A Tauranga man who turned his search for work into helping others find jobs says he has helped two people a day on average.
Rihari Joseph is a bit of a community legend in Tauranga, Seven Sharp reported.
For eight hours a day, you could find him parked up at a local roundabout with a smile and a "Job Wanted" sign.
Hard work is the norm for Mr Joseph. That's until his wife fell ill.
"My wife had a heart attack and I became the designated carer for her," he said.
As her health deteriorated, so did their finances. When she died, Mr Joseph turned to the roundabout in Bethlehem - and his community - for a helping hand.
"I thought if I was courageous enough to do something it would bare fruit, yeah."
At first the cars were fast and the job offers slow. But by week three he was inundated with offers and turned looking for a job into a job.
"I've got to be honest, I didn't take any of those opportunities because another echelon of the community would come and say, 'hey, can you get me a job?' So I would pass all those leads on to them," he said.
And from the company office - aka the spare room where he used to care for his wife - Mr Joseph is now the middle man between employers and employees.
Asked how many job seekers he has helped so far, he said, "On the average, two a day."
He does miss the roundabout though, so decided he would put up another sign there. "Thank you Tauranga," it reads.
"What I want to do is motivate other individuals to do what I do. It's just the spirit of it all. Everybody is touched some way and collectively we can do something positive," Rihari Joseph said.
SHARE ME