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A recent article in the Columbus Ledger Enquirer states that the unemployment rate in Columbus, GA has risen from 9.4% in July of 2010 to 9.7% in August of 2010. That equates to roughly 12,319 people out of work in the Columbus area. In an interview State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond stated, At the end of the day, if you're unemployed it's hard to find a job right now; Mr. Thurmond goes on to forecast an employment boom in the wake of the Kia Motors plant and the continuing growth at Fort Benning, but our recent job hunting experience tells another story altogether.Columbus has buttoned down the employment hatches so tight that it has become near to impossible for average people to find work in the area. Maybe it is because of Phenix City's scarred reputation bearing down on Columbus from across the Chattahoochee River or maybe it is because of the explosion of reverse racism running rampant through the city. Who knows? What is evident is that Columbus area businesses have begun to press candidates hard enough to weed out nearly ten percent of their work force. Most reputable businesses conduct drug screens and criminal background checks as a condition of pre-employment. Some will even check your credit history while others will want a copy of your DMV records. The nature of the information is usually contingent upon the type of work that you are applying for, but Columbus employers are running a full list of screens regardless of the position.Companies are demanding ten years of addresses and phone numbers, a full criminal background check, and credit and work history. In addition, they are demanding that you give them permission to drill all of your former employers and all of your references. If you are lucky enough to make it through all of that, you then move on to the employer's specific testing requirements. This battery of unreasonable tests is enough to deter even the best of potential candidates. You will be tested for math skills, mechanical aptitude, typing speed, comprehension and deductive reasoning, none of which are requirements for any of the jobs that these employers are offering. Of course, all of this is dependent upon the fact that you can even get a resume into the company to begin with. Columbus area businesses are refusing to take applications and resumes on site now. Instead, you are instructed to visit their websites to fill out an electronic resume, which you can't do because they don't exist. All you will find on their sites are short lists of jobs that require qualifications that most average workers simply do not possess. The qualifications include four year degrees and four years of experience in a particular field, perfect credit, a spotless background, and very little past history. We're not talking about professional career positions here; these are lower level restaurant and labor positions here. Why in God's name would anyone with those qualifications want to work in a pizzeria?Larger industries like Dolly Madison and Cott Beverages are sending candidates to the Georgia Department of Labor to apply to their companies, who won't allow you to just apply to a specific company. Like the websites, you have to search their job database and hope that you find something that you qualify for. Of course this is after you register with the GDL -- a process that takes about two hours to complete with an additional hour waiting in line to use one of their outdated Windows 2000 computers. Then you're left to pick through a narrow list of jobs that, again, most average workers are not going to qualify for. If you do happen to qualify for a job posting, you then have to wait yet another hour just to be handed a sheet of paper that describes the nature of the job and refers you to an address where you can go and apply for it. So "at the end of the day" the unemployment rate in Columbus, GA is due to employers who have raised the employment standards too high for most workers to reach. Good job Columbus. Let's see you pull yourself out of this one!
The sad fact is that the recession is all over and not just this area. Yes, with so many people looking for work the employers can be "picky" about who they hire.
But I am not giving up on locating job in that area.
It seems there is ALWAYS a need for medical personnel.
In spite of being 52 and having "office" skills - I am going to locate some way to gain some "medical" skills to be able to keep an income coming in.
