main reason they got the sign was to grab people’s attention. He said within 24 hours, they got three solid applicants and really have no more use for the sign.
But not everyone is happy.
“What does it say to prior employees? 'Oh, we think you’re stupid so we’re trying to hire somebody that we think is smarter than you?”' Taylor N. said.
As a Pasadena resident, Taylor said she was appalled when she saw the sign, saying there are other non-offensive ways to grab attention.
“The fact that they felt so emboldened to put something up there like that, it's disgusting, it’s distasteful and it’s unprofessional," Taylor said.
Others said it gave them a laugh.
“And I thought, 'well that’s quite different.' And I thought it was kind of cute. Attention drawing," another customer, who asked to be identified as Sue, said.
Parsons said it’s just his effort to find the best employees possible.
“Come through here and take a tour and take a look at the responsibility that we have. Would you put your child somewhere that wasn’t dedicated, that didn’t have smart people in it?” Parsons said.
Since they have found the employees they need, he said they will probably take the sign down at the end of the week.