Locals vying for `ridiculously good' Axe summer job By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 11 · Thursday, February 25, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Two young Oakville women are hoping to land a ridiculously good summer job in a national contest, but they need your support. Oakville's Maddi Rundle, 22, and Jaime Neefs, 19, and three other women across Canada are vying for Axe Canada's Ridiculously, Ridiculously Good Summer Gig. The two Oakville women are competing for one position, while five young males are competing for another position. The online fan-voting competition runs until March 31 and organizers of the event will take the votes into consideration when they hire the consumer consultants. Each winner will live in a downtown Toronto apartment for two months and will get world business and marketing experience through their summer jobs. They are also expected to date, have fun and chronicle their experiences on a blog. The winners will also be paid $10,000 and receive other perks to Maddi Rundle make their summer more fun. "I'm most excited to be a woman in this position because I think there's been a bit of misconception about how the Axe brand sees women and by no means that is what they're trying to convey," said Rundle. "It's really cool to be in the running to be a voice for Axe as an empowered woman with intelligence on her side." Rundle grew up in Milton, but while she was away at the University of Western Ontario in Jaime Neefs London her parents moved to Oakville. When she graduated a year ago, she moved back with her parents and currently lives in Oakville. Rundle calls herself a Jane of all trades. She is a freelance writer and photographer. She also works at a yoga studio and does publicity for an independent film company, while juggling other jobs, as well. "I went to school for media studies and marketing and at the end of the day they're hiring a writer and that's what I consider myself," said Rundle. "I'm honest. I'm pretty down to earth and that came across in my video (application) and that's what they're looking for." The other Oakville competitor, Neefs, is currently studying kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton. She's considering a career in the health and fitness field, but believes the Axe marketing experience help her in the long run. "It would be great to grow as a person through social interaction and marketing experience and that's really important when you become a personal trainer as well. You have to market yourself to your clients. But it would also be a personal experience that would add so much more for my future jobs." Neefs was born and raised in Oakville. She attended St. Dominic Elementary School and St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School. During past summers, she has worked for parks and recreation and at a local gym, but she's willing to put those a side for the Axe job. Until March 31, the contestants have to perform a variety of challenges, which are chronicled on the contest website. "I think the challenges are going really well," Neefs said. "They're a ton of fun to do. It's been such a blast to do them all," "We're really excited to be launching this program," said Greg Major, brand-building manager for Axe Canada. "We think it's the best job that anyone can really ask for. And we know at Axe that connecting with girls plays a major role in a young guy's life so the reason why we're training two consumer consultants, one guy and one girl, is because it's a great way to give young guys the support from both sides of the gender divide." Rundle, who is hoping to land the job, said online voters, "should check us all out because we all have something different to offer so it's really just finding the right one for Axe." To vote or find more information visit www.axesummergig.ca.