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It's not just that. Read all the posts from people complaining they can find a job. It always goes something like this:
"I've been sitting at home for 5 months sending out resumes to 100 companies for 500 different jobs. I can't get anybody to call me back. Nobody wants me".
First of all - victim mentality. Second of all - entitlement mentality. Why would I want someone on my team whose idea of finding a job is sending out 1000 resumes. That's not effort, that's just busy work. It doesn't take any skill to send out resumes.
But it does take skill and work to find out who the hiring managers are, what problems they are trying to solve by hiring you and trying to find a way to appeal to that and present yourself in such a way. It doesn't hurt to not only rely on your "qualifications" but to also use your brain and how you would solve problems.
Now when I go into an interview, I tell them, give me a problem so I can show you how I would go about solving it. It doesn't matter that you don't know all the details of the job or product or clients, they want to see your thinking.
The fact that job seekers have to go to these lengths to find work is a better indication than anything of today's job market.
All those help wanted signs are usually a sign that the economy of a particularly metro is pretty good. Workers don't stay long at those jobs because there is higher paying work readily available.
Back in my hometown in rural PA, people were desperate for jobs. The owner of the local 7-Eleven told me he routinely received hundreds of applications for a minimum wage clerk position.
There are jobs, but the old way of getting them doesn't work. Folks who haven't had to look for work in the past 5-6 years are sooooo out of touch with how things are done. Putting together a resume with your duties and sending it over doesn't work anymore. You have to be creative, you have to find ways to prove you can be an asset and not a liability to the business. You have to network, you have to get to know people and connect with them, and you have to appeal to the employer's interests not your own. Most people are not willing to do the work in order to get work.
The person putting out a help wanted sign will take a resume, if you walk in the door. They are typically small places, where the owner is working onsite. That's all the networking that's needed. "Hi, I saw the help wanted sign on the door. Can you tell me about the position?"
For lots of reasons why there appears to be a lot of jobs, but not much hiring. Here are the two biggest for low wage jobs.
1) They never take the signs down, even when not hiring, so if someone quits, they will have some fresh applications to consider.
Wise. Today's low wages simply don't attract long term employees. Everybody is always interested in something better. I think both employees and employers have come to understand this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 20cordy16
A lot of shops are not really hiring, they are creating lists for jobs further down the road. We will call you if you are chosen jobs. Like replacements for a strike. And people have various skills that may or may not relate to the task at hand. You might be a stick welder, but can't run a mig machine, or pass a test for heavy metal welding. A cabinet maker but can't run a lathe. That is why you will find want ads in your local area for jobs that are 50-100 miles away from you.
Why would a cabinet maker need to know how to run a lathe
I'm sure they could figure it out pretty quickly anyhow.
It's nice that employees can enjoy more variety during the day, instead of doing the same task repetitively. This way, they will acquire broader skillsets and increase their value over time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by s1alker
All those help wanted signs are usually a sign that the economy of a particularly metro is pretty good. Workers don't stay long at those jobs because there is higher paying work readily available.
Back in my hometown in rural PA, people were desperate for jobs. The owner of the local 7-Eleven told me he routinely received hundreds of applications for a minimum wage clerk position.
Regional variances with regards to the job market have always existed. To some extent, people have to be expected to go to the work. That's the way it has always worked.
There are jobs, but the old way of getting them doesn't work. Folks who haven't had to look for work in the past 5-6 years are sooooo out of touch with how things are done. Putting together a resume with your duties and sending it over doesn't work anymore. You have to be creative, you have to find ways to prove you can be an asset and not a liability to the business. You have to network, you have to get to know people and connect with them, and you have to appeal to the employer's interests not your own. Most people are not willing to do the work in order to get work.
