Vincent Giordano Holds Up 'Hire Me' Sign On Manhattan Streets Looking For A Job

NEW YORK -- Vincent Giordano has held up a "Hire Me" sign on the streets of New York City every Monday through Friday, during regular business hours, for the last month. Unemployed for two years, the 52-year-old former office assistant stands in a suit with his sign by Manhattan street corners, parks and subway stations -- waiting for opportunity to walk by.

"I can't lose hope," he told The Huffington Post. "I gotta keep it up."

Giordano, who lives in Brooklyn, said he's behind on his rent and his wife lost her job at a store years ago as well.

Giordano said he was taking inspiration from Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi, whom Giordano recalled saying something about the will to win not being as important as the will to prepare to win. "I strongly believe in quotes," Giordano said.

He needed the encouragement on Wednesday. He stood at the corner outside a lower Manhattan subway station for hours and only one person took his resume. But it was one more lead than he had before. The woman said she worked for the state of New York and complimented him on his guts, he said.

After lunch at McDonald's, he planned to head uptown to one of his more fruitful spots near Bryant Park, where there were bathrooms and overhangs nearby in case of rain, he said.

"I'm determined not to end up in a homeless shelter," he told ABC News.

While Giordano's strategy hasn't yet landed him a job, it is at least gaining him some publicity. The Wall Street Journal spotlighted him last week and then ABC followed with a feature.

Giordano is far from alone in his quest to find a job. In today's weak job market, it's particularly difficult for the long-term unemployed to find a job. Another factor that may be keeping Giordano out of the workforce is his age. According to the AARP Public Policy Institute, unemployed older workers are usually out of work for longer than younger ones.

But Giordano's strategy could work. In April, Bennett Olson, a 22-year-old Minnesota resident, stuck his face on an electronic billboard in an attempt to find a job. The outlandish effort worked -- Olson landed a marketing gig in Bloomington, Minn.

Giordano figured the kind of jobs he is qualified for -- legal assistant, office services and copy operator, as it says on one of the signs he holds up -- should get him a job in the $28,000 to $60,000 range.

"I'm not a greedy person," he said.