WICHITA — As Ryan Schafer kept getting closer to graduating this May from Wichita State University with a degree in integrated marketing, the tough job market started hitting home.
“I either need to step up my game or the probability of my getting a job is slimmer and slimmer,” he thought.
He’d like to work for Jajo, the advertising agency where he’s been an intern for nine months, so he’s waging a political campaign for the job.
Schafer asked the partners at Jajo if he could hold a press conference there today — but he wouldn’t say why.
“This scares me,” managing partner Steve Randa told him. “I’m putting a lot of trust in you not forcing you to tell me.”
Schafer brought in his own podium, created media kits and actually lured TV stations to cover him.
“It was kind of overwhelming,” Randa says. “It kind of blew me away how original it was.”
And it’s not over yet. Schafer has bumper stickers, buttons and yard signs (which he’s sneaking into his bosses’ yards overnight).
But will it all work?
“He is a very strong candidate,” Randa says.
He joked with Schafer, “What happens if somebody declares they want to be a write-in?”
Whether or not Schafer gets the job in the end, Randa says he’s put himself in a great light.
“It’s hard not to like Ryan. He’s a real contagious character.”