"Experienced MIT Grad For Hire!" read 48-year-old Joshua Persky's advertisement as he paraded around midtown Manhattan.NEW YORK (Reuters)
- Out of work for six months and desperate to find a job, one
innovative New Yorker donned his new power suit -- a sandwich board --
and hit the streets of Manhattan to lure potential employers.
"Experienced MIT Grad For Hire!" read 48-year-old Joshua Persky's
advertisement as he paraded around midtown Manhattan, a key location
for commercial banks and investment houses.
He was also just blocks away from where he worked for two years as a
valuations consultant for Houlihan Lokey, a mid-cap investment bank,
before he was laid off.
"I chose that area because that's where the money is. There is
always people strolling outside around lunch time. I've handed out a
lot of resumes and gotten some leads but no offers yet," said Persky.
The job seeker has encountered many well wishers, and offers of
potential jobs across the country and the world, but nothing concrete
in New York yet.
"Yesterday, I received a phone call from a recruiter in Singapore,
who was looking for a quantitative hedging specialist for its Tokyo
office. I've also been contacted by a hedge fund in Boca Raton, whose
looking for someone to value derivatives," he said.
He recently interviewed with a hedge fund and investment bank but
said competition is fierce given the rising tide of unemployment in the
financial industry.
"Big commercial and investment banks are laying off all kinds of
people. It started back with the subprime mess and the situation has
gotten worse and worse," said Persky.
Two weeks ago he was forced to leave his Upper East Side Manahattan
apartment and move in with a friend, while his wife and two children
have temporarily relocated to Omaha, Nebraska to stay with family.
(Reporting by Nancy Leinfuss; Editing by Michelle Nichols)
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