Looking for a job is a full-time job in itself. If you're looking for work while trying to hold down your boring, mundane, 9-5 job, you'll know all about the rigmarole of trying to find work. Morning commutes are spent swiping through listings, like you're using Tinder but on Linkedin or Indeed. Lunch hours are spent perusing websites, desperately trying to find somewhere in your office where you can't be seen. Essentially, all of your spare time is taken up by salary expectations and cover letters.
So, when one woman used her lunch break to flee the office and look for work, you'd assume she was taking the safe route, right? Well, not exactly.
Ja'Naea Modest, 33, a driver for a nonprofit in Champaign, Illinois, was just trying to keep her employment options open when she was caught looking for a new job in the most bizarre circumstances imaginable.
Last week, Modest popped into her local job fair at a nearby school during her lunch break. Upon arriving at the event, she was asked to fill out an application form while she waited to be seen. Such was her focus on filling out the form, Modest was completely oblivious to the fact that there was a local news crew filming inside of the building.
"I thought nothing of it. I came back, changed my clothes, and continued on with my day," Modest told INSIDER.
However, after work, Modest went over to her friend's house in the evening. When she got there, her friend's father said that there was a "nice picture of her on the TV." Modest didn't believe him at first, but after watching the programme, she saw herself on the local CBS news station WCIA 3 filling out her application at the fair.
"Now everyone's going to know I'm out here looking for another job," she said.
Seeing as the majority of people at her work would know that she was looking for a new opportunity, Modest decided to post a photo of the misfortune onto her Facebook and it quickly went viral.
Taking to her profile to upload the image of herself looking focused on her application, Modest wrote: "So I didn't want My current job to know I was looking for another job. why the damn news filmed me at the job fair. Smh"
The post proved popular, with it racking up 3,600 likes and 48,000 shares. According to Modest, since the picture went viral, people have been recognising her in the street.
Speaking to INSIDER, Modest says that most of her co-workers have seen the image, but her supervisors haven't "come to see or talk" to her.
It's often the case that these photos lead to business opportunities, however, sadly, that hasn't happened for Modest quite yet. She says that she is hoping that her newfound fame will help promote a local shoe drive she is coordinating with friends on August 26. At the event, Modest will be DJing as well as collecting donations and supplies for school kids in her area who can't afford them.
Hopefully, given her seemingly kind-hearted and giving nature, Modest will land the job she's after!
