Job would be such a Tweet (From Swindon Advertiser)

Unemployed man takes to Twitter to find a job

12:50pm Monday 21st January 2013 in News By Matthew Edwards

JOBLESS Sean Stroud has come up with an unique idea in a last ditch attempt to get himself a job.

Sean, 37, of Haydon End, has been unemployed since 2009 and has been applying for jobs for the last two years that have had up to 100 applicants for one position.

In an attempt to stand out of the crowd, Sean decided to take to Twitter and has created a dedicated account that goes by the name of @PLSGIVEMEAJOB to reach out to more employers.

Sean left Honda in 2009 and completed a BTec National Diploma as an IT Practitioner, but since then has been unable to find work.

He got the idea to set up a Twitter account after seeing a story on Adam Pacitti from the Isle of Wight, who spent his last £500 advertising himself for jobs on a billboard.

Sean said: “I knew it was going to be hard to get a job but not as hard as it has been. I have had a few replies to jobs I have applied for, but when you see how many applicants they are getting for jobs – for some there are between 80 and 100 applications per job – I am just a small fish in a big pond. I have been applying for jobs for two years and I saw that someone had spent his last £500 to ask for a job.

“That got me thinking and I came up with the Twitter idea because I want to get a job in the IT trade and it links in.

“It gives me a chance to contact more people than I would be able to normally and hopefully someone will see this and offer me a job.”

Sean started the page on Monday and has already got more than 100 followers who have been re-Tweeting his story.

Sean has found himself competing against students who are just coming out of university and school-leavers and said the biggest issue is gaining experience.

He said: “I feel sorry for the people who are leaving school and college who are also trying to get jobs, the one question I keep getting asked is experience.

“I have tried to gain work experience from companies but a lot of them only offer it to uni students or people at school, so it is hard for me to get that.

“I have not got the experience they are looking for because I used to work for Honda and not in IT.”

Sean is looking for work in the Swindon area as either an IT support technician or in web design.

If you can help contact him via his Twitter account @PLSGIVEMEAJOB or contact the newsdesk by calling 01793 501794.