Frenchman pins job hopes on crisp packet

At first glance Yves Bonneyrat’s creation looks like any other packet of crisps designed by the England-based manufacturer Tyrrells with the company's trademark font and colouring.

But a closer inspection will reveal that not all is as it seems. 

Instead of the company’s logo, the crisp flavour and ingredients, the Frenchman has superimposed his entire CV onto the packet complete with a cover letter and photo (see below).

The inspiration behind the CV was both professional and creative, Bonneyrat, 43, tells The Local.

“The idea came to me when I returned from a recent weekend trip to London with my wife,” he says.

“One afternoon I bought some Tyrrells crisps for a snack and realized that in France we only have five or six of the total 20 or so flavours available in England.”

Bonneyrat was on a three-year long career break at the time, but had as yet been unable to find a well-paid job with his standard CV.

So when he decided to send a spontaneous application to Tyrrells for a job as a Sales Manager in France, he decided to go all out.

“I just had one condition – I wanted to enjoy myself,” he says. “I’m a passionate person who doesn’t do things by halves.”

With the help of a corporate branding firm, the Frenchman managed to replicate the original dimensions and design of a Tyrrells’ crisp packet and managed to squeeze his entire CV, photo and cover letter onto the front and back.

He then asked the charcutier at his local supermarket to seal both ends of the packet, which he filled with polystyrene, before sending to Tyrrells via DHL.

In all it cost him €300, and took two days and three nights to complete.

“It’s true that it’s expensive for a spontaneous application, but the objective was not to make hundreds of copies – it’s a unique CV!” he told the website blog-emploi.

Although Bonneyrat has yet to hear from the Leominster-based British company since he sent his application in February he hasn’t given up hope and is convinced that Tyrrells’ unique flavoured crisps could be a hit in France.

“Traditionally we don’t have a culture of snacking in France with families preferring to sit round a table to eat. But this is changing with the new generations and there’s a market for it," he tells The Local.

Meanwhile, Tyrrells' rival, fellow crisp manufacturer Tayto has expressed an interest in the Frenchman's talents, with the company's HR team telling The Local that they "would be delighted" to hear from him and inviting him to send his CV.

Bonneyrat isn't the only French jobseeker to come up with an innovative way to display his CV.

Last December, unemployed Frenchman Laurent Lebret plastered his CV on a huge billboard at the entrance to the French Riviera town of Antibes, near where he lives.

After being inundated with calls and messages, Lebret's Christmas wish came true when he was offered a position as an operations manager for the holiday resort firm, Azureva in the nearby town of Bourg-en-Bresse.