A story about being brave enough to admit you need help, and kind enough to offer it.
South Africa (22 June 2026) – Conversations often evolve around what it takes to find a job. Having a strong CV, the relevant experience and interview skills all matter. So does knowing how to dress, how to answer, and how to sell yourself in a room full of potential employers.
All of that matters, but what we don’t speak about nearly as much is what it sometimes takes just to get to the room.
A recruiter named Kim Hatchuel made a routine call a few weeks ago, confirming the details of an interview scheduled for the following morning.
The candidate on the other end hesitated. And then, working up the courage, he told her the truth.
He didn’t have money for the taxi fare.
R31 each way. R62 return.
“For many people, R62 is the cost of a cappuccino on the way to work. For him, it was the difference between getting to an interview and missing an opportunity. When you’ve been unemployed for a long time, [it] can feel like a mountain,” Kim shared.
He hadn’t given up; he was still determined. Determined enough to pick up the phone and push through the discomfort of admitting where he was, and that he could not take the next step alone.
“What struck me most was that he was still determined to attend. Despite the setback, he wanted the opportunity. He wanted the chance. And he was brave enough to say that he didn’t have the means to get there.”
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She shared the story on LinkedIn. Thousands of people read it. Hundreds left messages of encouragement. Strangers, some of them unemployed themselves, offered to help cover his transport costs until his first salary came in. People who had been in the exact same position shared their own stories, because that’s what happens when someone tells the truth about something many people carry silently.
One of them was Lucky, an electrician who shared how he’d borrowed money to get to an interview at Westwood Mall, arrived two hours early to be safe, and then received a last-minute message asking to reschedule. With nothing left in his pocket, he walked from Westville to town – an hour on foot –waited for a train that arrived at 2:45 pm, and got home at 5 pm with nothing to show for the day. When he explained his situation to the interviewer, the man sent R100 without hesitation. Three weeks later, Lucky was working for him.
“Sometimes all it takes is one person willing to give someone a chance,” he wrote.
A week later, the happiest update came through. Kim received Siphesihle’s signed offer letter. He got the job. He starts on 1 July.
“This story started with R62,” Kim wrote, “but it was never only about R62. It was about determination. It was about dignity. It was about someone who wanted an opportunity badly enough to admit he needed help getting there. And it was about hundreds of people proving that kindness still exists.”
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