Your post made me think!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharon1971
A recent article in the Columbus Ledger Enquirer states that the unemployment rate in Columbus, GA has risen from 9.4% in July of 2010 to 9.7% in August of 2010. That equates to roughly 12,319 people out of work in the Columbus area. In an interview State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond stated, At the end of the day, if you're unemployed it's hard to find a job right now; Mr. Thurmond goes on to forecast an employment boom in the wake of the Kia Motors plant and the continuing growth at Fort Benning, but our recent job hunting experience tells another story altogether.Columbus has buttoned down the employment hatches so tight that it has become near to impossible for average people to find work in the area. Maybe it is because of Phenix City's scarred reputation bearing down on Columbus from across the Chattahoochee River or maybe it is because of the explosion of reverse racism running rampant through the city. Who knows? What is evident is that Columbus area businesses have begun to press candidates hard enough to weed out nearly ten percent of their work force. Most reputable businesses conduct drug screens and criminal background checks as a condition of pre-employment. Some will even check your credit history while others will want a copy of your DMV records. The nature of the information is usually contingent upon the type of work that you are applying for, but Columbus employers are running a full list of screens regardless of the position.Companies are demanding ten years of addresses and phone numbers, a full criminal background check, and credit and work history. In addition, they are demanding that you give them permission to drill all of your former employers and all of your references. If you are lucky enough to make it through all of that, you then move on to the employer's specific testing requirements. This battery of unreasonable tests is enough to deter even the best of potential candidates. You will be tested for math skills, mechanical aptitude, typing speed, comprehension and deductive reasoning, none of which are requirements for any of the jobs that these employers are offering. Of course, all of this is dependent upon the fact that you can even get a resume into the company to begin with. Columbus area businesses are refusing to take applications and resumes on site now. Instead, you are instructed to visit their websites to fill out an electronic resume, which you can't do because they don't exist. All you will find on their sites are short lists of jobs that require qualifications that most average workers simply do not possess. The qualifications include four year degrees and four years of experience in a particular field, perfect credit, a spotless background, and very little past history. We're not talking about professional career positions here; these are lower level restaurant and labor positions here. Why in God's name would anyone with those qualifications want to work in a pizzeria?Larger industries like Dolly Madison and Cott Beverages are sending candidates to the Georgia Department of Labor to apply to their companies, who won't allow you to just apply to a specific company. Like the websites, you have to search their job database and hope that you find something that you qualify for. Of course this is after you register with the GDL -- a process that takes about two hours to complete with an additional hour waiting in line to use one of their outdated Windows 2000 computers. Then you're left to pick through a narrow list of jobs that, again, most average workers are not going to qualify for. If you do happen to qualify for a job posting, you then have to wait yet another hour just to be handed a sheet of paper that describes the nature of the job and refers you to an address where you can go and apply for it. So "at the end of the day" the unemployment rate in Columbus, GA is due to employers who have raised the employment standards too high for most workers to reach. Good job Columbus. Let's see you pull yourself out of this one!</p>
Those employers are screening for the best of the best applicants even for low level positions because THEY CAN. Tons of people all over the country are unemployed and applying for things that are lower than they are qualified for.
Why would anyone apply for these low level positions? They want work, some job, even if it's not a perfect job.
And to get the job, you do what the employer demands.
By the way, paragraph breaks cost hardly anything at all and they make everything you write so much easier to read.
To be fair I'm in the Dallas, Texas area now and my husband, myself and my now 18-year-old son have had to do nearly all those things for ANY job we have ever had...and my son being 18 and a college student works at McDonald's. The ONLY thing they don't do for his franchise is check credit EXCEPT FOR managers then they start pulling those reports too.
It doesn't make things easy for those going through rough financial times to have their credit pulled, but having minimal skills and a clean DMV record and what not should not be that hard to maintain.
