'Please give me a job!' Unemployed man bags job on the spot after standing in the rain for hours with sign
A jobless man who stood for hours in the pouring rain with a 'Please give me a job' sign was stunned when a passing businessman offered him one on the spot.
After spending the last two years out of work, 23-year-old Mark Wheeldon was fed up of living on benefits and concocted a plan to get him noticed on the job market.
He decided to stand on one of the busiest roundabouts in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, and advertise himself to passing motorists during the morning rush hour.
Lucky: Timber factory director Vince Champion, left, spotted jobless Mark Wheeldon, right, and gave him work after a 20 minute interview
So nervous was he about the job hunt mission that he lay awake all night before rising at 5am in the morning to create a sign from a piece of cardboard
But he was flabbergasted when, after nearly three hours spent standing in a torrential downpour, timber factory director Vince Champion came to his rescue.
He spotted Mark on his way to work and returned to collect him, giving him an interview straight away and offering him the job just 20 minutes later.
After a shower, Mark found himself making frames at the Smart Timber Frame Company by midday.
Mark, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, had failed to find work after spending the past two years caring for a former partner who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis.
Initiative: Fed up with being on benefits 23-year-old Wheeldon decided to do something different in his quest for work by standing on a busy roundabout in Stoke-on-Trent with his sign
The former mechanic, painter and decorator and butcher's assistant said: 'I was planning to stay until the evening rush hour and then keep coming back until someone gave me a job.
'I had been everywhere looking for work but I'd had no luck, so I thought I may as well as just go down to Basford Bank on the A500 and stand by the traffic.
'I had been out of work for so long, looking after my partner and doing all the little things for her like brushing her hair.
'All that time I had been looking for a job, but because I had been out of work for so long I had no current experience or references.
'One day, I decided to make a fresh start and get my life back on track. I stayed awake all night just thinking about what I was going to do.
'When I got up the next morning, I wasn't put off by the rain in the slightest. When you are desperate for work you will do anything to find a job.
'The whole time I was stood there I was just hoping that someone, anyone, would stop and ask for my number. It was all I could think about. I was freezing and soaked to the skin.
'When Vince pulled up I was over the moon that someone had finally stopped to speak to me.
'And when he offered me the job, I couldn't believe I had found one so quickly.
'Now that I'm here, it's a job I really enjoy. I get on with everyone and I get to work with my hands. My bosses are great and I'm really looking forward to building a career here.'
Vince explained how he had been driving to fetch bacon sandwiches for colleagues when he spotted Mark standing on the roundabout.
He said: 'I was on my way to work at about 8am and I saw Mark standing in the pouring rain, holding a placard which read: "Please give me a job".
'I thought if someone could stand there in that deluge - and it was absolutely torrential rain - then they must be determined to find a job. My attitude was the he would be an asset to any company.
'There are not many unemployed people who would have done that and I thought that anyone who wanted a job that much deserved a chance.
'When I brought him back to the office was so soaked through that a little puddle formed under his chair while I interviewed him.
'I spoke to him for about 20 minutes and then offered him the job on the spot. I was really impressed by his determination and he has the right kind of attitude that we want here.
'Now he's getting on brilliantly and fitting right in with all the other employees. I wish more people could show the same kind of determination to find work as he did.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1297107/Please-job-Unemployed-man-bags-job-spot-standing-rain-hours-sign.html#ixzz2MyCo0kI1
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Adam Pacitti produced
As thousands of recent graduates go into the New Year unemployed, one enterprising young hopeful has made his own desperation for paid work the centre of an advertising campaign that went viral yesterday.
Adam Pacitti, who graduated from the University of Winchester with a First Class degree in Media Studies, today unveiled a billboard in the London borough of Camden that reads “I spent my last £500 on this billboard. Please give me a job”, complete with a link to his website, employadam.com, and a 10 foot self-portrait.
Within 24-hours, almost 10,000 people had tweeted references to the billboard, and as many again visited his website for more information on the unconventional mass-job application.
The 24-year-old from the Isle of Wight is yet to be offered his much sought-after first job in television production, but he is optimistic that his off-the-wall approach will bring success.
“This is it for me,” he told The Independent. “I am just looking for a job, that what it’s all about. I’m getting enough attention now that I’m hoping someone will come along and offer me one soon, hopefully in production. I’ve had no formal job offers yet, but fingers crossed within a day or so I should have something.”
