Phoenix man lands job after creative search gets marketer’s attention

PHOENIX — Melissa DiGianfilippo was driving back to work from lunch two weeks ago when something caught her eye at red light.

There was a young man, smiling in the 110 degree heat, at 20th Street and Camelback Road holding a sign that read: “Please take a resume, laid-off, looking for a job.”

“I was intrigued because I really felt like it was a creative approach to a job search,” DiGianfilippo, who owns a marketing and public relations agency, told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Friday.

“So I rolled my window down and gestured him over and grabbed a resume.”

About a week later, Patrick Hoagland started a new job.

“I hope this story maybe inspires others to just take an extra minute out of their day if they have the opportunity to help someone because you just truly never know what it can do to change someone’s life,” DiGianfilippo said.

DiGianfilippo and Hoagland didn’t have a conversation during their chance encounter because the light changed, but she later read over his resume.

His experience wasn’t a match for her company, but DiGianfilippo was so impressed by his approach that she shared a photo of the resume with her thousands of followers on multiple social media accounts.

“All of them performed well, but LinkedIn was insane,” she said. “I’m still getting reshares every minute. It’s had thousands of reshares and comments.”

Because of the online activity, Hoagland was able to reconnect with DiGianfilippo. He told her he’d received hundreds of inquiries and set up six interviews last week.

He accepted a job Thursday and started his new gig the next day, she said.

“He’s really excited about it,” said DiGianfilippo, who has talked to Hoagland over the phone.

“I definitely want to just meet him in person and sit down and have coffee or something, because I’d love to learn more about him.”

DiGianfilippo said Hoagland had been out of work for 1-2 weeks before hitting the street with his sign and resumes.

“I think that’s even cooler. He didn’t wait. He just jumped out there and was creative,” she said.

DiGianfilippo said she’d never experienced anything like it before.

“He really stood out to me because what he did was really unique,” she said. “It’s not really about me; it’s about him.”

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Amy Phol contributed to this report.

[newsletter][/newsletter]

Related

Arizona minimum wage hike has benefited food service workersPhoenix metro area tops nation for jobs created in past year2 found dead after fire at home in MaricopaNewborn found safe in northern AZ after being abducted from West ValleyHow to protect your dog from venomous snakes in Arizona10-year-old boy hospitalized after mountain rescue on Camelback’s Echo Canyon Trail