Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Work and Employment > Job Search
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 10-23-2010, 07:44 AM
 
6,764 posts, read 22,009,219 times
Reputation: 4772

Advertisements

Those of you who know me, well, we've been bouncing around a bit. I'm not really looking for jobs now because I am homeschooling my son. However, my husband is out of work.

Anyhow, he went on a job interview yesterday and the manager told him he has received A LOT of resumes that are either 1) poorly done or 2) have nothing to do with the job requirements. He told my husband he was inundated with resumes and could not believe the sheer volume of them.

So I guess the best we can do is try to apply our skills as best we can to relevant jobs.

Every day the goal posts seem to change with this employment problem. The one thing I keep noticing, though, is those 'out of touch' tell you to 'apply for anything'.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-23-2010, 07:58 AM
 
Location: In a chartreuse microbus
3,863 posts, read 6,269,998 times
Reputation: 8107
No one likes to do homework, yet it is essential for snagging a good job. Walk into that interview with at least one clear idea of the company's goals, or even recent accomplishments. In your conversation, reflect their ideals and tell how you would contribute to them. They want to know you are on their side, or at least the same page.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-23-2010, 08:23 AM
 
Location: Stuck in NE GA right now
4,585 posts, read 12,327,284 times
Reputation: 6678
I think a lot of this stems from the unemployment benefits requirement that they have to have applied to x amount of jobs per week and many will just send their resume to any job no matter if they are qualified or not.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-23-2010, 09:56 AM
FBJ
 
Location: Tall Building down by the river
39,605 posts, read 58,786,865 times
Reputation: 9451
This must go on in other states because I have never went on the interview and been told about how many resumes they received. No applicant needs to hear that stupid mess
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-23-2010, 12:41 PM
 
17,815 posts, read 25,509,642 times
Reputation: 36262
Well how about the other side of the coin? Going into an interview where you do meet the qualifications only to be interviewed by idiots?

They don't have a copy of your resume in front of them(which is why you always bring extra) or they come in and ask to review your resume because it is clear they didn't bother to review it prior to the interview. So you sit there while they try figure out who they're talking to.

It is amazing how far downhill things have gone when it comes to being professional these days.

Sure there are people sending out resumes to meet their unemployment guidelines, but there are so many unprofessional people in charge of making hiring decisions these days.

It goes both ways.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-23-2010, 01:16 PM
 
8,679 posts, read 15,222,428 times
Reputation: 15341
Default Turn the numbers to your advantage.

The Internet has made it so easy for people to apply for jobs. Upload, clickety-clack-clack, send. It's a far cry from 25 years ago when you had to type a new cover letter on an IBM Selectric for every job you applied for.

My field has always been tight. Back in 1998, when I got hired at one job, the boss later told me he received an entire US Mail sack of resumes--but only three people sent the kind of clips they were looking for. Just following directions put me at the top. Now I'm hearing that it's not unusual for an HR department to get 1,000 resumes. I believe it, too. One naive soul on Craigslist made the mistake of including his phone number in his ad. He wanted someone to write some copy for a circular to be distributed locally in northern Connecticut. He posted his ad around 10:30 a.m. and by 2:30 he had received nearly 200 resumes and 75 phone calls.

That's why I'm always telling folks not to hedge their bets on jobs that are advertised. Even in less competitive fields, you're going to be up against dozens of other people. Go ahead and respond, but know that it's a numbers game, especially in urban areas.

Knowing this, someone in one of my networking groups has a two-minute rule: He never spends more than two minutes putting together a cover letter. He keeps a bunch of standard letters on his computer, picks out one that comes close to what the ad says, saves it as a new file, tweaks a few sentences to tailor it to the specific target (often lifting phrases right from the ad itself because chances are greater that the HR people who wrote the ad will use the same terms when running a search), and sends.

He's an independent contractor, and he says he has gotten work that way, but that it's only cost-effective because he spends so little time on it. In other words, if he sends out 40 pitches like that, that's only about an hour and a half of his time. But if he were to spend a half hour on each one, that's 20 hours. If he only gets one gig for about 20 hours of his time, well, do the math. With the two-minute rule, he makes a profit of 18 billable hours. With agonizing over every letter, he breaks even.

You just have to put that initial effort into creating several cover letters for the different kinds of work you're qualified for, and you have to be obsessive about proofreading.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-23-2010, 03:49 PM
 
Location: Northern NH
4,550 posts, read 11,654,112 times
Reputation: 3873
Quote:
Originally Posted by TVandSportsGuy View Post
This must go on in other states because I have never went on the interview and been told about how many resumes they received. No applicant needs to hear that stupid mess
Have to agree. I find it odd that the person conducting the interview is sharing that the other applicants have poor qualifications. In the back of your mind you know they are going to talk poorly about you the minute you leave that office so I would leave and run away.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-23-2010, 06:30 PM
 
6,764 posts, read 22,009,219 times
Reputation: 4772
Well, there is no reason to run away and assume people are talking badly about you if they call you in for an interview. Obviously my husband (one of the first called) is qualified. He has done management as well as worked in the field at this type of work.

The problem is you have people who never did this or that trying to break into anything and who can blame them.

Some skills are transferable. However, at the present time, it's not easy to find somewhere that will take on 'let's say' an accountant to run a warehouse.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-23-2010, 06:31 PM
 
Location: The State Line
2,621 posts, read 4,017,787 times
Reputation: 3054
This happened to me also. At one place my interviewer told me many applicants didn't have what they were looking for, or take the initiative to find out who she was (this was a Craigslist listing with just the basic info). I was surprised because I thought most people would research a company they were applying to beforehand.

I understand both sides. They're overwhelmed with the volume: People are desperate, thinking that applying to so many jobs is bound to get them something. I received better results when I targeted certain jobs I actually qualified for, rather then applying everywhere I could think of. Not only did applying everywhere show desperation, I'd get more frustrated if I didn't hear back after sending various applications & resumes: it was a waste of time.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-24-2010, 08:03 AM
 
Location: Greenville
92 posts, read 313,183 times
Reputation: 44
I have to wonder if people actually read the ads on Craigslist or just the title...I posted a response to an ad notifying everyone that the ad was a scam - compensation zero, etc. I am STILL getting resumes from people thinking they are applying to a job!

That kind of sheer blitz approach is just killing the rest of us!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Work and Employment > Job Search

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top