Which is what exactly? The hoops employers require in order a candidate to jump through in order to get a decent job now are astounding. First there is finding that the job opening exists, and that in itself can be a task. A lot of companies only hire internally. Then if the candidate finds the opening, the employer only wants a resume sent over; they don't care about meeting a human being. So if the person's resume isn't picture perfect with no gaps, not enough education, or, (gasp!) no experience doing that exact job, in the shredder it goes. It doesn't matter if the person may be an excellent employee, even though the resume might not reflect that; the employer would never know because they don't bother meeting them. Then the candidate hears back if they get an interview, or more likely, they don't get an interview, so it's on to the next business, on and on ad infinitum.
Then even if they get an interview, if they don't answer a bunch of sometimes bizarre questions exactly correctly, they fail, and usually never hear back from them again, so they're left hanging about the job prospect. Even if they pass that one, they may have to attend several more interviews, and may fail at any one of those. And they might have to travel for an interview, which people looking for a job can ill afford. Assuming they have passed all the interviews, there are the background checks, drug tests, and possibly credit checks. That credit check often eliminates good candidates because low paying jobs often saddle people with a lot of unpaid bills, and candidates with bad credit MUST be thieves So let's say the candidate actually passed all this. What, they want to get paid??? But the employer has left the question of pay a mystery, and the candidate needs $XX,000 to survive. But the employer will only pay 2/3 of that. So then the employee is caught between a rock and a hard place: whether to accept too low pay in a still employer's market or go through the whole job hunting ordeal again. No wonder people get depressed at the thought of finding a new job.
When I think about what it takes to get a job today compared to 15-20 years ago I can't help but think how much we have gone backwards.
We aren't helping our country one bit. We should be giving our fellow Americans a hand up instead of doing everything possible to cast them aside.
I totally agree. I honestly think the prevailing attitude among many employers is not that they are hiring someone to get work accomplished. I think its more on the lines of telling themselves what a wonderful opportunity the low wage, low benefit job they are offering is. They have come to look at it as something that someone has to "earn" or 'deserve". The job is a reward for the few people who can successfully navigate a minefield of things that would keep them from being hired.
I do think more people ought to think in terms of self-employment. You will be a much fairer boss to yourself than someone else will be. However, a tight job market is probably the only thing that is going to make things better. Even than, I expect all sorts of efforts by employers to try and recruit workers from foreign countries or to get tax breaks for automating and eliminating jobs altogether. The real question is why the rest of the country--that has little to gain--stands still for this.
When I hear these stories, I thank the Lord every day that I had the good sense to go to work for myself.
We have 1,900 employees, and currently over 50 openings. HR cannot keep up with the backlog. I have been one person short for 6 weeks now waiting for them to get to my opening which is at about $23/hour, one of the lowest pay jobs. We are getting people starting to retire in significant numbers, but also some middle range ($80-120k) people getting recruited away for more money.
"Help Wanted" signs are all over, but those are almost all minimum wage ($9.47-$15 here depending on the city). Jobs that pay well require degrees and experience, and don't advertise with signs in the window.
Yep, me too. Now we are both in Seattle, so maybe that's the magic, but we can't hire fast enough. Good paying skilled trades, not even requiring a degree. Most of the applicants can't pass a basic background check. There are lots of good jobs, for good people who want to work.
We have 1,900 employees, and currently over 50 openings. HR cannot keep up with the backlog. I have been one person short for 6 weeks now waiting for them to get to my opening which is at about $23/hour, one of the lowest pay jobs. We are getting people starting to retire in significant numbers, but also some middle range ($80-120k) people getting recruited away for more money.
"Help Wanted" signs are all over, but those are almost all minimum wage ($9.47-$15 here depending on the city). Jobs that pay well require degrees and experience, and don't advertise with signs in the window.
What qualifications are you asking for? Are you willing to train? Is the wage actually competitive? Are you asking people to have 2 or 3 different skill sets so they can take the place of multiple people - because that's what I see happening in lots of places.
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So let's say the candidate actually passed all this. What, they want to get paid??? But the employer has left the question of pay a mystery, and the candidate needs $XX,000 to survive. But the employer will only pay 2/3 of that. So then the employee is caught between a rock and a hard place: whether to accept too low pay in a still employer's market or go through the whole job hunting ordeal again. No wonder people get depressed at the thought of finding a new job.