Adam said he launched the campaign after hundreds of failed job applications and a string of only moderately successful home-made documentaries left him without a clear career path.
“I’ve probably sent 200 CVs out, but it’s so difficult to stand out on paper,” he said, echoing the concerns of thousands of graduates who are forced to find interesting answers to questions like 'what would you say your weaknesses are in the workplace?'.
“This is my way of trying to stand out. I had a summer job in an arcade, which I have done every summer for the last three years, but I finished that in late September and I’ve been out of work since then.”
The billboard, which was actually £530 including VAT and genuinely did cost Adam every penny in his bank account, is accompanied by a 4-minute video CV, in which the unemployed student makes a series of humorous pleas for gainful employment.
“I am desperate, and I think I am showing that desperation,” he said. “I mean, all graduates are victims of the economic recession. People are willing to work for free, and that’s not easy. Their parents are able to fund them, but unfortunately I don’t have that luxury. It’s difficult to find a paid, entry-level job in media or anywhere.”
Though Adam's approach is original, the situation he has found himself is far from uncommon.
Update
Update
‘Please give me a job’: Desperate teen, 18, takes to the streets with sandwich board begging for work after applying for 80 posts
An unemployed teenager is so desperate for work she has taken to the streets with a sandwich board begging: ‘Please give me a job’.
Claire Fear, 18, was forced to ditch her dreams of becoming a dietician because of concern over building up huge debts at university and is now trying for any type of job.
The former health sciences student has applied for more than 80 jobs since finishing her college course in June.
She has now resorted to walking the streets of her home town of Bridgwater, Somerset, holding a sign pleading with employers to give her a chance.
Claire said: ‘There are no jobs and no prospects in this town so I’m having to take matters in my own hands.
‘I registered with an employment agency when I finished college, but I have only had a tiny bit of work since then. None of it is full-time.
‘I have applied for so many jobs. I did want to be a dietician, but I did not want to go to university – lots of people have told me it is not worth it because of the debts.
‘I am desperate for work and I will do pretty much anything.’
Claire left Bridgwater College with a Level 3 BTEC in health sciences this summer and has been searching for work ever since.
In one day alone she visited 50 shops in the town centre asking for a job – but none had any work.
Claire is baffled as to why she is repeatedly rejected but believes she is stuck in a ‘catch 22′ situation where she does not have sufficient experience for most jobs.
She now spends up to three hours a day walking the streets with her sandwich board.
The idea of using the board came from her mother.
Claire said: ‘My mum mentioned doing this as a joke a few weeks ago – I don’t think she thought I would take her seriously.
‘I have had mostly positive responses from people – one person even pulled over and said he hoped things work out for me. But there have been no job offers.’
An Essex man has come up with an unusual way of finding his next job.
Armed with only a 40mph scooter and a billboard, John Fairest is pounding the main roads offering his services to all and sundry.
Mr Fairest's quest began last week when he lost his insurance job after six months.
Initially, he placed adverts for his skills at the A12-M25 junction and along the A1, A4, and A40.
But feeling a "certain amount of desperation" he decided it was literally time to get on his bike.
"I decided that I would set off to London on my little Honda C90 - which can only go to 40 mph - with a billboard on my back, advertising my quest for employment," he told BBC News online.
Motorists give idea thumbs-up
He did not have to wait long for his first offer of employment. This was cash-in-hand labour on a building site - but his long drive also brought hope for the future through "leads" with Sun Life and Abbey Life.
Mr Fairest said the response from his fellow motorist had inspired him to keep up his scooter search for work.
"All through the six-hour round trip someone was waving and cheering me on.
"It is encouraging to me that this country is 100% behind those who get on the road to pursue the quest to move on.
"The most encouraging thing is when you're travelling down the round and people are giving you thumbs up. One person even slowed down and took my details and then phoned up my wife up at home."
Quest goes on
On Monday, Mr Fairest plans to hit the roads again, driving to London where he will distribute copies of his updated CV to insurance companies. He admits to being slightly more daunted by this prospect, as he is still learning his way around the city's streets.
But he remains optimistic and committed to his own brand of self-promotion. It has worked before - in January he found a week's work in an insurance office through the same method.
"It was originally used a year back by a semi-retired person looking for part-time work and somebody in Warwickshire area," Mr Fairest added.
"But it's the first time it's been used with quite as much courage and in such a big area. I drove from Ipswich right through to north London.
"There's a lot to be said for people going out there and doing it on their own."
Social media in use as others are insired
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