From Invisible Job Hunting to Self-Marketing Genius: A Woman With A Billboard

Anna Tretiakova stands in front of an orange billboard truck on a Manhattan street corner, her face beaming from the oversized advertisement rolling past some of the city’s most prestigious advertising agencies. It’s a sharp contrast to the usual scene of job hunting – scrolling through endless applications in pyjamas, refreshing emails that never come, waiting for replies that disappear into the digital void.

The 32-year-old Russian-born creative got tired of being invisible. So she decided to become impossible to ignore.

The Billboard Campaign That Couldn’t Be Missed

For eight hours last week, Tretiakova’s truck looped past Wieden+Kennedy, Ogilvy, Grey and two major marketing conferences. Her bold tagline and giant QR code linked to her credentials towered above the streets. Sometimes she stood near the agencies holding a matching sign, hoping someone would glance up from their Slack notifications. Sometimes she just let the truck speak for itself.

‘If they won’t open my email,’ she said, ‘maybe they’ll open their window.’

This wasn’t her first creative stunt. Earlier this year, she posed as a delivery driver and hand-delivered fresh flower bouquets to 11 of NYC’s top agencies. Each came with a personalised card and a QR code to her portfolio. Weeks later, she showed up at a marketing event wearing her resume as a T-shirt. She even got actor Brian Baumgartner – Kevin from The Office – to declare her ‘made for advertising’ in a cameo video.

When Traditional Job Hunting Hits a Wall

Tretiakova’s background spans five years in film production – sets, crews and creative teams. She’s added Google Ads and branding certifications to her toolkit, hoping to transition into brand activations and creative production inside agencies. Yet in NYC, where openings often fill before they’re posted and referrals trump resumes, her chances on paper were slim.

‘I don’t have an insider connection,’ she explained. ‘So I built a character.’

Her experience reflects a frustrating reality many job seekers face. Research shows that 61% of job seekers report being ghosted after interviews, leaving them feeling invisible in an increasingly automated hiring process. The silence can be deafening – applications disappearing into algorithmic black holes, follow-up emails met with radio silence.

The Creative Rebellion

Rather than fade quietly into the background, some job seekers are fighting back with bold self-marketing tactics. Creative job applications have included everything from customised Lego sets to billboard campaigns, with one candidate landing 60 interviews after buying advertising space to promote themselves.

Tretiakova’s approach taps into something deeper than just getting noticed – it’s about reclaiming agency in a process that often leaves candidates feeling powerless. Like women who adopt the corner office mindset before reaching the top, she’s refusing to wait for permission to take up space.

‘I got tired of shouting into the void,’ she said. ‘So I became the campaign.’

The Psychology of Making Yourself Seen

There’s something both vulnerable and audacious about Tretiakova’s stunts. Standing on a Manhattan street corner with a sign, hoping someone in a corner office might glance down, requires a particular kind of courage. It’s the willingness to be seen when you’ve felt invisible, to take up space when you’ve been squeezed out.

Her playfulness shines through the frustration – the flower deliveries, the T-shirt resume, the celebrity endorsement video. These aren’t desperate acts but creative ones, turning rejection into an opportunity for self-expression. There’s a wink in her approach, a refusal to take the traditional job hunting process entirely seriously when it clearly isn’t working.

For anyone who’s ever felt overlooked at work or left out of something important, Tretiakova’s campaign resonates. We’ve all had moments of feeling like we’re shouting into the void, whether it’s pitching ideas in meetings, applying for promotions or simply trying to get someone’s attention in a crowded room. Her story echoes what many successful female leaders have learned – that challenges often become opportunities to align with your true purpose.

The Unfinished Story

Whether Tretiakova’s billboard campaign lands her a full-time role remains unknown. The truck has finished its rounds past major advertising agencies, the flowers have been delivered and the T-shirt has been worn. The applications sit in various inboxes, waiting for replies that may or may not come.

Her refusal to ‘wait quietly in the applicant pool’ has already accomplished something significant – she’s shown what it looks like to take control of your own narrative when traditional channels fail. Like authentic storytellers who break through barriers, she’s turned her personal experience into something that resonates far beyond her own situation.

In an era where hiring managers emphasise the need for candidates to stand out in competitive markets, Tretiakova has certainly achieved that. Her stunts demonstrate that sometimes being seen is half the battle, especially when you’re competing against AI-generated applications flooding recruiters’ inboxes.

Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness

The image of Anna Tretiakova and her orange truck rolling through Manhattan lingers – a bright spot of creativity and determination in a city full of both. She represents something many of us recognise: the moment when you decide to stop waiting for permission and start making your own opportunities.

Her approach won’t work for everyone, and it doesn’t need to. Not every job seeker can rent a billboard truck or stage elaborate delivery stunts. There’s something universal in her refusal to disappear quietly into the endless scroll of job applications and ghosted emails.

Sometimes the most radical act is simply refusing to be invisible. Sometimes courage looks like standing on a street corner with a sign, hoping someone will notice. Sometimes, making yourself seen is the first step to getting where you want to go – whether that’s through the front door of an advertising agency or somewhere else entirely.