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?
We do staffing as well and have had many job opportunities lately. There are opportunities out there; one just has to put more effort into finding them. Luckily, we - meaning those like you and I who do a lot of recruiting - can help those who do want to put the effort into the job search.
ReplyDeleteI wish we could all make $80k working in our backyards!
Very insightful post, though. Take care!
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ReplyDeleteI agree; a lot of people are using the tough economy as an excuse to collect unemployment. To be employed again I took a 10K pay cut, even though I could not afford it; (being unemployed was not something I could afford either) and to have a little flexibility I went to work for a small family owned business. There was a learning curve doing work I had some exposure to they said they were willing to train... so I took the position with the mindset that I was going to learn something new, which excites me (I love learning) unfortunately the training never took place and I had to take the bull by the horns, which I did! as I got a handle on the new learning experience, the in's and out's of the position etc. I was told they wanted someone with more experience; so here I am, ended up being let go for not having the experience even though I was told they would train me. I finished my assignment with my head up high, trained the new person and even received a recommendation letter. Now I'm back at the unemployment line, taking the census test (some work is better than no work), looking high and low at everything... newspapers, pennysaver, weekly local papers, big job boards, craiglist, company websites, recruiter websites, you name it I've done it and will continue to do it. One thing that has amazed me is the way that the job boards and other entities are making money on the unemployed by promising to feature their resumes at the top of the pile by paying a fee, or distributing to recruiters and hiring managers again for a fee, I find this practice outrageous!
ReplyDeleteSo YES you are right is not everyone, and YES there are people taking advantage of a system that no one watches; and YES you do have to roll with the punches and be flexible, and YES there are many people trying very hard, I am one of them.
I am confident in my skill set and in the fact that in spite of the very hard times America faces.. not only I, but all who want to work, will find a position that will help pay the bills and with a little luck it will also be a place where you can be happy! Call me Pollyanna...
I am a job seeker. I've done all I can think of to build awareness: posted resumes on no fewer than 5 job boards, set up a Linked-In profile with endorsements & lots of connections, registered with a host of recruiters from New York to Norwalk, and I've even learned new skill sets.
ReplyDeleteWhen I check payscale comparisons, I see that compensation for some similar position to my last job is lower than what I received in 2003. Bummer.
What I need to keep in mind is that while it's a step below where I was, it's a step up from where I am.