Please give me a job

A jobless man who stood for hours in the pouring rain with a 'Please give me a job' sign was stunned when a passing businessman offered him one on the spot.

After spending the last two years out of work, 23-year-old Mark Wheeldon was fed up of living on benefits and concocted a plan to get him noticed on the job market.

He decided to stand on one of the busiest roundabouts in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, and advertise himself to passing motorists during the morning rush hour.

So nervous was he about the job hunt mission that he lay awake all night before rising at 5am in the morning to create a sign from a piece of cardboard.

But he was flabbergasted when, after nearly three hours spent standing in a torrential downpour, timber factory director Vince Champion came to his rescue.

He spotted Mark on his way to work and returned to collect him, giving him an interview straight away and offering him the job just 20 minutes later.

After a shower, Mark found himself making frames at the Smart Timber Frame Company by midday.

Mark, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, had failed to find work after spending the past two years caring for a former partner who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis.

The former mechanic, painter and decorator and butcher's assistant said: 'I was planning to stay until the evening rush hour and then keep coming back until someone gave me a job.

'I had been everywhere looking for work but I'd had no luck, so I thought I may as well as just go down to Basford Bank on the A500 and stand by the traffic.

'I had been out of work for so long, looking after my partner and doing all the little things for her like brushing her hair.

'All that time I had been looking for a job, but because I had been out of work for so long I had no current experience or references.

'One day, I decided to make a fresh start and get my life back on track. I stayed awake all night just thinking about what I was going to do.

'When I got up the next morning, I wasn't put off by the rain in the slightest. When you are desperate for work you will do anything to find a job.

'The whole time I was stood there I was just hoping that someone, anyone, would stop and ask for my number. It was all I could think about. I was freezing and soaked to the skin.

'When Vince pulled up I was over the moon that someone had finally stopped to speak to me.

'And when he offered me the job, I couldn't believe I had found one so quickly.

'Now that I'm here, it's a job I really enjoy. I get on with everyone and I get to work with my hands. My bosses are great and I'm really looking forward to building a career here.'

Vince explained how he had been driving to fetch bacon sandwiches for colleagues when he spotted Mark standing on the roundabout.

He said: 'I was on my way to work at about 8am and I saw Mark standing in the pouring rain, holding a placard which read: "Please give me a job".

'I thought if someone could stand there in that deluge - and it was absolutely torrential rain - then they must be determined to find a job. My attitude was the he would be an asset to any company.

'There are not many unemployed people who would have done that and I thought that anyone who wanted a job that much deserved a chance.

'When I brought him back to the office was so soaked through that a little puddle formed under his chair while I interviewed him.

'I spoke to him for about 20 minutes and then offered him the job on the spot. I was really impressed by his determination and he has the right kind of attitude that we want here.

'Now he's getting on brilliantly and fitting right in with all the other employees. I wish more people could show the same kind of determination to find work as he did.'