King of the hungry jobseekers Joe Wild was so keen to get one job in particular that he came home early from a foreign holiday for the interview.
Joe, 19, from Witham, wanted to work in IT but, despite a string of interviews, had so far only obtained part-time work.
He said: “I wanted something full-time that was tailored to the skill set that I have, a job that I enjoyed and which would offer the chance to build a career.”
In the search to identify the right job opportunities, Joe was assisted by the Employability and Skills unit at Essex County Council. 
In the end, it was County Hall itself which came up with the ideal position, when ECC’s IT department went on the hunt for apprentices.
“The job description matched exactly what I was looking for,” said Joe. “I applied straight away. However, at that stage I headed off abroad for two weeks. The holiday had been booked months beforehand.
“During my time abroad, I received an email stating  I had an interview. But it was at the start of the second week I was away. This caused obvious problems for me and I contacted the employer, who agreed to move the interview up to a later date.”
Joe then had a change of heart. He said: “After much consideration I decided that because getting the job was so important for me, I didn’t want to wait until the end of my holiday to attend the interview.
“So I decided to fly back before the end of the week and make the original date. Apart from everything else, I thought it would show initiative and dedication, as well as demonstrating the passion I felt I could bring to the job.”
The interview swiftly confirmed Joe’s impression that this was the job of his dreams.  “I could tell, instantly I would be happy,” he said.
He also liked the way the interview was conducted. 
He said: “I had been to many interviews before this and I thought I knew what to expect. But in fact, the interview was like no other interview I’d been to before. 
“The first thing I noticed was it was a lot more casual than usual and, therefore, put a lot less stress on me.
“Of course like every interview it had its serious moments, but the people who were conducting the interview made it feel a lot less like an interrogation and more like just a friendly chat.”
In fact, as sources at Essex County Council reveal, the interviewers had already been impressed by Joe and his dedication to landing the job.
Joe said: “The next day I received a call offering me the job.”
He added: “If anyone finds themselves in a similar position to the one I was in, I would urge them to do the same.”