TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

He Tries To Curb Unemployment

ADVERTISEMENT

By KEITH MORELLI

kmorelli@tampatrib.com

Published: February 17, 2009

TAMPA - On a not-too busy street corner in downtown Tampa on Monday morning was a sign of the times.

Aleksei Feliz, 43, who said he is from the Sarasota-Bradenton area, stood at Ashley Drive and Kennedy Boulevard, holding a large poster board with the heading, "Unemployed."

But the normal heavy flow of traffic into downtown was off Monday, Presidents Day, with many of the offices closed.

"I'll try again tomorrow," Feliz said. "I guess I picked a wrong day today, being a holiday."

Still, he did get one man to stop and hand over a business card. The man said he was hiring for a sales position in Brazil.

Feliz said he was willing to go wherever the job was to get back to work.

The poster board concealed most of his body; passers by saw only his head poking above the sign, his feet below and his hands on either side.

The resume mentioned his bachelor's degree in economics and management and that he has 22 years experience in operations, project management, customer service, sales and human resources.

"Team player, good work ethic, bilingual," the poster said. "Think outside the box," was just below Feliz's cell phone number at the bottom.

Feliz said the company he worked for closed in November and Monday was his first day taking this unusual stab at landing employment.

"Over the weekend, I was trying to come up with different ideas," he said. "You cannot really look for a job using Monster.com. There are hundreds of people applying for the same job there. I had to try something different."

He said he will stick to this method until he finds employment and will be back again today.

"I'll try again, and then go from there."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT