Makeup artist Jasmine Scofield had just finished work and was driving to meet some coworkers when she spotted a homeless man holding a sign by the side of the road.
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While seeing homeless people is not an unusual sight in Jasmine’s Mountain View, California, neighborhood, this man looked different than most. For one thing, he was neatly kept, dressed in a nice shirt and matching tie. For another, the sign he held indicated that he was looking for something rather unique: a job.
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“Homeless hungry 4 success,” read the man’s sign, followed by instructions to take a resume.
“As I saw his sign, the light turned red and I said, ‘This is perfect,'” Jasmine recalled. She rolled down her window and called the man over to her car. “I grabbed a resume and asked him what he did,” she says.
The man’s name is David Casarez, and he’s an experienced web developer with a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University. He used to have a good job at General Motors in Austin, Texas, but then he cashed out his 401k and headed to Silicon Valley to pursue his dream of creating his own tech startup. When the startup failed, as so many do, David’s cash ran out and he found himself living in his 2015 Ford Transit Connect utility van.
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“I’d been living in my car for more than a year,”David explained. “No one was hiring. I had an interview with Apple in January, but the job was filled internally.”
After David fell behind on his van payments, the vehicle was repossessed and he was forced to start sleeping on park benches.
“Living on a park bench is not the best feeling,” David said. “You never know who or what is around you. I became restless just thinking about my safety.”
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David appeared to have hit rock bottom, but he always maintained hope that he’d get back on his feet again. That hopeful attitude was what ultimately lead him to get up that morning, print out 50 copies of his resume, and create a sign that would get him noticed.
“I have always kept a can-do attitude. That’s how I have always lived my life,” David said. “It was basically a make-or-break moment. I wanted to keep my head up high, keep looking forward and see what opportunity would come next. I was thinking, you know, like this was like my last stop. If this didn’t work, I’d go back home and give up on my dream.â€
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After Jasmine spoke with David, she took his photo and asked for his permission to post it online. He told her yes and she immediately shared his information in hopes that someone she knew in the area might find a place for this intrepid worker within their organization.
Today I saw this young homeless man asking for people to take a resume rather than asking for money. If anyone in the Silicon Valley could help him out, that would be amazing. Please RT so we can help David out! pic.twitter.com/ewoE3PKFx7
— FullMakeup Alchemist (@jaysc0) July 27, 2018
“I spent 20 to 30 seconds writing the tweet and Facebook post and by the end of the night, it hit almost 10,000 shares,” Jasmine said. “I called him and warned him, and I said, ‘Hey, I’m the girl who took your resume and it’s going viral!”
After Jasmine’s post went viral, David’s phone began to blow up with over 200 job offers!
“Google reached out to me,”David said reverently. “So many other companies. Pandora. A bunch of startups, a product manager from Bitcoin.com was wondering if I could work remotely or if I want to relocate to Tokyo.”
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David seems poised to get back to work, all because Jasmine noticed him and took the time to shed a little light on his story. What a wonderful reminder that even the most insignificant gesture, like sending a random tweet, can end up being exactly the life-saving effort someone needs!
Best of luck in your job search, David!
Please share this story to highlight the kind of everyday miracle that happens when one person goes out of their way to help another.
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