Apparel company sells resume shirts to build job opportunities

After working for 15 years as a recruiter for various companies, Andrej Bula started to notice something.

Bula saw the clever ways people started marketing themselves to employers and decided to start a company that would give people an alternative way to find jobs ... through T-shirts.

Bula’s apparel company Hire Me Tee feature T-shirts that say, “Hire Me”  and then state the person’s profession, such as accountant, teacher, etc.

Bula founded Hire Me Tee in December 2009 after he lost his job as a company recruiter. Bula wants to create real time networking through the T-shirts.

“I strongly believe that this is the future,” he said.

The company has also started making shirts to promote any small business, ethnicity, a desire for an internship and other miscellaneous categories, such as being beer pong champion. He compared wearing the T-shirt to carrying a resume around at all times.

Bula said the T-shirts have also led to a networking for different purposes. One customer said he was able to create a connection with his future girlfriend after wearing a T-shirt that stated “Hire Me. I’m Russian.”

“It’s a great opener,” Bula said about the T-shirts.

The T-shirts area also used to create more clientele for people who have small businesses, Bula said. Owners use the shirts to start up a conversation about the business they own.

The Hire Me Tee website has a page of testimonials where customers share their experiences with the shirts. Some of them talk about how wearing a shirt has created job leads for them or sometimes new friends.

Bula said the company could not reveal how many T-shirts they have sold since they started the online store in December 2009.

The company is based out of New Jersey and has not yet expanded into the Midwest. Hire Me Tee now sells T-shirts, long-sleeve shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts. The prices range from $21 to $33.

Bula wants to expand the company to include a different font that would appeal more to female customers.

Although Bula doesn’t expect people to walk into job interviews wearing the apparel, he hopes the shirts will help people create a job opportunity for themselves.

“Networking is the best way to find a job,” he said.