On the weekend, you may remember that a homeless man went viral after he was photographed handing out CVs rather than looking for cash. The image of David Casarez went around the world, as the hashtag #GetDavidAJob became one of the top trends internationally. Remarkably, however, it looks like the publicity worked, and David is now in the process of finding a new career at some of the world's top tech companies.
Jasmine Scoffield was the woman who made David a viral sensation, after she spotted him at the traffic lights of El Camino and San Antonio in Mountain View. She took a photo of him and posted it on her Twitter, along with his resumé. In her Twitter post, she wrote:
"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!"
David's CV boasted plenty of experience and many people were left dumbfounded as to why he was out on the streets. However, his story isn't uncommon, with David having moved to Silicon Valley to pursue his dream.
David earned a bachelors degree in management information systems from Texas A&M University and went on to land a good web developer job at General Motors in Austin, but he decided to cash out his 401-K and drove to Silicon Valley to pursue the dream of his own tech startup — only to run out of cash in June.
“I’d been living in my car for more than a year,” he told the New York Post. “No one was hiring. I had an interview with Apple in January, but the job was filled internally,” he said.
Despite the setback, David continued looking for work and, on the Friday that he was discovered, he made sure to dress as best he could - “To be presentable to my future employers.”
“It was basically a make-or-break moment,” he said of his job-search breakthrough. “I wanted to keep my head up high, keep looking forward and see what opportunity would come next,” he added. “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.”
But, it now looks like David won't be giving up on his dream any time soon. As a result of his internet fame, the developer says he has now been contacted by the likes of Google and Netflix.
“Google reached out to me,” the astounded 26-year-old told The New York Post. “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,” he said. “But tonight, I’ll be back on my bench in Rengstorff Park.”
David's story is incredible and shows that, no matter what your situation, you should never give up. Hopefully, next time we hear about him, he'll be fronting up his own company.
