Cape Town - A 56-year-old father who put his pride aside and appealed for work by standing at an intersection in Goodwood with a placard, has landed a job.
Father of two, Dean Adams, said things took a turn for the worst when he was among staff laid off from the company he worked for as a driver when level 5 lockdown was announced.
“A friend helped me out with a job where I could do some chauffeuring with a call centre. But then working for this call centre and going back to level 1, things took a turn again and from doing five trips a day you end up doing about one trip a day. The friend of mine also had to withdraw his car.
“I was basically unemployed between July and August and had to sell everything I had to survive,” the father of two said.
After being unemployed for months, Adams said he was out of options and took to the street with a placard that read: “I don’t need handouts or anything. I need a job, please. Thank you and God Bless.” The poster included his contact details.
“I said f*** pride. After being unemployed for months and forwarding my CV to hundreds of companies and walking the streets knocking on business doors, standing at the traffic lights is what it came down to,” said Adams.
“I decided enough was enough was enough. I need to work. I have also been a DJ for 40 years and now because of Covid-19 there are no gigs to sustain me.”
A picture of Adams with the placard was shared on social media, and last week a company in Maitland contacted him for possible employment.
“I received a call from somebody (last week) and they said come in for an interview.”
The company owner, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “My wife’s friend saw the ad on Facebook and we made contact. We called him for an interview and hired him on the spot. We hired him as a driver with the prospect of him moving up the ladder.”
Adams said he was grateful for the opportunity.
“I’m grateful that I can work, put food on the table and pay my rent. I really didn’t care what job it was, as long as it was a job and I am able to work and earn money. I don’t want a fancy job or to drive a fancy car, I just wanted a job to survive, sleep comfortably at night and have peace of mind,” he said.