This post was originally a Facebook post on my page.
I heard this young lady, Malwandla Hadebe, got a call from Sasol after her pictures of attracting a job street-beggar-like went viral. I hope they offer her employment.
Let’s try digesting the following perspective, just to see if it fits.
Obviously unemployment in the country is a serious and immediate challenge. A picture like this colours the severity and unfairness of the situation, i.e. engineering graduates having to beg for jobs – beggar-like.
As society we feel emotional, sympathetic and helpless.
Maybe let’s look at the picture without the helplessness… This lady is a genius. She marketed herself good
- She marketed herself and went viral by mixing two worlds or demographics that make an oxymoron (for lack of a better description): i.e. begging (associated with helplessness) and university-engineering-graduate (associated with highly-sought-after-value)
- Add to the pot a demographic of ‘societal sympathy’ and virality is ignited
- Any company that offers her employment in the midst of this virality gets ‘societal favour’ or call it PR. Thus all parties win as everybody looks good: employer, society and the lady.
Give the lady RESPEK for her genius. The normal ways of landing a job (sending CV’s, going to companies, etc) weren’t working. So she upped the ante and threw in a more ‘dramatic’ manoeuvre. She’s a high thinker and risk taker.
All the best to her and all unemployed graduates.
Dear graduate, learn how to market yourself. Attract opportunities to yourself.