There are loads of ways one can get hired. Sometimes you go through it with a job agent, sometimes through Linkedin, sometimes via creative resumes. Finding jobs is not easy, so 28yr old Carrie Kemeling decided to attack the process a little differently.
Instead of contacting consultants or cold-calling recruiters, she decided to take matters, and her resumes into her hands, hoping to pass them to others’. And that she did.
Armed with a cardboard signboard, and a stack of resumes, Kemeling stood by a busy exit ramp off a highway in Buffalo, New York, handing out her resumes to whoever would take them.
So in a spot on Niagara Street in Buffalo where motorists exiting the Niagara Thruway are often greeted by homeless people holding cardboard signs asking for money or food, Kemeling posted her own sign: “Not Homeless but Hungry for success. Take a resume”
“I’m just trying to get my word out to as many people as possible to show my creativity and innovation, and you know hopefully, I can find something that will make me happy. If people can give money to somebody who is homeless and not looking for work, they can also help someone who is trying to help themselves,” she said. “I believe this is going to be a success story. People want to see self-motivation. And I’m not giving up on myself and never will.” she told Buffalo News.
“I hope I’m inspiring other people to not just sit down and take what’s coming to you, but actually go after what you want.”
Kemeling had worked as a sales representative at a local jewelers, and had put down her papers only a day before this stunt.
“Even though I had a job, I’m still looking for better and I know I’m better,” she said. “I’m looking to find a company who is willing to invest in me and I’m investing in them as well. I’m really extremely trainable.She said she’d been “looking to advance myself for the past year. I sent résumés but didn’t get a response. So now I have the time to stand here and actually put myself out there. If I’m going to give my résumé to someone, I want to give it to someone who wants it.” she said.
Apparently, Kemeling quit her last job because she was passed for promotion.
After four hours on the island, Kemeling had more than a dozen employers offering positions, including the temp agency, a shredding company and an online startup. But Kemeling plans to return to the Thruway exit on Tuesday.
“I want to keep my options open,” she said. “I want to give other candidates a chance. There might be others out there who are interested in hiring me.”
Furthermore, Kemeling said she’s looking “for a career, not a job.” Her ideal position?
“Working for Donald Trump as his secretary,” she laughed. “Who knows? Anything is possible.”