Job Hunting Is Like Deer Hunting. You see them all over the place but can't find one when you are looking for one.

Submitted by spartancaver on Mon, 11/28/2005 - 11:36am.

Oh dear God don’t get me started on finding a job. CarpeDiemPTC wants to quote John Lennon the founder of the hippies the non-working class of America? Plenty of other people have said “Life Sucks”. Those who live in Happy Valley are most likely the ones that have gainful employment and believe that they can not be fired or lose their jobs. Gone are the days when employers took genuine interest in their employee’s problems. I remember when all the single men got laid off before the "family" men. Gone too are the employees who are loyal to the bitter end. Now both sides are locked in mortal combat to see who screws who first. Can’t find a good job here in Fayette County. Don’t worry neither can I and I have experience, college, university, and trade school training.

I have been seeking better employment since January 01, 2001 after my employer went out of business. At first I attempted to contact our former clients and offer my talents and skills either directly or by sub contract to no avail. That internet stock market thing happened and the demand for building new trade show booths fell off significantly. Then September 11 happened and the whole world quit moving. I could not buy a job in the high end exhibit building industry. I began an ongoing 4+ year job hunt with little success. I did after the first year find gainful employment with a famous Handyman company and quickly rose in the ranks to Team Leader. From there after 18 months the work load fell off and hours dropped. You see if you are making repairs properly then you work yourself out of a job and into less work. Yes things always are tearing up and falling down, but when an expert makes the repairs, then the thing should last for years and not need to be repaired again for a long while. Hence I was always working myself out of work. Once I saw the work load falling off and my wages falling too, I fell into a teaching position with a national trade / craft company as a construction instructor. I even obtain instructor certification from a national accrediting organization. Then because the school started too fast, with too many instructors, and too many classes for the too few students enrolled, my position was eliminated. But I quickly found another supervisor position in commercial maintenance with a company that would wind up being investigated by the United States Department of Labor for work ethics and salary abuse. So out the door I went again. Now it is 11 months later, and after burning over 500 sheets of paper with the laser printer for fax cover sheets and resumes, spending almost $100 in postage for sending in resumes overnight, filling out applications at businesses around Fayette County, applying “on-line”, posting resumes at national job board websites, sending out e-mails to all my friends asking them to keep an eye out for a job, I am still without gainful employment. I have tried the local sprawl mart and we all know anyone can get a job at the sprawl mart. I have had an application in at both the local big box building supply stores for years seeking employment stocking shelves or running departments. I have applied to the major home appliance / electronic stores to no avail. I have applied to the local video rental store for a part time position that was open with out results. I have had several interviews with no call backs. I have read the books and articles on preparing resumes and on interviewing skills. I have recently put magnetic signs on my truck advertising my handyman skills with out results.

What is the problem with finding a job?

One answer I get is there is high un-employment and a lot of people are looking right now. Well according to government statistics un-employment is at an all time low rate. However, that does not keep a lot of people from seeking a new position therefore a lot of applications are submitted for few positions. Also the government statistics do not include those who quit the workforce and become self employed. It also does not include those who fall off the un-employment roles when benefits run out. So yes un-employment rates are down, but under certain conditions.

Another answer I get is I am overqualified. I love that one to a point. It means that I am at the top of my profession. The top dog. The master craftsman that takes no lead from anyone else. The technician who knows all and does all. The Superman of Maintenance. But I soon learned that although all employers want all employees to work like the Man of Steel, they want to pay them with copper coins. That is what the employer means when he says “you are overqualified” between the lines is “I don’t think I can afford you”. It goes along with the “entry level” position. We want you to have the skills to maintain the space shuttle, but on an “entry level” salary. Of course we realize that anyone willing to offer you a few cents more and you will leave us. So we can’t hire you. I have gotten just such a response from an employer with an open job. And it was advertised for weeks on end, but would not hire me at any wage. Not that I was willing to bid myself out, “If he will do it for $12 an hour, I’ll do it for $11.50”. I am always willing to accept a fair and average wage for the job requirements. I can not expect a space shuttle pilot’s salary if all I am required to do is clean the windshield. But now the employers ask that you state your “salary requirements”. Or put another way, how much money do you need to stay here? Or how much money do you need to meet household expenses? See my previous statement about wage equal to requirements. If I can not make ends meet with the salary then I might need to lengthen the ends.

