Job seeker finds work in just 48 hours thanks to a giant CV on the back of a lorry

“I’m so excited to say I have a job!” announced a delighted James Pemblington. James had not worked for around eight months. Having been furloughed in March from his technical project manager position at a theme park, he was then made redundant in June.

James had tried everything to find a job, even sending a chocolate brownie with a QR code on it to potential employers. When the QR code was scanned, it revealed a website showing James’ CV and a video about him, his interests and previous experience.

During his job search, James saw a competition being run by online job board Zoek and Dragons’ Den entrepreneur, Ed Hollands of DrivenMedia. The winner of the competition was to have their image and giant CV displayed on the back of a lorry travelling up and down the UK. Beating almost 200 other job seekers, James won the competition thanks in part to his initiative and enthusiasm.

The innovative campaign by Zoek was launched on a Wednesday, James was contacted the next day, interviewed on the Friday and offered a three-month project management position on the Saturday.

Diana Campbell, managing director of Zoek, said, “We are doing everything we can to help people in their job search during this difficult time and thought this competition would be a great way to give one of our registered users some national exposure. We are ecstatic to have helped James find work so quickly. By combining lots of useful content with unique A.I-based technology that accurately matches users with suitable jobs, we believe we are giving people the best possible chance to quickly find their dream job.”

James is looking forward to starting with his new employer in November after some initial training and is hoping his contract will be extended at the end of the three months. “Yes, it is a short contract” said James. “However, I really appreciate being able to get back to managing a team, serving the local community and supporting this great company. I feel so lucky and grateful to Zoek and DrivenMedia for giving me this opportunity.”

In the meantime, James will be thinking up some more attention-grabbing initiatives to get himself noticed in the job market if his contract is not extended. “I was thinking of using smell,” joked James. “Perhaps a scented flower attached to my CV to indicate the ‘sweet smell of success’! Set your calendars for three months’ time, as I will be spamming your timelines with crazy ideas once again! Until then – I’m off to work!”

JOB-SEEKER ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS WITH GIANT CV ON THE BACK OF A LORRY

Job-seeker, James Pemblington, was literally on the road with his job search after winning a competition run by fast-growing UK job board Zoek and Dragons’ Den entrepreneur, Ed Hollands of DrivenMedia. 

James, who lives near Nottingham, was made redundant in July from his job of five years as a technical project manager at a theme park. He said: “The corporate events industry has been hit hard during the pandemic. Looking for a new role in the current climate is hard, so to have this extra exposure to potential employers is massive! I feel so lucky and grateful to Zoek and DrivenMedia. Getting back to full time work to support my wife and two young sons means everything to me.”

Zoek, who specialise in connecting job seekers to employers, joined forces with Driven Media to create the opportunity. Both were aware of the impact a competition such as this could make on somebody who has been out of work for a long period.

Diana Campbell, Zoek’s Managing Director said: “Having seen how powerful lorry advertising has been for our Zoek brand awareness campaign, we are thrilled to offer this opportunity to a resourceful job-seeker like James. This type of advertising will help James stand out even more and give him an even better chance of securing a new job.”

Ed Hollands of Driven Media added: “I have this platform and I felt if I could support one person who has lost their job through no fault of their own, simply because of this difficult time, then it would be worth the investment. My client, Zoek, who have supported my own business for over a year, agreed with me, so we launched this competition to find a candidate who wanted to ‘go big’ with their CV.”

Ed continued: “James stood out from almost 200 other job-seekers, because he had a really positive outlook and we thought that he was being really innovative in his attempts to find work. Who on earth thinks of having an edible CV?”

James’ CV consisted of a chocolate brownie with a QR code on it. When a potential employer scans the QR code, they are taken to a website showing his CV and a video about him, his interests and projects. James said: “When I saw the Zoek / Driven Media competition, it seemed to me like the logical next step to go from an edible CV to a giant CV on the back of a lorry!”

It is estimated the mobile CV billboard featuring Zoek’s brand and with James’ face and CV on it will travel for 30 hours per week, covering around 1,200 miles and be seen by around 100,000 pairs of eyes!