Job seekers' CVs launched into space for Star Wars Day

Job board Zoek partners with space agency to help candidates stand out

Three UK job seekers have had their CVs launched into space in a world-first stunt to celebrate Star Wars Day today (May 4th). 

Online job board Zoek ran a competition through March and April and three lucky jobseekers have had their CVs placed on a digital billboard and sent to space to give a stratospheric boost to their visibility.

Lucy Russell (22), David Hinley (65) and Sam Kapadia's CVs were presented in space using a hydrogen-filled balloon the size of a two-storey house, which carried the digital display over 100,000 feet above the Earth.

The launch vehicle constructed and flown by aerospace company Sent Into Space, also carried tracking equipment to retrieve the craft after the balloon burst, and cameras which filmed the stunning view of the CVs against the backdrop of the Earth from above. 

First-place winner Lucy, who lives in Brighton, is seeking a marketing internship, said: “It's a very exciting and unique experience! It has certainly brightened up my job search and will be an excellent story to tell employers, family and friends. I think it's really important to seize every opportunity, even if it is not something you initially considered.” 

Sam, (26) an engineer specialising in computer aided design (CAD), who lives in Halesowen said: "I use Zoek as it's a very easy-to-use platform for job hunting. I can't wait to get my CV looked at and rewritten, it'll be good to get feedback from a pro because no one ever tells you what works and what doesn't. It's been a strange old year for all and winning the competition was a light in the darkness moment.”

Lucy, David, and Sam found themselves out of work seeking new opportunities during the pandemic. Now that the roadmap out of lockdown is well underway, businesses are reopening and recruiting again, but competition for new jobs is fierce.

David, who lives in East Lothian, is experienced in business analysis, said: "Since my last role ended in February 2020, I have submitted over 150 job applications. I have had positive feedback and several interviews but sadly no contracts. I'm delighted with Zoek sending my CV into space which will surely 'raise' my profile!”

Zoek's head of marketing, Hannah Scragg, said of the competition: “We pride ourselves on putting cutting-edge technology to use for our candidates with our intelligent job matching service that finds relevant roles for them.

“I am thrilled to see the CVs launch into space to help give candidates a visibility boost and a creative way to stand out from the crowd. This campaign is exactly the kind of outside-the-box approach to helping job seekers that sets us apart from other job sites.”

In addition to the space launch, the competition winners have received vouchers for skills courses, free CV rewrites, cover letter and LinkedIn profile support from professional CV-writing service TopCV and the first-place winner Lucy also received a £200 voucher. 

Lucy, a recent history graduate, said: “I have been looking to begin some training in Adobe software to increase my chances of being selected in more creative roles. I am especially excited by the prospect of my CV being professionally written as it will really aid my job hunt. Finally, I'm using my voucher to purchase a Kindle so I can unwind with some reading in the evenings.”

This is not the first time Zoek have gone above and beyond to help a job seeker get noticed and find work. Last year, they ran a competition for people made redundant due to Covid-19. Winner James Pemblington had his CV displayed on the back of a truck travelling up and down the UK. Within 48 hours of the campaign going live, James successfully found a new job. Zoek are eager to see Lucy, David and Sam experience a similarly remarkable turnaround to their career search following the exposure this campaign footage will bring.

If you are an employer in need of a candidate whose skills match any of the competition winners, you can get access to their full CVs and contact details by emailing marketing@zoek.uk or via Zoek's website, where you can see more of the flight footage and learn how the launch was achieved.

Zoek is the UK's fastest-growing new job search site and app that uses intelligent job matching technology to find and connect job seekers to hirers, and vice versa. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology uses machine learning to read and understand candidate CVs and personalizes job search results based on key skills, experiences, qualifications and/or job titles. 

Visit https://zoek.uk/about for more details about Zoek and find out more about the competition here: https://zoek.uk/competition/space-cv. For more details about Sent Into Space, visit https://www.sentintospace.com/

*Image shows Hannah Scragg, of Zoek launching the balloon into space. and the three candidates' CVs. 

If you would like to see a video of the space launch – it can be seen here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-uVn2dHSjY