Wow Sharon. Thank you for plagarizing my husband's article.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharon1971
A recent article in the Columbus Ledger Enquirer states that the unemployment rate in Columbus, GA has risen from 9.4% in July of 2010 to 9.7% in August of 2010. That equates to roughly 12,319 people out of work in the Columbus area. In an interview State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond stated, At the end of the day, if you're unemployed it's hard to find a job right now; Mr. Thurmond goes on to forecast an employment boom in the wake of the Kia Motors plant and the continuing growth at Fort Benning, but our recent job hunting experience tells another story altogether.Columbus has buttoned down the employment hatches so tight that it has become near to impossible for average people to find work in the area. Maybe it is because of Phenix City's scarred reputation bearing down on Columbus from across the Chattahoochee River or maybe it is because of the explosion of reverse racism running rampant through the city. Who knows? What is evident is that Columbus area businesses have begun to press candidates hard enough to weed out nearly ten percent of their work force. Most reputable businesses conduct drug screens and criminal background checks as a condition of pre-employment. Some will even check your credit history while others will want a copy of your DMV records. The nature of the information is usually contingent upon the type of work that you are applying for, but Columbus employers are running a full list of screens regardless of the position.Companies are demanding ten years of addresses and phone numbers, a full criminal background check, and credit and work history. In addition, they are demanding that you give them permission to drill all of your former employers and all of your references. If you are lucky enough to make it through all of that, you then move on to the employer's specific testing requirements. This battery of unreasonable tests is enough to deter even the best of potential candidates. You will be tested for math skills, mechanical aptitude, typing speed, comprehension and deductive reasoning, none of which are requirements for any of the jobs that these employers are offering. Of course, all of this is dependent upon the fact that you can even get a resume into the company to begin with. Columbus area businesses are refusing to take applications and resumes on site now. Instead, you are instructed to visit their websites to fill out an electronic resume, which you can't do because they don't exist. All you will find on their sites are short lists of jobs that require qualifications that most average workers simply do not possess. The qualifications include four year degrees and four years of experience in a particular field, perfect credit, a spotless background, and very little past history. We're not talking about professional career positions here; these are lower level restaurant and labor positions here. Why in God's name would anyone with those qualifications want to work in a pizzeria?Larger industries like Dolly Madison and Cott Beverages are sending candidates to the Georgia Department of Labor to apply to their companies, who won't allow you to just apply to a specific company. Like the websites, you have to search their job database and hope that you find something that you qualify for. Of course this is after you register with the GDL -- a process that takes about two hours to complete with an additional hour waiting in line to use one of their outdated Windows 2000 computers. Then you're left to pick through a narrow list of jobs that, again, most average workers are not going to qualify for. If you do happen to qualify for a job posting, you then have to wait yet another hour just to be handed a sheet of paper that describes the nature of the job and refers you to an address where you can go and apply for it. So "at the end of the day" the unemployment rate in Columbus, GA is due to employers who have raised the employment standards too high for most workers to reach. Good job Columbus. Let's see you pull yourself out of this one!</p>
By the way, paragraph breaks cost hardly anything at all and they make everything you write so much easier to read.
She didn't have breaks because she copied and pasted it and didn't bother putting any in. Although, she DID pause to take out my husband's personal remarks.
You made this post on 03 October 2010 by copy/pasting an article that I published to Associated Content on September 30, 2010. I have included the link to my original post below for reference. This os a direct reflection of plagiarism on your part Sharon. I have contacted the legal department associated with this forum and I am now contacting you. This is an original work that is protected under copyright law. I need to ask that you either cite me as the original author, with links pointing back to my content or take the post down altogether
For what its worth I thought it was a good article Matthew. I've been there done that and unfortunately had to leave my hometown after a year of making minimum wage with a Bachelor's degree. The DC area has plenty of jobs but I too have been on the receiving end of having my references drilled and my credit picked over with a fine tooth comb. I'm going to guess that 2 of the companies that put you through the ringer were AFLAC and TSYS. Getting a job with AFLAC that isn't in the call center is easier said than done without connections.
You made this post on 03 October 2010 by copy/pasting an article that I published to Associated Content on September 30, 2010. I have included the link to my original post below for reference. This os a direct reflection of plagiarism on your part Sharon. I have contacted the legal department associated with this forum and I am now contacting you. This is an original work that is protected under copyright law. I need to ask that you either cite me as the original author, with links pointing back to my content or take the post down altogether
Nice article Matt but nothing worth copyrighting or getting excited about.
You are correct about unemployment locally and after the recent synovus 850 person layoff announcement it will surge this summer without a doubt.Sad but true.
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Columbus, Georgia & Phenix City, Alabama
The sad fact is that the recession is all over and not just this area. Yes, with so many people looking for work the employers can be "picky" about who they hire.
Wow Sharon. Thank you for plagarizing my husband's article.
