KINGSTON, Ont. - Unemployment spawned creativity for Megan Bond.

From 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Friday, the third-year university student stood on the traffic medium on the corner of Princess Street and Augusta Road wearing a sandwich board that read, "Univ. Student Needs Summer Job."

It worked.

Bond's unconventional mode of self-promotion worked, as she was offered not one, but two positions -- working part-time at Card's Bakery and the other working full time as a driver for Napa Auto Parts.

"If somebody had told me at the beginning of the summer, that I would have to do this to find a job, I wouldn't have believed them," she said.

Bond, 19, said she began her job search before school finished, and despite handing out more than 100 applications, her search failed to produce any offers.

"I ended school at the end of April. I applied for 32 positions with the City of Kingston and didn't hear back about any of them," she said. "My dad lives in Oshawa, so I was also applying for summer jobs there as well.

"I just kept on applying to everything and anything I was able to."

Bond said difficulty in finding a job was not due to lack of work experience. She worked for four years as a cashier at Sobey's and last summer was a communications co-ordinator with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters here in Kingston.

During the school, she worked part-time as a tour guide at the University of Western Ontario, where she is studying media and technoculture.

Bond said it was her father who came up with the idea to self-advertise her services.

"He thought it had never been done before, and it was worth a try."

Originally from Tillsonburg, Bond admitted at first she found the idea embarrassing, but wasn't self-conscious, due to her feeling of anonymity in the city.

"We just moved here two years ago, so I wasn't worried about too many people I know seeing me."

Nonetheless, Bond said she ultimately decided to give it a try because she financially, could not afford to go the rest of the summer without a job.

"Desperate times do call for desperate measures," she said. "I have to pay for my schooling. I have to foot my entire bill pretty much. OSAP pays a little bit and my parents try to help when they can, but I have to cover most of my education.

"That's why my drive to find a job was so strong."

Bond said the news of her job-hunting strategy was met with a confused response from her friends.

"They were originally, like, 'No, you didn't do that,'" she said, "(but) they knew how difficult it had been for me to find a job, so they understood why I did this."

Bond chose the full-time position.

"I need to make as much money as I can this summer, that's why I chose the Napa Auto Parts job," she said. "Plus, I love driving, so doing deliveries should be a lot of fun."

Bond said she learned a lot about her new home through this experience.

"Kingston people were really nice," she said. "It was really the generosity of strangers that helped me out."

Glen Pearcy, the local Napa manager, said a tip from one of his drivers brought his attention to Bond.

"He came back to the office and told me that there was a girl on Princess Street advertising that she needed work. He didn't get her number, so I sent another driver out and she gave him her card, with her dad's phone number.

"I called (and) she had a interview that afternoon."

Pearcy said he was willing to go out a limb because he was impressed by Bond's motivation.

"I was definitely interested in her initiative," he said. "It goes to someone's work ethic. It says a lot about how somebody lives their life.

"Anyone who is a go-getter I want working for me."

Pearcy said as an employer, he weighs the interview more heavily than the resume.

"When you look at student resumes, they all look the same," he said. "It's hard to judge someone based on their resume.

"Standing on Princess, wearing a board, that certainly got her an interview in a hurry."

Bond put on her Napa Auto Parts uniform for the first time on Monday. She spent the day being trained and was on her own as of yesterday.

Gilliam Watters, program manager at Kingston Employment and Youth Services, said Bond's story is not an uncommon one.

"It's the tightest student labour market I've seen in a while, at least two or three years."

Watters said her agency has placed 687 students with employers who, like Napa Auto Parts, are enrolled in the "Summer Jobs Service' program.

Watters said Bond's method of finding work is an example of a more proactive approach to finding a job, one that is often necessary in today's competitive job market.

"It takes is a more active job search," she said, "and you can't get much more active than what she did.

"Employers are being more choosy about who they hire. It's about personal contact. That makes a difference."