Hugh Chadwick advertises for work
He was left penniless after enrolling on a HND course in aerospace engineering at Solihull College,Birmingham. Things were tight for him. He needed a job badly.
He said: “I woke up and was meant to get the train to university in Coventry for an activity involving stripping down a helicopter gearbox.
“But when I got to the station I realised I didn’t even have the money for the train ticket. I just thought, ‘I can’t go on like this’.”
He is less than halfway through his two-year HND at Solihull. But he wanted to get a full-time job with a view to returning to education in the future.
He probably had searched for jobs the same way his friends were doing it, without success. But he was so determined and desperate.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
He thought outside the box and came up with a completely different strategy to get what he wanted. ‘‘I’ve got no money, so had to do something,” he said. He thought differently and then acted differently. He dared to be different. He went the extra mile.
Creativity, determination and persistence were at work.
He decided to stage a placard-waving hunt for work, advertising his availability for work on the streets.
Motorists were given a Valentine’s Day surprise as he took his search for employment onto the streets.
His placard did not read “I don’t have a job”. No! He was positive in his approach. “Please, give me a job” was what he wrote on his board with a smiley face drawn on the top-right corner for extra effect.
“Advertising myself in this way is something I am just experimenting with at the moment.
“It’s another alternative because although you can do a lot of job applications on the internet, it doesn’t ever seem to get people anywhere.”
The 20-year old Hugh Chadwick stood at a busy road junction in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, for days on end in the hope he would attract potential employers.
Not a few people would have mocked his idea of carrying placards around to advertise his dire need for a job. His story spread online and offline. Many were sympathetic with him. He was swamped with messages of support. He said:
“Several people beeped at me as they drove past and gave me the thumbs-up. One guy even gave me a fiver and told me to get a drink!
“Some people emailed me saying they really admired my efforts and others suggested companies to get in touch with
“But I got a job offer from Rotech [renowned engineering company] and went to see them… it went really well. They offered me a job as a mechanical testing technician…”
“I want a job because I know that I would make a valuable contribution and always work to the best of my ability,” he said.
For hard-up Hugh it was a dream come true when the offer came through from Rotech Laboratories.
At last, his creative and persistent efforts paid off!
Stand.Out.And.Reign!
‘Femi Asu
Stand.Out.And.Reign! 
Good for him and I’m so pleased that he got a job this way. I’ve read about other people using similar strategies and they’ve actually been criticised; accused of looking “desperate”.
But the truth is, there are plenty of graduates who are desperate. It really doesn’t help matters when you’ve got the media telling you at every opportunity how hopeless the graduate jobs market is, when you’ve got people haranguing you about when you’re going to find a job, as though you’re actually choosing to be unemployed. Small wonder that graduates are feeling desperate.
But anyway, I don’t think this comes across as desperate at all. It comes across as someone who recognises that traditional techniques aren’t working, or someone who’s willing to try other, less tried and tested techniques. I don’t know about anyone else but that’s a quality I’d look for if I were employing people.