Recently at a holiday party I was cornered by a person whom had been unemployed over a year and heard that I was a Recruiter. This person had me sandwiched between pigs in a blanket and the crudités for what seemed an eternity barraging me with claims of her inability to get work, the horrendous market conditions and how utterly unfair life was.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love what I do and thoroughly enjoy a healthy discussion about employment and job hunting. I am always humbled when someone asks my opinion or seeks out my help. However, I find the past year particularly challenging as many people are using our difficult economy as an excuse to be unemployed. There I said it – and it’s true! Let me explain further – First, people seem to hold a certain entitlement and feel they should be able to collect unemployment – They earned it and feel they feel they are owed it! Of course our government processes are so messed up they don’t know or can’t determine who is really eligible and who isn’t – zero accountability – so everyone gets it.
In addition to entitlement, 50% of the unemployed really don’t want to work that hard, or travel too far. They shun the thought of temporary work and could never take less than they have made in prior years – never mind a title less prestigious than what they held before! What happened to being flexible and adaptable? Or taking pride in your work or showcasing your ability to be resilient and roll with the punches?
This may seem harsh coming from a Recruiter. However I speak the truth as I witness it first-hand daily. I am not saying it’s everyone and there aren’t certain people who have particularly bad situations but if you are willing to temp, are super flexible, resourceful, eager, patient and resilient – you will eventually get a job.
After an hour conversation and suffering indigestion from ingesting 5 cold weenies I determined the cocktail job seeking candidate wanted to work part time, earn $80,000 a year, and work in her back yard…….. Point made?
