Job-Seeking 'Forrest Gump' Travels Across America Daniel Seddiqui

The recession in the U.S. economy has left many students unemployed upon graduation (apparently, it's the same situation domestically; the reason being: there are too many people!). However, Daniel Seddiqui, a graduate of the University of Southern California, has proven that as long as one is not afraid to take risks and endure hardship, finding a job during tough times isn't too difficult. He spent 50 weeks traveling across all 50 states in the U.S. on a Forrest Gump-like job-hunting journey, successfully securing a job in each state, finding 50 jobs in just one short year.

The financial industry in the United States has been one of the hardest-hit sectors for unemployment in recent years, and Seddiqui, who graduated with a degree in economics, faced rejection in 40 consecutive interviews. Thus, he decided to prove to the world that as long as one is willing to try, it’s impossible not to find work.

The "Forrest Gump" of job seekers, Daniel Seddiqui, traversed the entire U.S.

At the age of 26, Seddiqui said, "I invested so much time and effort in university, but I got nothing in return, which was very frustrating. Fortunately, I was persistent and managed to find 50 jobs in 50 states." His secret to applying for jobs was his willingness to try any kind of work (this inevitably makes one think about so-called career planning—planning what a load of nonsense!), and during this period, Seddiqui's job applications were rejected over 2,000 times, yet he persisted.

In September of last year, he embarked on his nationwide job-hunting journey, starting by working at a church aid center in Salt Lake City, Utah. He then worked as a lumberjack in Ohio, a border patrol officer in Arizona, and an archaeologist in Arkansas. Some employers even offered him full-time positions. For accommodation, he mostly stayed with his employers or colleagues, including cowboys, Native Americans, and Arabs—basically, all kinds of people. It's hard to imagine how amazing it is to have held 50 jobs in less than a year.

Seddiqui's job-hunting journey also broadened his horizons. In the 25th week, he personally experienced a violent incident in Detroit when a man fired a gun outside a car repair shop. At the time, he was extremely panicked and almost ran straight into the bullets. However, if he were to encounter such a situation again, he would remain much calmer. In fact, each of Seddiqui's jobs reflected the characteristics of the respective states, such as working as a petroleum engineer in Texas, in the automotive industry in Detroit, and at a train company in Chicago.

Many employers were amazed by Seddiqui's resume, considering that he only worked each job for a week, making little substantial contribution to the companies. However, when he worked as a boiler apprentice in Missouri in January this year, the business manager of the Boiler Manufacturers Union praised him as possibly "the most adaptable person." During his week-long stint with them, Seddiqui earned $710 in salary, with food, lodging, and transportation expenses covered by the company.

Seddiqui's experience reminded me of a saying: "If you've only done one or two types of work, your abilities are still weak; if you've done 100 types of work, you can be a superman!" This saying originates from "Killing one person makes you a criminal, killing 100 people makes you a hero!" Haha, this is just a joke. But Seddiqui truly proved a phrase: "You won't get your dream job on the first day; you need to step out of your comfort zone." In fact, this statement is meaningful for both those who have jobs and those seeking employment.

For interested friends, you can visit Seddiqui's independent blog, where all his work experiences are recorded. However, this site is hosted on Yahoo's virtual server, and it seems to have been overwhelmed recently, often going offline. Of course, if you're determined to find him, I suggest checking Facebook, where Seddiqui has an account.