Being overqualified also means that I have to dumb down my resume. It is impressive with being a past president of a hospital engineer’s society and head of maintenance for a major disaster relief organization. They sound impressive but there was more surface than substance to both positions. And what part do I dumb down? How many resumes do I need to keep on hand? And how do you determine what to put in a resume to get on the short list of candidates? What is too much (overqualified) and what is too little (under-qualified)? How do you tell when you are the top dog in a pile of un-seen candidates? Time was that you went to an employer’s human resource department and filled out an application then and there. Often I could watch the other candidates and get a feel for what type and caliber person was applying for the position. I could also size up what an employer might be looking for in an employee. Did you see the part in the Erin Brockovich where she is sitting in the lobby with a bunch of people in suits and she in a party dress. They could tell who was not getting the job. But today the resume is shot into space on the internet, going to who knows where and who knows what employer. The job ads today instruct the applicant to “e-mail to” or “fax to”. Often no indication who the employer is. Just a line like “small south side builder seeks” or “international construction company with multiple government construction contracts in Iraq seeks” etc... How do you re-shape a resume for those two? If I dumb it down I might get interviewed by the small south side builder. But I need to flat out lie to get the international construction company to call. Do I use embellishment to find a job, only in the movie industry.

Another problem getting just the job interview has been the on-line use of “personality testing”. “This is used to see if you are a match for our company and its work ethic” It is a pre-screening tool used without ever seeing the applicant. It does not take into account that I just might personally be a major cynic and misanthropist, but I do know how to put on a great face when at work and meeting customers and clients. Why else would I have been a top revenue earner for a previous employer? How many people are in a “happy relationship” with what appears to be a “stable marriage” which only last until the kids grow up? I know the difference between job and home. The home problems hang on a hook by the door and ditto for the work problems. When I am driving to work I think of work problems. When I drive home I think of home cares. I can turn on one and turn off the other. The personality test can not accurately forecast how a given employee will perform; we all lie on those things anyway. Here is where I do try to dumb down. My daughter suggests that I am over-thinking these things. So that you will get a feel for what I am talking about here is a typical statement and pre-imposed response By the way, you don’t get to explain anything about your response:

“I am not one that will not tell others when they are not doing something wrong. Now do you strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree? Answer one by clicking the pointer on the appropriate button.”

How do I pick the appropriate answer? By agreeing with the strongly disagree choice am I saying that I will tell someone they are about to mess up? Does this then make me a busy body? What does it mean if I choose disagree? Does that mean I butt in occasionally or stand by and watch the fun? Does the agree mean that I am not one that butts in but will keep it to myself? Does this then mean that I will not take active interest in protecting the employer’s interest? Will I stand by and watch the whole place go up in flames without pulling the fire alarm? Will I call corporate and squeal when I see the manager loading 6 big screen TVs onto his personal pickup truck? Will I call 60 minutes and report the company? Am I the type person that just doesn’t give a rat’s butt about anything? Do they mean how I am feeling about this right now, if I have done it lately, or will I ever do it? Well do I over think these test? I don’t think so.

One obstacle that I only suspect exist is now certain forms of overt and covert discrimination. Example: There is a myth that older workers are more dependable. They show up for work. They have a stronger work ethic. Not if you have doctors appointment to go to all the time. I am in the older class so I talk about myself here. But some employers will give preference to the older worker. Also they might seek the younger employee who is hired into that “entry level” position. The old you need experience to get this job which you can’t get with out having been employed at this job circle of death. A younger employee is physically stronger than an older employee. They have the younger backs that will not need a chiropractor for years. They might see the younger employee as someone who will be around for a while. The old guy was clutching his chest. Some employers will ask if you are a veteran. Ah here is the rub how do you answer? To answer you are in the active military right now can knock you off the short list, because your unit might get called up for a couple of years. Then your position is filled with a temp who everyone falls in love with and can’t live without so they don’t want to see you again. Which it is illegal to outright fire or not re-hire the returning hero, but the ramp towards the door can be tilted that way. Some employers want the military employee. They like the employee that follows orders and waits for congress to pass them along a pay raise. Some employers like too the trade school learning that is given away in the military. Other discrimination exist in the question are you on one of many welfare programs. This isn’t what it appears to be on the surface. The employer will receive certain tax breaks if they hire the welfare recipient. They may qualify for programs that will reimburse the employer of recipients. Yes, my tax dollars go toward giving incentives to employers to hire the welfare recipient. Even being a former inmate of the correctional system does not disqualify you and may actually help you get hired. Why? For the same reasons stated above, as long as you are not near the till.

I have a relative that has made the statement several times that if he is ever laid off he can get a job pushing a broom if need be. Yea right I say. If your resume floats to the top of the stack of hundreds, if you are on welfare, if you recently released from jail, if you are or are not in the military, if you can pass the personality test, if you are not too old or too young, if you have prior experience pushing a broom or in lieu of experience a licensed broom pusher, if you will take just the right amount of salary which is the lowest we are eager to pay, then yes you can get a job pushing broom.

Although your qualifications does not meet the requirements of our position right now, we will keep your resume on file for 6 months and let you know if things change. Long hand for don’t call us we’ll call you.

Have a nice day.
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