Laid off dad gets a new job after handing out hundreds of resumes to strangers on the street

Anyone who's been out of a job knows that filling out applications online can be terribly frustrating. Sometimes, it feels like you're sending your resume into a black hole or straight into a garbage shoot on the other end.
According to Zip Job, around 250 resumes are sent to the average job opening and the most people receive a response to around 10 to 20% of the applications they submit. Someone with a grade-A resume will get a response rate somewhere around 30%.
Patrick Hoagland, a father in Arizona, was laid off of his job at a metal recycling company and it hit his family hard financially.
"I definitely had fear," Hoagland told "Good Morning America." "My wife and I, we don't make a whole lot of money individually. Once I lost my job, everything was put on her."
So, after sending out countless resumes online, he decided to get aggressive in his job search by standing on a street corner, in 110-degree Phoenix heat, and passed out his resume to anyone who would take it.
"I wasn't getting any responses," he said. "I was getting frustrated. It popped into my head, stand on a corner and hold a sign and hand out resumes. At first, I laughed about it...and then it kind of went crazy."
For a few hours a day for three days, he stood on a street corner with a sign that read: "Please take a resume. Laid-off. Looking for a job."
Melissa DiGianfilippo / Facebook
One of the people who accepted a copy of his resume was Melissa DiGianfilippo, the owner of a PR firm. She was so impressed by Hoagland's tenacity, she posted a photo of his resume on Facebook.
"I figured, 'I have a pretty wide network. I'll share on social media,'" DiGianfilippo said.
"I was driving down Camelback Road near my office and spotted this guy, Patrick, on the side of the road with a huge smile on his face in 110-degree heat, with a sign asking people to please take his resume," she wrote. "I love that he was not asking for a handout, just for people to consider him for a job."
Immediately, the job offers poured in by the hundreds to his LinkedIn page. Eventually, he landed a job at Flatline Concrete as a concrete grinder.
"They reached out to me over email phone, and I am glad that they did," he said. "It's my dream job scenario."
"I can't say thank you enough to everybody," Hoagland said. "I had a lot of people who sent messages that weren't necessarily job offers but were well-wishes [saying], 'Good luck in your search.' It was nice to see that.'"
Times are hard for a lot of people these days and there's no assurance that in today's tough job market, Hoagland's strategy will work for everyone. But his story is a great example of how people genuinely want to help those who are down on their luck and are willing to work hard to get back on their feet.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."