The guy pictured above is Mike Thompson. He's an unemployed college graduate, so he did what any other jobless person would while hunting for a paycheck. He donated plasma and developed an elaborate scheme to buy and sell food stamps for profit.
Just kidding. He didn't do normal things like that. He dropped $1,000 on a billboard instead. From KFOR:
A recent Oklahoma college graduate is going to great heights to find a job.
His unusual strategy is catching the eye of motorists driving north on the Broadway Extension just north of Northwest 50th.
Mike Thompson says everyone else is peddling their wares on billboards in the metro, so he decided to give it a try.
His product is himself.
Thompson recently graduated from Oklahoma Christian University with his MBA.
“The MBA, they make you so well rounded, they teach you so many different things, that I thought, hey, this would be a great thing to get,” said Thompson...
Thompson can’t find a job.
“I’ve really ben hitting, looking at all the job boards and stuff a lot lately. But I found it’s tough, so I made my own job board,” he said. “I figured maybe I’d get a little bit creative and do something outrageous.”
Thompson’s job board sits about 50 feet high in the air and will be seen by more than 65,000 people a day driving north on the Broadway Extension.
“That one I think was a really great spot where I got it because traffic there at 5:00 p.m. is at a standstill,” said Thompson.
The ad shows his face and simply says “Hire Me.”
It directs potential employers to his website mikesinventions.com.
He’s hoping to be noticed by someone interested in his creativity and unusual methods.
“It’s tough. You gotta do things a little bit different than anyone else to even have a chance at getting noticed,” said Thompson.
Thompson paid $1,000 to rent space on the digital billboard for one week...
I'm not sure what's more embarrassing. Is it that this attention whore honestly thinks that putting his face on a billboard will help him get a job, or is it that Channel 4 fell into his trap and gave him unwarranted publicity. Since we're essentially doing the same thing as Channel 4, I'll vote for option one.
Here's a picture of the billboard:
Here's the deal. If you work in the HR department of any reputable business and actually hire this guy, you should probably begin looking for a new job, too.
Seriously, I went to this guy's website - MikesInventions.com — and I can't tell if this is real or part of some elaborate prank. It could be part of some weird guerrilla marketing campaign, but I can't think of any ad agency that would actually come up with a concept this dumb.
My favorite part of Mike's website is the "Thought and Advice" section. Check out some of his personal "tidbits of wisdom" he wanted to pass along to his potential employers:
Don’t do anything that isn’t profitable
Make every part serve at least two functions. Rinse, Repeat.
Things will take 2-5 times longer than you think so budget accordingly
Hire for character, not competency. Competency can be taught. Character cannot.
Punctuality is of utmost importance. Time was invented to coordinate activities. If you’re on time, you’re late!
You can probably accomplish anything. Discipline and persistence will get you there.
When someone says, “you can’t do that”, what they mean is… “I can’t do that.” So go do it!
You are responsible for everything in your own life. You are to blame for successes and failures.
You have to earn everything. Things worth having don’t come easily. You are only entitled to 3 things: Life, Liberty, and the “Pursuit of Happiness”, whatever that is.
Believing you can accomplish something is the first step to success.
Surround yourself with what you want to be.
If you resent someone or something, you will never be like them or have what they have.
Listen, dummy. You're the one without a job. The day I listen to your "tidbits of wisdom" is the day I trust the Thunder not to meltdown in the final minutes of the NBA Finals. That list reads like something my aunt would post on her Facebook wall. The only difference is that my aunt has a job and doesn't blow $1,000 on a billboard.
Anyway, there are a lot of other things I could write about Mike's site, but if you can't tell, I'm in a pretty bad mood. In fact, I'm already kind of feeling sorry for Mike. It's not his fault that James Harden decided to put on a pair of diapers for the NBA Finals, that the NBA refs wear Lebron James underwear, or that Scott Brooks must get paid a $10,000 bonus for every minute Kendrick Perkins plays. He's just an innocent bystander who happened to do something cheesy and stupid the same week the Oklahoma City Thunder forgot how to play basketball.
