So frustrated with the job market in Georgia (Atlanta, Marietta: real estate, school) - (GA) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

dwilliams143 · 10-04-2010, 09:18 AM

My family and I moved to GA in January of '09. We found an apartment in Dunwoody. We love the area despite the lack of black culture I expected to experience. I've learned that the cultural experience I was looking for is not in the Atlanta area. The only negative has been the economical one. My business has been selected as a GA Works Ready approve small business, however I've been unable to hire employees willing to learn and be trained as a investment manager. My wife's entertainment company has faired better, she's produced several events, however building a base of reliable attendees requires more strategic methods than the ones she used in NYC. I'm currently starting a jod search for myself. I've been told it's somewhat clicky in the atlanta marketplace. If any of you could be of some help, it would be greatly appreciated. I could forward our resumes at your request. Thanks and take care.

alinka72 · 10-04-2010, 11:32 AM

I've been talking about the provincial, primitive, hiring process in Atlanta for the longest. It is all about hiring incompetent family members, and friends. Even at BoA they have a 'refer your friend' policy that is completely absurd. Can you be honeslty unbiased by referring a friend? The only place that had a hiring process that was professional had their entire staff transplanted from places other than the South. It is good to know someone to give you tips but for this kind of 'networking' to be the sole hiring criteria is ridiculous.

alinka72 · 10-04-2010, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwilliams143

My family and I moved to GA in January of '09. We found an apartment in Dunwoody. We love the area despite the lack of black culture I expected to experience. I've learned that the cultural experience I was looking for is not in the Atlanta area. The only negative has been the economical one. My business has been selected as a GA Works Ready approve small business, however I've been unable to hire employees willing to learn and be trained as a investment manager. My wife's entertainment company has faired better, she's produced several events, however building a base of reliable attendees requires more strategic methods than the ones she used in NYC. I'm currently starting a jod search for myself. I've been told it's somewhat clicky in the atlanta marketplace. If any of you could be of some help, it would be greatly appreciated. I could forward our resumes at your request. Thanks and take care.

Did you just say you are having difficulty hiring people because they are not willing to be trained??? Did I read this right? Your firm is willing to teach a new trade and prospective hires refuse to learn it? Unbelieveable.... I am so sorry...

DennyCrane · 10-04-2010, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DTL3000

I've felt this way ever since I began looking for a "real" job in Atlanta years ago. I wouldn't say this is the case just for Atlanta but for some reason, it feels a bit amplified here for me personally. Atlanta is already cliquey enough and it's hard to ferret out people who you may be able to mine for job opportunities if you don't run in certain circles. I've also always thought that doing so is kind of rude and I feel disingenuous trying to butter someone up because they may be able to get me a job.

I think residents of every city always feel like they have it worse than anyone else. That's true of a lot of things, not just the job market. Ask about who has the worst traffic and everyone thinks it's their city. There's no question that in today's market, you have to be able to network. Everyone is using everyone else and you can't feel guilty about it. I've had people just to get into my network of contacts and it was blatantly obvious they just wanted help finding a job. But I didn't care because I knew I might need their help at some point too.

Mishap · 10-04-2010, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alinka72

I've been talking about the provincial, primitive, hiring process in Atlanta for the longest. It is all about hiring incompetent family members, and friends. Even at BoA they have a 'refer your friend' policy that is completely absurd. Can you be honeslty unbiased by referring a friend? The only place that had a hiring process that was professional had their entire staff transplanted from places other than the South. It is good to know someone to give you tips but for this kind of 'networking' to be the sole hiring criteria is ridiculous.

They aren't looking for unbiased...they're looking for leads. If you're wholly unqualified, getting referred by your friend still won't get you an interview. A person brought in by a friend may have the right background (similar schools and values) or experience (ex-coworkers). It's still HR and the hiring manager's job to vet them and make sure they aren't going to rob you blind.

From my experience, many corporations have such referral policies and it's not regional to the South. My former employer had an entire team from the individual developers all the way up to the senior director hired off by another company in San Diego. Basically, my company had to replace a dozen six figure salaried and highly skilled employees in a matter of 2-3 months b/c they paid a hefty bounty and people like to make career moves together since you're not totally starting over.

My current employer actually doesn't have a formal referral process (despite being an extremely massive Fortune 30 Atlanta based company). The few times I've tried to refer a friend, it's been through company contacts and talking to my management. Then again they had issues w/ corruption and inside dealing that was quite ugly so I think they're looking for a bit more separation of employees.

alinka72 · 10-04-2010, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mishap

They aren't looking for unbiased...they're looking for leads. If you're wholly unqualified, getting referred by your friend still won't get you an interview. A person brought in by a friend may have the right background (similar schools and values) or experience (ex-coworkers). It's still HR and the hiring manager's job to vet them and make sure they aren't going to rob you blind.

From my experience, many corporations have such referral policies and it's not regional to the South. My former employer had an entire team from the individual developers all the way up to the senior director hired off by another company in San Diego. Basically, my company had to replace a dozen six figure salaried and highly skilled employees in a matter of 2-3 months b/c they paid a hefty bounty and people like to make career moves together since you're not totally starting over.

My current employer actually doesn't have a formal referral process (despite being an extremely massive Fortune 30 Atlanta based company). The few times I've tried to refer a friend, it's been through company contacts and talking to my management. Then again they had issues w/ corruption and inside dealing that was quite ugly so I think they're looking for a bit more separation of employees.

You touched on 2 key elements: one company was replacing high salaries within a very short span of time completely different issue and the other company had issues with corruption and inside dealing... I am talking about habitual inside dealings. It is the norm here.
I first started working in NYC where people must know their craft and it is very competitive regardless of who you know, who will 'get you in'. I got hired on merit and/or experience. The HR could care less who I knew. And even when I did know and was referred (very different than 'hooked up') I still had to go through all the steps like anyone else with no guarantees.

YBF · 10-05-2010, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alinka72

You touched on 2 key elements: one company was replacing high salaries within a very short span of time completely different issue and the other company had issues with corruption and inside dealing... I am talking about habitual inside dealings. It is the norm here.
I first started working in NYC where people must know their craft and it is very competitive regardless of who you know, who will 'get you in'. I got hired on merit and/or experience. The HR could care less who I knew. And even when I did know and was referred (very different than 'hooked up') I still had to go through all the steps like anyone else with no guarantees.

I agree with your entire post. I had been applying to jobs all over and even at my current company. It wasnt until a friend of mine passed along my resume that I got a call. I did a short interview and was quickly hired...it would not have turned out that way had I not been referred....it didnt so many times before

sjuraud · 10-05-2010, 03:29 PM

@alinka72

Let's be straight about this since you want to quote me in a negative view. When I said "hooked up" I meant in regards to referral only. Sorry if you mis-understood that phrase. There are no guarantees in life and certainly not when it comes to employment. I guarantee that every job I've ever gotten was from merit, even if the initial contact with an employer was from a referral. This also goes for anyone that I've ever referred.

alinka72 · 10-05-2010, 11:31 PM

I thought this is a free speech forum so people are able to express themselves whether positively or negatively as long as one keeps it civil. People in Atlanta are very defensive and have thin skin.

johnatl · 10-05-2010, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alinka72

I thought this is a free speech forum so people are able to express themselves whether positively or negatively as long as one keeps it civil. People in Atlanta are very defensive and have thin skin.

Talk about a HUGE overgeneralization. Do you honestly believe that you speak for and represent the experiences of the millions of people in this job market?