Daniel Seddiqui, who is known as the World’s Most Ambitious Job Seeker, will speak from 5 to 6 p.m. today at 240 Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation.
Seddiqui’s presentation, titled “Living the Map: 50 Jobs in 50 States,” will discuss his personal journey from graduating college with uncertainty to having the idea to obtain a job in every state within a year.
A graduate of the University of Southern California with a degree in economics, Seddiqui was unsure what he wanted to do after college and thought he might not want to have a job in the field of economics. He said he wanted to explore what job opportunities were out there.
USA Today has named Seddiqui as the Most Rejected Person in the World, after failing more than 40 consecutive job interviews. He sent out 18,000 emails and made 5,000 phone calls to potential employers. He has had a multitude of positions including weatherman, border patrol agent, coal miner and rodeo announcer.
Nick Haynes, a career adviser at Baylor University, booked Seddiqui to speak today.
“He promotes that it’s OK to not know what to do after college and get out and try new things. You don’t have to follow a certain career path,” Haynes said.
Haynes said he met Seddiqui at a National Career Development Association conference and thought that Seddiqui’s perspective of finding his calling in life and going through the process after college was really interesting.
The event is free and open to the public. Fifteen copies of Seddiqui’s book, titled the same as his presentation, will be given away at the event with a pizza reception to follow.
“Students and myself will walk away with a feeling of relief about the whole process, not feeling that burden, that pressure as much,” Haynes said. “He hits on the networking piece and building relationships. He takes this big idea of finding a job and breaks it down into finding something manageable,” he said.
“I heard about Daniel coming to speak last week and I thought it would be a really interesting presentation,” said Nacogdoches junior Peyton Miller. “I’m definitely a little nervous about life after graduation, so I’m excited to hear about his journey and the tips he has for us.”
Seddiqui’s presentation is hosted by the Office of Career and Professional Development.
