4 Reasons this Guy is the Perfect New Hire
After seeing such a headline, who wouldn’t read this article ?
Apparently, the UK’s 28-year-old Dan Conway went to various (and seemingly extreme) lengths to find a job. The story goes:
Mr Conway lost his job a week before his second child was born last year. Despite applying for hundreds of posts, the university graduate was repeatedly turned down.
As a last resort the father-of-two set up The Extreme Job Hunter website in the hope of finding work.
His bizarre appeals for employment included walking around Newcastle wearing a billboard, and posting himself as for sale on eBay.
He even posted a pleading video from his three-year-old daughter Lucy begging: ‘please get my daddy a job’ on the website, but to no avail.
The article said he also:
- Offered a free iPad to anyone who could find him a job
- Sent companies doughnuts and pizzas as “bribes”
- Sent his CV in piñatas
- Recorded a song for BBC director Tony Hall
- Offered to work for free
Although not every bizarre job hunting approach has a nice ending, Conway’s efforts finally paid off after Vitamins Direct recently offered him a job. And after looking at everything he did, it’s clear to see why Conway—and any job seeker like him—is a company’s new hire dream.
Below I’ve outlined just four of the ways you can count on those willing to go the extra mile to be the perfect new hire for your company:
1. Dedicated
Every business wants workers who are dedicated to their roles and the company’s bottom line. Companies don’t usually want to have to motivate their workers, rather have employees who are already passionate about their jobs and the mission of the organizations. Conway is a great example of this.
In the face of all types of adversity and rejections he proved that he was still dedicated to not only finding a job, but the right type of job. You want a new hire who already possesses a sense of dedication to his/her desire to work.
2. Innovative
What company doesn’t want someone who brings new ideas to the table? Conway found creative ways to advertise himself and his skills from “selling” himself on eBay to writing messages about himself and his website on the inside lid of pizza boxes. He came up with various ways to expose himself all on his own—this type of creativity is exactly what companies are looking for. And having a newbie on board who has demonstrated that he/she can be innovative and creative without pay is a plus.
3. Marketer
To help in his job search efforts, Conway setup his own website, Theextremejobhunter.com. He branded himself as “the extreme job hunter” and showed all his different “extreme” tactics on his site. He also included the url to his site in all of his communication efforts with employers. Talk about marketing yourself.
Hiring someone who has clearly demonstrated he/she knows the power of not only marketing, but marketing to the right audience and with the right strategies? Need I say more?
4. Personality
The end of the story offered a comment from the president of Conway’s soon-to-be employer, Vitamins Direct. It said, “’We wanted to hi[r]e the life of the party. Dan demonstrated that so the choice was very easy.”
Obviously Conway’s efforts showed off his creativity and personality, which were a good match for the company. Most companies make selections or hiring decisions for culture fit, so if your company comes across an extra motivated job seeker whose strategies demonstrate the kind of culture your company possesses, you’re sure to have a great new hire on your hands.