Aspiring Engineer Blown Away by Thousands Sharing His Job Search Photo

An aspiring engineer in Cape Town, in the Western Cape of South Africa, has been blown away by the kindness of strangers who have sought to help him find a job.

A photo, which was posted on Facebook a couple of weeks ago of 27-year-old Emile Quist looking for a job, has been shared over 24,000 times! When SAPeople told Emile, he said: “Oh wow, hells that’s a lot! I got another screenshot from someone when it was at 6,000, but 24,000 is a crazy amount!”

A kind passerby, Anoesjka Smit, had noticed Emile standing on the side of the road holding a job-seeking board. On it, he had noted that he was a Junior Industrial Engineer looking for work, with a link to his LinkedIn page.

Anoesjka took a photo, uploaded it to Facebook, and the rest is history. She said she’d had to take the photo quickly because she needed to drive; and told friends he was walking in Buitengracht Street in Cape Town.

“Please share this, maybe someone can help him with a job,” said Anoesjka (in Afrikaans). “Very polite and was so grateful when I said, I will share it on Facebook.” Her friends, and thousands of others in South Africa responded and shared it!

Emile says she told him she was going to share it on FB, but he never knew it “would chain on and reach so many people!”

Emile told SAPeople: “I got so many responses from such a variety of people in different places across the country, and it was heartwarming to see that so many people could care for a complete stranger.”

Many South Africans were touched by Emile’s determination to find work, willing to do whatever it took to get himself a new job. It’s little surprise that he describes himself on LinkedIn as: “Multi skilled and enthusiastic Junior Industrial Engineer, with success as a strong team player. Exceptional technical acumen, with a drive to always learn and expand. My holistic approach to any and all problems I face has served me very well in the past. Looking to challenge and build my skills as a professional, and become a specialist.”

Emile – who graduated from the University of Pretoria with a Bachelor of Engineering – BE, Industrial Engineering – definitely has enthusiasm and a holistic approach to all problems!

And Emile is happy to report he was indeed offered a job last week and accepted it! “It’s at an engineering firm and I just came home from my first day!” he told SAPeople on Monday. “It’s really all and more I was hoping to get.”

Emile hasn’t yet been able to update Anoesjka on the good news, but he says he’s invited her on social media, and when she accepts he’ll get her number to thank her again!

UPDATE Thursday night, 26 Nov – Emile says: “I hope that anyone reading this and struggling to find work tries the same thing! Doing that has proved to me that you just need to get your name out there, because, surprisingly, people actually WANT to help. I’ve jumped headlong into work and I’m enjoying the hell out of it!! I hope this article shows people that things can turn around really quickly…”

Anoesjka says: “I still can’t believe that my post would be be shared like this. I’m blown away myself lol. I’m just glad people could help him, we all struggle and try to make a living. Emile contacted me and I actually told him that he made my year, just with the thought that I made a difference in someone’s life. But to tell you the truth… it was not only me who made a difference in his life, it was each one that pushed the share button and I’m equally grateful for that.”