By Dave Anderson:
I've been out of full-time work since last September. I have had a couple of short term gigs since then but my week usually follows a template. Monday morning, I take my daughter to the library play-group.Monday afternoon I put in two or three resumes. Tuesday and Thursday we walk to Squirrel Hill for activities, and I put in two or three resumes per day. Wednesdays we head the park where I watch my daughter run up and down a ramp or swing in a bucket swing for an hour or two. Wednesday night, I'll grab a cup of coffee and put in another five applications. Fridays are a bit easier as that is my follow-up day for the week.
This routine changes depending on the weather, naps and teething issues, but during a typical week, I'll put in ten to fifteen applications, make fifteen to twenty phone calls, and cross my fingers hoping for an interview. And I typically get jack-shit.
The jobs that I am perfectly qualified for with 90% of the preferred characteristics have three hundred applicants of which fifty are just as qualified as I am but they have a Ph.D or 20 years of management experience or a willingness to work for slightly better than flipping burger wages or all three. The jobs that I am overqualified for, the HR reps (or at least the ones that I have talked to) have said to me that I am overqualified and therefore I won't stay with the firm for three years, so I am not worth hiring.
There is nothing out there. That is my problem with the job market. However Sen. Hatch (R-Utah) thinks there is a greater problem behind my stretch of unemployment. I must be on drugs and incapable of functioning in civil society. Drug testing is his preferred policy alternative of ritual humiliation.
From the Hill:Welfare and unemployment beneficiaries would have to pass a drug test to
qualify for programs under an amendment offered Tuesday by Sen. Orrin
Hatch (R-Utah)..."Drugs are a scourge on our society � hurting children, families and
communities alike," Hatch said in a statement. "This amendment is a way
to help people get off of drugs to become productive and healthy members
of society...
I'll pass any drug test that excludes a screen for caffeine. That is not what I am pissed about. It is the quest to separate the "deserving" from the "undeserving" when the objective circumstances are that the job market blows chunks and Senator Hatch's preferred policy of pointless austerity will worsen the job market.
There are plenty of people who are either off, or never on drugs that are seeking ways to be productively employed members of society. There just are no opportunities to do so.
I hear ya buddy. Same deal. Now I finally have a job (at about 60% pay of my previous gig). Fired off over 180 applications and decided something was wrong.
ReplyDeleteSo - How'd I get it? First I went back to my resume and spent 4 days on it. I learned every technique in Word 2007 to set up a template with heading formats, automatic indents yada, yada. Took a lot longer than simply creating the damn thing with tabs etc, but that's the x-factor they look at. Then I coloured the text dark blue with the titles in black. Chose the best fonts (Garamond for text. Arial for headers). Tweaked the sizes to 11ppt. and 10.5 ppt.
Then I developed a relationship with the agency who hired me. Emailed back and forth over 2 months. Discussed the environment offering small industry insights, etc. Had about 3-4 meetings. (Note: the agents have a LOT of free time and meetings where you offer some gleaning insights is eaten up by them.
Finally offered for free to look over their placement program and gave them some feedback on the documentation. Then they said (as a test) "Oh, we think you're too "qualified"! Here the response is; "The important thing is to make a start. If I'm good then tasks will accrue to me and I can advance and do well... The starting position and salary are almost irrelevant. What is worst is if I'm sitting at home with my abilities rotting away doing nothing."
This they liked. Then 5(!) interviews later I'm in the job.
For the interviews say NOTHING. Don't try to impress. Just say, "I understand"... over and over. Blank face. Sometimes smile. Get the job. Then show them what a Tiger they bought.
Yeah, Hatch is just shy of "Let them eat cake." Someday that might blow up in his face.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as hidflect said, networking helps a lot. Schmooze the headhunters, the HR people, whoever you can, because it keeps you in their mind. Stay strong!
ReplyDeleteDave
ReplyDeleteWell stated... stand your ground
"We have 99 weeks of unemployment insurance now. The question becomes how long do you continue it before people just don't go back to work at all?" Sen. Feinstein said.
ReplyDeleteI wish Feinstein would just not go back to work at all.
ReplyDelete