‘Terrifying’ Nicolas Cage Photo Teaches Student an Email Lesson
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John Foxx/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — If you are looking to land a job in this tough economic climate, sending a crazy-eyed picture of actor Nicolas Cage to a potential employer is not the stuff “How to Get Hired” books are made of.
If you are looking to gain instant fame online, it turns out that might be just the thing to do.
Such is the example of Vanessa Hojda, the Canadian college student who earlier this week accidentally attached a picture of Cage instead of her resume to an email inquiring about a summer job as an administrative assistant at her school, York University in Toronto.
When she realized her mistake, the 20-year-old posted a frantic admission of her 21st-century error on her Tumblr page.
“I ACCIDENTLY SENT MY POTENTIAL FUTURE BOSS A PICTURE OF NIC CAGE RATHER THAN MY COVER LETTER + RESUME, WHICH HAS A ZIP FILE TITLED WITH A BUNCH OF NUMBERS LIKE THE JPC I ACCIDENTALLY ATTACHED OH MY GOD.”
She also posted the email in full and, just like that, an Internet star was born.
Since her error went viral, the previously anonymous Hojda has appeared on a Toronto radio show, been photographed for her local paper, the Toronto Star, and been interviewed by the Washington Post’s celebrity blogger. She’s also gained nearly 800 new followers to her Tumblr page and seen her mistake blogged by Gawker and tweeted about by actress Elizabeth Banks.
“It’s been a weird day,” Hojda told the Post’s Jen Chaney on Tuesday, 24 hours after she hit “send.” “This whole thing got my name out there.”
The “whole thing” did not land Hojda the administrative job she first wanted. The potential employer responded to her email mistake with a simple, “Vanessa, all I see is a picture of Nic Cage looking terrifying,” and then later informed her the position had been filled.
“She was probably thinking, ‘She can’t even get the attachment right,’” Hojda told Chaney.
The attention did land the psychology major two job offers via her Facebook page from people who, evidently, like Hojda, get a kick out of Cage.
Hojda told Chaney she’s not even a true fan of the actor, just his crazy expressions that have gained the actor his own Internet fame, which is why she had a photo of him saved on her computer.
The whole mess has taught Hojda a lesson and led to a commitment to very clearly label her computer files from now on.
“I renamed my resume file to ‘thisisaresumeyoudumba**notaphotofnicolascage,’” she told Chaney.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio