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Then why the hell are you asking me for a bachelor's degree?
The bachelor's degree's primary value now is as a pass through the first round of application cuts. In most fields, the days when a bachelor's degree was seen as practical training for specific jobs is decades in the past.
Thing is, employers don't give a darn about who needs a job or whether this leads to an unemployable dependent underclass.
They want people who can do the work they need done. If nobody else wants you, why would they?
Ever hear or read of money ball? Not all employers have the same capital and the same means. Think of this like being a owner of a team rather then just picking people that might be able to do the job.
As for not caring who needs a job well frankly they do care. There is such thing as a employment life cycle. I can't tell you how many people I managed in the past that were retired or semi retired to which frankly they could say "F this I have medicare" or just walk out. I've seen it happen. I've even had an employer where the CFO openly said they rather not hire someone that doesn't need the job because what if they have a bad day and just quit!
If Bill Gates did undercover boss as a janitor at microsoft you might get a bit of an idea here. There's a cost to keep people and frankly you need continuity in an a position. Some might argue that if there are gaps on a resume that it is bad but if it is with an employer it is equally as bad.
If I search an employer and find OSHA violations, labor violations, security issues, insurance issues etc. Without naming names I actually know a town that's been looking for someone to run their community center for probably three years now! Others word spreads about management styles and frankly if there's bad management word spreads to the point where no one wants to work or talk with them.
as for having a degree not being experience frankly I find that it does. Experience can be fine but it creates a bit of a paradox. If someone has experience why do they need that job then? What would make a private company value the experience from another one knowing that if it is equal on both sides it makes it open to poaching? This is why higher ed in many cases can be preferred because records are open. I can't tell you how many people I've trained or worked with that said they had experience but when push came to shove it was not modern experience and they still had to be retained. Whereas with a degree I can look up their professors, their textbooks their publications and so forth. I can have a general idea of what they have been exposed to.
Last edited by mdovell; 01-13-2015 at 10:36 AM..
Reason: adding more
Then you are contributing to the problem. Having 2 applicants or more with each party perfectly able to do the job yet you only want to hire the currently employed one? You offer food to to a hungry man, not one with a plate full sitting in front of him.
All well and good, Pythonis, but the reality is that most employers (not all, but most), consider the person who is currently employed to be demonstrating they have the skills to do a job.
The unemployed person may have the snappiest cover letter around, may promise to be hard working, fast learning, focused on the mission... But what they do not have is a job to demonstrate they have these skills and abilities.
Say you are wanting to hire a auto body repair person. Four apply who have graduated from the local tech school. Two are working. Two are not. Which of these could you be pretty sure posses the actual skills you need? Which of these four could you call their workplace for a reference before hiring?
When you write "hard working' on your cover letter and are not actually working, gotta wonder why.
All well and good, Pythonis, but the reality is that most employers (not all, but most), consider the person who is currently employed to be demonstrating they have the skills to do a job.
The unemployed person may have the snappiest cover letter around, may promise to be hard working, fast learning, focused on the mission... But what they do not have is a job to demonstrate they have these skills and abilities.
Say you are wanting to hire a auto body repair person. Four apply who have graduated from the local tech school. Two are working. Two are not. Which of these could you be pretty sure posses the actual skills you need? Which of these four could you call their workplace for a reference before hiring?
When you write "hard working' on your cover letter and are not actually working, gotta wonder why.
I hire the one who needs the job and is also qualified. Perhaps I also take into consideration that while the one may not be perfect he/she may be good enough and could possibly learn MORE from working here thus furthering his/her knowledge. Then again, im a nice person willing to give people a chance.
Simple; employers like yourself arent hiring those willing to work.
Couldent have said it better.
I am far from being socialist but even I think there needs to be more oversight over who gets job offers. IMO a business should be required to hire an unemployed person over an employed person. Likewise they should also be required to hire a native born American first over a foreigner, including those who have job visas.
Our job market is shrinking left and right due to automation and globalization ... reforms are needed. Once upon a time businesses would train recruits and offer them a chance instead of being obsessed with finding the mythical "perfect candidate". Entry level jobs, and training on the job no longer exist, instead (somehow) people are expected to magically have skills.
In my case, it was not what I knew, but who. BUT. Once I got in the door, I had to prove my self every day. That was 1987. Been with same company since (we were bought once, in 09)
Thing is, employers don't give a darn about who needs a job or whether this leads to an unemployable dependent underclass.
They want people who can do the work they need done. If nobody else wants you, why would they?
During the last economic downturn, a lot of people lost their jobs through no fault of their own. They hung on, hoping against hope that by the time their UI benefits ran out, they would be back earning a similar salary.
For many, it never happened. Now they have this long period of unemployment at the top of their resume. Yikes!
Sometimes this can be explained by "caring for elderly parents" or "caring for young children" or "traveling with the circus."
But you better have something besides, "No one would hire me" in that slot.
I concur that a lot of people have milked UI way beyond the original intent of the program, and may have had job offers they turned down while they waited for something better, and ended up empty-handed. If they were able to get work and declined it, that's on them.
However, the longer people are out of work, skills erode and people become truly less skilled. As skills continue to decline, they fall further behind, perhaps becoming unemployable or taking excessive amounts of time to get up to speed.
For the individual employer, sure, you want to hire the most up-to-date and current worker possible, but if everyone plays that game, the labor force overall becomes less skilled.
Honestly I feel like a job seeker doesn't know what to do anymore. There's so many mixed messages. Shorten your resume. Leave nothing out on your resume. Apply online. Online applications are a waste of time. Don't forget to include special skills. Nobody cares about your special skills. Employment gaps are the kiss of death, but God forbid you fudge your work history to cover the three months you were unemployed. You just can't win no matter what the hell you do. Unless you're Jesus Christ himself, you can't get hired.
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