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any unemployed person should laugh in the HR rep face if they ask....."what have you been doing?
Then they will stay unemployed. This question has been asked for as long as I have been in the job market.
It is a reasonable question, it helps me understand what kind of person I may hire. I am not HR, but I do hire. If I see someone unemployed for a long period (12+ months), I will ask in that time frame what they have been doing, same goes for a long gap that was recent.
I am looking for someone who shows they are being proactive. Even if the person lies and states they were job hunting, taking night classes, learning a new language, etc...at least I know they understand the hiring process.
Then they will stay unemployed. This question has been asked for as long as I have been in the job market.
It is a reasonable question, it helps me understand what kind of person I may hire. I am not HR, but I do hire. If I see someone unemployed for a long period (12+ months), I will ask in that time frame what they have been doing, same goes for a long gap that was recent.
I am looking for someone who shows they are being proactive. Even if the person lies and states they were job hunting, taking night classes, learning a new language, etc...at least I know they understand the hiring process.
Well I was unemployed 12 months and was not asked what I was doing and was hired.
Then they will stay unemployed. This question has been asked for as long as I have been in the job market.
It is a reasonable question, it helps me understand what kind of person I may hire. I am not HR, but I do hire. If I see someone unemployed for a long period (12+ months), I will ask in that time frame what they have been doing, same goes for a long gap that was recent.
I am looking for someone who shows they are being proactive. Even if the person lies and states they were job hunting, taking night classes, learning a new language, etc...at least I know they understand the hiring process.
Now here is a question that I have. If you do not have money coming in, how can you learn languages (unless you already had your Rosetta Stone software and just never installed it.) The fact is to improve it takes money. That is not a rocket scientist issue.
As for lying during the hiring process, how can you condone that?
Then they will stay unemployed. This question has been asked for as long as I have been in the job market.
It is a reasonable question, it helps me understand what kind of person I may hire. I am not HR, but I do hire. If I see someone unemployed for a long period (12+ months), I will ask in that time frame what they have been doing, same goes for a long gap that was recent.
I am looking for someone who shows they are being proactive. Even if the person lies and states they were job hunting, taking night classes, learning a new language, etc...at least I know they understand the hiring process.
Sorry but how are you suppose to take classes and learn new languages without money? Money that comes from being gainfully employed, money that is not available to an unemployed individual because HR departments lack the common sense to see that "self improvement" costs freaking money which typically an unemployed individual does not have lying around in droves. I don't know about anyone else here, but even just job hunting is costing me quite a bit in gas money.
I'm sorry does anyone here know of any colleges that give free classes for actual credit? I seem to have a wee bit of trouble of a school that will do that in my quest of self improvement. Oh wait, how bout I just dig myself an even bigger hole financially and jump in it? You claim to not be HR, but that's typical HR logic at its finest.
Sorry but how are you suppose to take classes and learn new languages without money? Money that comes from being gainfully employed, money that is not available to an unemployed individual because HR departments lack the common sense to see that "self improvement" costs freaking money which typically an unemployed individual does not have lying around in droves. I don't know about anyone else here, but even just job hunting is costing me quite a bit in gas money.
I'm sorry does anyone here know of any colleges that give free classes for actual credit? I seem to have a wee bit of trouble of a school that will do that in my quest of self improvement. Oh wait, how bout I just dig myself an even bigger hole financially and jump in it? You claim to not be HR, but that's typical HR logic at its finest.
Not sure if this is happening in other cities but here in philly unemployed people have the option to take free computer classes between 9am and 5pm
I work in Human Resources and spend a good percent of my time in recruiting and staffing. (As well as training) and have become very frustrated in the lack of skills most job candidates have selling themselves.
The long term unemployed job candidates are usually unemployed for a reason, they can't sell themselves! Here is a question I ask nearly every unemployed candidate and almost everyone gives a very poor answer:
"I see you are not working right now, what are you doing to stay busy every day while you look for a job, outside of job hunting?"
Most people will say they are watching lots of television, playing with the computer, and bumming around town. Or they will insist that they are spending 12 hours a day looking for work. WRONG ANSWER! What they should say is they are totally devoted to their chosen career and they are doing everything possible to learn new skills so they will be more productive once they go back to work.
Agree or disagree?
I agree 100%. I recruit restaurant and retail managers. The ones who have stayed in the industry (consulting, working part time, temping, helping a friend/family member with their restaurant/store, going back to school to finish their degree, volunteering, etc) will have a much greater chance of getting through the interview and getting hired. Nobody wants to hire someone who has done absolutely nothing to retain or learn new skills in their chosen field. It's about the passion, dedication and devotion.
Not sure if this is happening in other cities but here in philly unemployed people have the option to take free computer classes between 9am and 5pm
If I was a single parent homeless dropout disabled non-white veteran felon recovering from a drug addiction after being laid off from a full time job and currently working part time, I'd qualify for some assistance.
I do have a question for the HR person. What would you think of someone like me who just quit her job to stay home with the kids? Would that be a good enough reason for a job gap, or would you not hire me because I wasn't trying to brush up on my skills?
Although not HR, at my current and former positions, I have interviewed a lot of job candidates over the years and frequently have input into the final decisions made on whether or not to offer a candidate an offer. From that perspective, I would never consider someone who took time off from the work world to stay home and raise their kids as having a job gap - seems like that would be a full-time job in itself. I know several people who have done that, in some cases because what they were earning pretty much equalled the cost of day care to begin with.
But I would be curious as to why a SAHM, who was planning to eventually return to the workforce, would not take a bit of time to keep their skills / knowledge current while staying home with the kids during that time. Even if it is something as simple as learning the newer version of a piece of software one would use in their job, or even keeping up with news and trends related to their industry.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mystique13
It's true around here. Some SAHMs told me this.
Well if a few people told you then it must be true for everyone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by annerk
It's possible that the "job gap" wasn't the reason they weren't hired.
Oh come on. You know if a person was not hired for a position, the only reason is that they were discriminated against by evil HR people who didn't like their job gap, or the gap in their teeth, or their age.
Just put down that you do freelance in something with an example, and add in a part-time job at some point if your gap goes over a year. That's what a bunch of my friends I made from school (and others I know) have done in order to get "any job" outside their field after failing to get a job in their field.
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