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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 think you're a troll. If something doesn't make sense it isn't true.
Unless you're interviewing teenagers for their first job in fast food I find it very hard to believe that ANYONE with half a brain would say "I watch a lot of television or bumming around town".....my gut tells me you started this thread to bash the unemployed.
"I work in HR..bla.bla.." OK. That tells me enough. No further reading necessary. You are undeniably biased.
Perhaps you need to do some actual research in the Finance industry as it relates to banking, the stock market and real estate. I also advise you to speak to some real people who have lost everything. Many of them have several degrees and years of experience. Yes, there are lawyers and doctors. Trust me, they know how to sell themselves and their services.
some starting points for some research: Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, The Real Deal, Crains and of course, The New York Times.
Your style of writing indicates the possibility that you are either still in high school or in your 20s. I doubt that you have a valid experience platform from which to judge all the unemployed across the board. Clearly you met some losers who are unemployed because they're losers, not due to the economy. Losers are the first ones to be unemployed regardless of the economy.
You are hateful and biased.
High school is probably right on the money....LOL.
No one who is looking for work in any type of professional field is going to say "oh I watch TV all day"...even if that is what they are doing, they're still not going to say that of that they're "bumming around".
Spock, I can see your point, though I think some compassion for others would do you well.
Yes, I think you have to keep your momentum going even when you are laid off or out of work. It doesn't help to watch countless movies on Netflix or spend hours on Facebook. I know it is discouraging to lose a job and be without work for months; I have been there. But, I think you have to keep your head up and continue to have some purpose.
Even volunteering can help to make connections that may lead to a job in the near future. Go to networking lunches, free conferences, read online articles, call old professors for job leads, etc. Nearly 75% of all jobs are NOT advertised. The only way to find these types of desirable jobs is to network and connect with others.
I think you're a troll. If something doesn't make sense it isn't true.
Unless you're interviewing teenagers for their first job in fast food I find it very hard to believe that ANYONE with half a brain would say "I watch a lot of television or bumming around town".....my gut tells me you started this thread to bash the unemployed.
Agreed. I'd argue with him some more, but it's just not worth it.
I think this thread should alert job-seekers to always tell what the interviewer wants to hear, NOT what you've been doing that's non job-related.
Before anyone goes in for an interview for X job, they need to put themselves in their shoes and be ready to tell all kinds of stories about how they've been boning up on the skills most relevant to whatever job they're applying for. When a person is being interviewed, they need to act like the most bloodthirsty used-car salesman out there, which means saying what needs to be said in order to land the job. Nothing else matters.
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 disagree, since when is it a bad thing to look for employment when you are unemployed?
Everything is fair game in the evaluation of the candidates for employment unless there is a law about it. If you are a business leader getting the most talented and hard working candidates as possible is the most important part of your job. Finding out what potential employees do in their free time while unemployed tells you a lot about their motivations and career progress.
Why even call them in for a interview if you are not going to ask about their work experience and current skill set?
They better start learning how to sell themselves because every month they are unemployed they are less and less marketable.
Just applying for any job is no way to get hired. Employers want people who are committed to a certain career field and generally won't hire someone who used to be in some other line of work but will accept a job doing X because they are desparate.
There is an unlimited number of things anyone can learn in their chosen career while they are unemployed at no cost because of the Internet and libraries.
Well explain why some people are hired after being unemployed for 12 months or more?
Firstly, we all know many companies won't even look at unemployed candidates because they're convinced their skills are just too rusty no matter how much time they've been putting in educating themselves. Secondly, not every local library offers training in basic job skills such as excel or internet use. Mine doesn't and it serves a city of approx 100,000 people. And never mind that just about every job seeker probably already has those skills from their previous job! Also, trust me, as someone who took classes while unemployed, they are NOT free. Even those websites that call themselves "Free" charge a fee just to enroll. I even thought about going back to school at my local community college until I discovered a 2-year associates degree would cost me $8000 plus textbooks.
Please tell us where and how we're supposed to tell HR that "Oh yes, I'm unemployed but taking daily or weekly classes in whatever to keep my skills fresh and relevant"? In the cover letter that most online application sites don't even ask for? In the phone call that we're not allowed to make because the job ad states "No Phone Calls"? In a section at the bottom of the resume that is only supposed to be 2-pages long and which most HR people don't even read? Seriously, I would love to know!
The only thing I do agree with is that job-seekers would definitely be better off taking classes on how to conduct an interview and sell themselves. Sadly this is not something we all know instinctively and it certainly isn't taught in school. I have a friend whose job it is teaching people how to utilise social media sites in the best way possible to look for work, present themselves, make contacts, get referrals and keep their business going. She is busy every single day!
You have to appease the armchair psychologist HR people and their inflated sense of self-worth with fanciful stories about how repairing telephone lines, or whatever job you're applying for, is your one true passion in life and you knew that's what you wanted to do since you were 3 years old. About how you volunteer 3x a week to help Belarusian immigrants learn English and when you were 10 you found a bird with a broken wing, took it home and made a sling for it and fed it with a bottle every day until one day its wing had healed and you took it outside, threw it into the air and watched it fly away as a single tear streamed down your cheek. About how you're a natural born leader who once on vacation demonstrated leadership abilities by leading an expedition to save some trapped hikers on Mt. Kilimanjaro. The HR person's eyes will glaze over like a 16-year old girl meeting Edward from Twilight in person and you'll get hired.
Work ethic, integrity, competency, etc. don't really matter to most HR people. Just how much of a self-aggrandizing narrative you can spin. Once you're hired you can act normally and do your job. Just try not to get too frustrated with your lazy, incompetent, pathological liar coworkers that HR hired.
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