It’s never been harder to fill a job in America (self employed, percentage)
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I couldn't agree more. I actually came to this forum looking for a place to vent / ask people why it is so hard to fill a job opening these days? It's getting ridiculous.
So I work at a small company (about 7-10 solid staff), the problem is we're looking to expand, but since I've been working here as the office manager (I wear a few hats but I'll get to that), the biggest obstacle in our expansion is the lack of good candidates.
First problem, people apply but have criminal records. Some are still accepted but certain ones we just can't accept. Theft, is a big one we can't hire.
Second problem, people just don't have good resumes. We have been more lenient and overlooked some things we would usually be a bit more strict on but it doesn't really help.
Third problem, I call people - and those that call back, I set up an interview and they no show. About 75-90% of the time.
Sometimes we may get someone in, and we like them, hire them and then no show for their first day of work.
Then of the 1/8th of candidates that actually show up on their first day of work, they either turn out to complain/be lazy and leave within 1-2 weeks.
Then about 1/4 of those 1/8th of candidates we strike gold and add someone solid to the team. This happens about once every 6 months through posting ads and interviewing potential candidates constantly.
Customers love our company and we keep getting more business, but we can barely handle it because we are so short staffed.
My official title is Office Manager, but I also am the Hiring Manager, Payroll Manager among many other things. So it is my job to try to get people through the doors.
This has been one of the most frustrating aspects of my job.
This past week alone (as I sit here and write this, it is 10:20AM. We had an interview scheduled at 10 AM. Of course a no show) - I scheduled 7 interviews. Candidates called me, we agreed on a time, etc.
Only 2 out of the 7 showed up. Fortunately we liked them and offered them positions, but this has been one of the worst weeks I've experienced so far.
Another time I had scheduled about 5 or so and only one showed up. What is up with people not showing up? I get not being interested in the job after the initial scheduling of your interview but why don't people call or e-mail? I do when I decide I'm not going to the interview.
I honestly don't think our company will grow at all until we are able to somehow get more staff. We just don't have enough staff to do the jobs.
Does your business by any chance involve cold-calling, door-to-door sales, or other direct sales of undisclosed products or services? Lots of those around my area always "looking to expand" and hiring for fictitious management-track or marketing jobs that REALLY require direct sales to unwilling buyers.
What happens is that job seekers send a resume to a vaguely worded ad from a company they never heard of, then when they get contacted to set up an interview (and they always get that interview) THEN they do their research into the company and either find out it's a sales or pyramid scam or that it is in a crummy low-rent part of town and has zero real information online about the company.
A fair wage? Where I work, we're constantly trying to fill openings. We're offering well over $100k for new college grads, and it usually takes months to fill a position. It has nothing to do with "unfair wages" or discrimination. There are just too many companies competing for the talent.
Shooooooooooooooot, let me know where you're working at! I'll take half that salary
I couldn't agree more. I actually came to this forum looking for a place to vent / ask people why it is so hard to fill a job opening these days? It's getting ridiculous.
So I work at a small company (about 7-10 solid staff), the problem is we're looking to expand, but since I've been working here as the office manager (I wear a few hats but I'll get to that), the biggest obstacle in our expansion is the lack of good candidates.
First problem, people apply but have criminal records. Some are still accepted but certain ones we just can't accept. Theft, is a big one we can't hire.
Second problem, people just don't have good resumes. We have been more lenient and overlooked some things we would usually be a bit more strict on but it doesn't really help.
Third problem, I call people - and those that call back, I set up an interview and they no show. About 75-90% of the time.
Sometimes we may get someone in, and we like them, hire them and then no show for their first day of work.
Then of the 1/8th of candidates that actually show up on their first day of work, they either turn out to complain/be lazy and leave within 1-2 weeks.
Then about 1/4 of those 1/8th of candidates we strike gold and add someone solid to the team. This happens about once every 6 months through posting ads and interviewing potential candidates constantly.
Customers love our company and we keep getting more business, but we can barely handle it because we are so short staffed.
My official title is Office Manager, but I also am the Hiring Manager, Payroll Manager among many other things. So it is my job to try to get people through the doors.
This has been one of the most frustrating aspects of my job.
This past week alone (as I sit here and write this, it is 10:20AM. We had an interview scheduled at 10 AM. Of course a no show) - I scheduled 7 interviews. Candidates called me, we agreed on a time, etc.
Only 2 out of the 7 showed up. Fortunately we liked them and offered them positions, but this has been one of the worst weeks I've experienced so far.
