Facebook Trumps Unemployment

After witnessing my 51-year-old father curse out Facebook when it failed to find all of his old girlfriends, I doubt the social media fascination will ever fully extend to all generations. However, Facebook is tremendously useful for a lot of things when you’re young.

Rather than dealing with the awful business of conversation, Facebook stalking allows you to follow every second of your friends’ lives. When you’re in need of an insult, memorizing and reciting (mockingly) another’s profile quotes in front of a large group of people seems to do the trick. And, most importantly, keeping up on sorority gossip is made simple with the provided message function (which comes without a spell check function – perfect for maintaining the ultrahigh Greek ego.)

But one 23-year-old managed to tap into a new (and actually useful) way to use the social media outlet. Yonnick Hammond, used Facebook to trump unemployment and land a job in politics. He made a Facebook ad, which was shown alongside profile pages on the site.

“When I had thought of the ad, I was over three months into unemployment,” says the former RNC staffer and legislative assistant to Rep. Henry Brown Jr. (R-S.C.). “When I applied for jobs, my resume and portfolio would get buried under literally hundreds of other resumes.

Hammond knew he had to do something creative to make himself stand out from the young and eager masses waiting in line for jobs on the Hill. After learning how to create effective online ads through a friend’s consulting shop, Yonnick put his skills to the test.

“I figured if I can receive ads urging me to ‘meet hot young singles’ in my area, I can use an ad to sell myself to employers.”

Yonnick says he was overwhelmed by the reaction to the ad. By looking at Facebook reports, he learned that 166 people clicked on the ad within four days of its creation. Others messaged him through Facebook with encouragement or praise for his innovative use of technology.

“I found that both younger and older people were very receptive,” he says.
However, Yonnick targeted the ad for people in their mid-to-late twenties. He said he felt that audience would be most likely to hire him because they’ve already established themselves professionally. The pin-pointing was obviously successful; Yonnick is now working for the Republican Party of Virginia as their Absentee Ballot Director.

Despite his struggles, Yonnick doesn’t believe young Republicans looking for work should stay away from DC. However, he does think recent college grads should be prepared to take a different route to their preferred job.

“The best advice I can tell anyone who is trying to find a job is to roll up your sleeves and be willing to work, even if it’s not your ideal job.”