I’ve seen enough people who get jobs thank to stunts – starting websites, entering karaoke contests – that I’m starting to think writing resumes and actually going to job interviews is about to go the way of the dodo bird or Lehman Brothers.
A 23-year-old recent college graduate in London, Alex Kearns, was frustrated by his job search not going anywhere. Kearns, who majored in the super-practical fields of French and Italian (hey, I minored in French and am not hating, but I was willing to acknowledge my field of study wasn’t necessarily the one most sought-after in the job market), decided to take matters into his own hands. He printed a huge copy of his CV and held it up in London’s busy Trafalgar Square. The gambit caught the attention of the International Business Development Group, who offered him an interview and eventually a job:
He has now begun working as a sales executive at their London offices, selling consultancy services to companies in the UK and abroad.
His stunt also brought offers of an interview with another company and work experience in an advertising firm.
Look, I say good for Alex. The thing is, though, the more people who pull stunts like this and get jobs from them, the more likely we are to see hordes of people trying to do the same thing. Personally, if Union Square starts filling up with recent college graduates standing around holding up copies of their resumes, it’s going to get really old really quickly. How long can gambits like this work before people become immune to them? I still think it’s worth perfecting the art of resume-writing.
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