Struggling graduate up for auction after string of rejections

A GRADUATE fed up with being rejected for job interviews has decided to sell himself on auction website eBay.

After applying for around 150 jobs without joy, Ross Laing decided it was time for drastic measures.

The 24-year-old, who lives in Leith and has racked up more than £10,000 in student debt, is auctioning himself online in the hope that a potential employer will make a bid to interview him – and with a bit of luck, employ him.

All money raised through bidding will be donated to a charity of the successful bidder’s choice.

Ross, who graduated with a 2.1 Honours in marketing management from Napier University last year, said: “I’ve been searching for a job in the field of marketing since the summer of 2011. I have applied for around 150 jobs with little feedback and never an interview. I decided enough was enough and started to think out of the box.”

The former George Heriot’s pupil said the idea behind auctioning himself on eBay was to place him “in the shop window”.

“The auction is for an interview with myself,” he said. “I do not intend to profit from this, it is solely to generate interest which hopefully leads to my potential employment.

“I felt like I had run out of conventional methods and the job sites were boring me.

“I wanted to cause a stir and hopefully access users that I wouldn’t normally be able to.

“I hope that Edinburgh’s top businesses will bid for me. I also hope to impress some national companies and would be open to all offers.

“This is a really good cause and it gives me an opportunity to impress. If nothing else, a local Edinburgh charity will hopefully benefit from some cash.”

Ross, who is originally from Haddington in East Lothian, currently works part-time as a sales consultant for Laing The Jeweller in Edinburgh but does not earn enough to start paying off his student debt.

He said: “I have huge debts left over from university and would like to start paying my way out of this.”

The starting bid for Ross is 1p and eBay users have until Saturday to bid for him. Although he hasn’t received any interest so far, Ross said he remained “optimistic”.

He added: “Young graduates are finding it nearly impossible to gain employment after spending tens of thousands on education. As a graduate you are trained to be good at what you do and be supposedly employable as a result. I owe over £10,000 which I hoped I would be repaying by now.”

Ross, who paid 37p to place the ad, added: “My dream is to be a marketing manager and in order to get ahead in that business, unique ideas are essential.”