Another time I had scheduled about 5 or so and only one showed up. What is up with people not showing up? I get not being interested in the job after the initial scheduling of your interview but why don't people call or e-mail? I do when I decide I'm not going to the interview.
I honestly don't think our company will grow at all until we are able to somehow get more staff. We just don't have enough staff to do the jobs.
*I want to vent too.
This is what pisses me Mod cut. off. Those candidates that you described are very lazy and ungrateful. I'm a candidate looking for a job in accounting. I'm actually pursing my CPA license within the next 3 or 4 years. I had my resume looked over by professionals, I have had some interviews, but no one hired me as of yet. I feel like I'm being overlooked by sooooooo many companies that it makes me sick. I guess I'm doing something wrong, but I feel like they would rather hire "joe dumbass" over someone who actually has interest in accounting but need "some coaching."
At the end of the day, those companies did not see me as a good fit, for whatever reason. BUT I was NEVER late for an interview, I always showed up to a scheduled interview "over dressed", and grateful for an opportunity. It's just frustrating for me, as a job seeker, that there's companies like yours, are looking for good, hard-working candidates, who would show some sort of courtesy, willingness to learn and take some initiative. I actually gave up job searching because I was just too frustrated; however, i just recently looking for jobs again.
Last edited by PJSaturn; 07-21-2017 at 12:27 PM..
Reason: Inappropriate language.
It's not always that simple. We have two jobs open right now at my work that NOBODY qualified has applied for. The amount of work you're asked to do is strictly controlled and the pay & benefits package are very, very good for our field. For the first opening, 2 decent-looking candidates applied but after they interviewed them, they decided not to hire either one. For the second opening, nobody with any meaningful qualifications applied.
Cliffie, there are only so many reasons why you would be getting no good candidates:
- your 'very, very good pay & benefits package for your field' is not as good as your competitors offer.
- similar fields in your area DO pay more and attract your potential employees.
- your company has a poor reputation for employee satisfaction.
- there are no good local candidates and the local pay of your entire industry is not enough to entice new hires to relocate to your area.
- you are asking for too many qualifications of your potential hires that could be easily picked up on the fly after hire.
So, three out of five are compensation related, one is difficult or impossible to address easily without a complete change of management, and the final one is easy but improbable to change.
All you have to do is figure out which of these are the problem.
We're experiencing the issue mentioned in the OP in my field (corporate tax). Pay has skyrocketed and the market is hot. My employer has a few less-than-desirable qualities so it is being forced to pay more and more to fill open positions.
Employers only have themselves to blame. Requiring 3-4 rounds of interviews for a $10 an hour job, background checks worthy of top secret clearance, age discrimination, database software that rejects 90% of applicants, etc.
In my own field, I've notice three big reasons employers are having trouble finding new hires:
1) They are poky little puppies when it comes to the hiring process. Too many steps, too much time between steps. By the time they choose a candidate, the top candidates have all been snapped up by other employers, so they have to either settle for less, or re-list the position.
2) They want extremely specialized certifications and/or skills, but aren't willing to train an otherwise qualified and bright candidate.
3) Their initial application process is so convoluted and/or lengthy that potential applicants who value their own time just say "nope" and don't bother. Why spend hours applying for one job when you could apply for ten in that same time? Plus, an obnoxious application makes it look like the employer is a pill to work for.
OMG, THIS THREAD HAS BEEN LIKE A HIT OF ADRENALINE TO ME. So many great points and I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling this way.
2) I'm in the same boat. I feel like I'm extremely bright, college educated, and actually getting ready to take my CPA exam. With that said, I don't have too much experience in their field of accounting as of yet. However, when i apply for entry level positions, their pay is crap and they want 3 years of experience. They need to cut the crap and think outside the box. I personally may not have the experience right from the start, but with a little patience, i will outperform the next candidate in a matter of a few short months. Also, I would be a long term asset to them because of my CPA license would allow me to be in top management. Who doesn't need a CPA? Instead of thinking about the long-term, they look at my experience and say, "nope." He doesn't have two years, he only has 1.5 years of experience...
3) Even though I am a job seeker, I refuse to waste my time jumping through hoops, ESPECIALLY if the likelyhood that I'll get a call back is slim. I'm not wasting my time filling out my application, (which takes a long time) tailoring my resume to fit their key words and take an assessment that will take 30 mins. And again, the likely hood of me getting a call back is rather slim. I'm not that desperate for money. BTW, why do they ask for job duties on the application when you already listed them on your resume.?
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