Job Seekers & Job recruiters Pet Peeves

[vhoffman]

I find it very interesting how companies view their employees based on the job market. My chosen field has a lack of licensed employees and I get weekly offers by mail, e-mail and phone from recruiters and companies trying to entice me to become a part of their "happy family". Interviews are all about them trying to convince me how happy I would be at their company, all I need to do is bring my license and I'm hired. I changed jobs about a year ago and went through this with several companies before deciding which situation was the best for me. It's very surreal situation, as it is not the norm.Once there, they offer bonuses and raises to keep up with the other companies so I don't even think about changing jobs again.

For DH, it's the opposite. He sent hundreds of resumes to jobs posted online, by recruiting companies and professional contacts he had. He was careful to craft the cover letter to reflect the posting, tweaked his resume to highlight the skills and certifications requested and only applied if he felt he was qualified and perform all job duties. Out of those resumes sent, he received maybe 10 interviews, most of which said they weren't sure when they were filling the positions as they are "feeling out the market" (how cheaply they could get someone). It was very disappointing as he is highly qualified, hard working professional. This really shows that companies will do whatever they can get away with.

That describes exactly my dh's job search. He's been laid off 3.5 months now, not one offer, only two calls for interviews. Its getting quite discouraging. BTW, if you don't mind my asking, what type of job do you do that's in high demand? We're looking at hunkering down for a long period of unemployment, starting to look at the necessity of cashing in some of our 401K to pay bills.

 

[Mono~rail]

It sounds as if Aristomommy is a nurse because I'm an RN and frequently I get stuff like she is describing.

 

[Aristomommy]

It sounds as if Aristomommy is a nurse because I'm an RN and frequently I get stuff like she is describing.

Close enough, I'm in physical therapy . But many medical careers are in high demand and you can pretty much pick the place you want to work for. This is similar across the country, but my state seems to be really short on RNs, LPNs, PTs, and various technical positions as well.

 

[twinklebug]

Close enough, I'm in physical therapy . But many medical careers are in high demand and you can pretty much pick the place you want to work for. This is similar across the country, but my state seems to be really short on RNs, LPNs, PTs, and various technical positions as well.

It's the same across the country... even the military is seeking out medical professionals. We're living longer, discovering new treatments & still growing so it follows that the medical professions are the ones to be in. I've made some bad choices in my life & working to straighten them out, but one of the worst was choosing to go into computers/ee when I really loved people (try telling a people lover they're going to be putting together missles). I wanted to be either a nurse or a teacher. Too late for that now - best bet is to stick to my guns & inginuity to make my degrees work for me.

 

[vhoffman]

What I hate is being put off. Dh has been dealing with the same company for 2 weeks now, always some sort of story, essentially "call us later".

He's been dealing with the same guy in HR, who tells him his resume is in the hands of several hiring managers, they do their own call backs. Then they only make call backs once a week. Then to call back the HR guy if he doesn't hear from anyone by last week. So he calls, the HR guy tells him the hiring managers (all of them?) are out with something, tied up, etc., call back in 2 days.

Geez! Don't these HR guys realize the mental torture they put an applicant through? Do something or get off the pot! Quit telling an applicant to call back later, its obviously a put off, but leaves us hanging. He will, of course, continue to call back if he thinks there's the slightest interest in him, but the emotional roller coster is pure hell!Come on! We know this company flat out isn't interested, they just don't want to say No for fear of a lawsuit, so they kepp stringing him along, eventually dh will give up. Haven't these HR people ever been on the other side? Obviously they looked for a job at one point, how would they like to be treated like that? Oh, of course, I know, its not their problem, treating the applicants decently, just do what's best for the company. So, would dh even want to work for such a company? You betcha! Its a great company that he would be dedicated to (not a job hopper), but they've obviously written him off. I can just see them rolling their eyes in annoyance every time dh calls, forgetting they told him to call back

Looking for work sucks!

 

[KarenAylwood]

Oh, yes, I've heard the "over qualified" thing before.

Actually, a friend of mine flat out lied on an application and did not state her 2 bachelors and MBA, just one degree. She was applying for a job in a library that required a bachelors degree, but she didn't want to hear the "over qualified" thing again. She got the job! Its a shame when your education becomes a liability!

You can sometimes get caught when doing this, and not get the job because of downplaying or leaving out information like degrees and such. A man recently interviewed at my company and everyone loved him. He was interviewing for an entry level chemist position, and he was about 50-60 years old. They chose to hire him and did a background check. Turns out the played-down position he had held at his former company was actually the head of R&D!! Since he wasn't totally honest, they decided not to hire him. He really just wanted a back-to-basics job after the stress of his other one.

They probably would have hired him if he had just told the truth.

I got the over qualified spiel too. I've got a Masters and definitely don't need one for the job I was interviewing for. I'm not an idiot- I know you need to get in at the bottom and move your way up to learn the business and the company. After convincing them I was alright with the job, the schedule and the pay, they hired me! Making much more than the retail job I was looking at too

 

[roadtripper]

I would tell everyone that it is okay to call a recruiter ONE TIME to see if they received the resume and ONE TIME to follow up for an interview. If they don't respond, it's a shame, but I can tell you from being a job seeker and being a recruiter that if they don't respond to you, there's a reason.

This is undoubtedly really good advice, and probably true in most situations. However, when I applied for teaching jobs, there were HUNDREDS of applications for each position. I struck up a very cordial relationship with the secretary of the principal at one of the schools to which I applied, because I called every week to check on the status of my application. I don't know if she was sick of me or what, but I do know that she singlehandedly removed me from the "do not interview" pile (I was from out of state, and this was RI ) to the "interview" pile. From there, I got the job. But I never would have had a chance without her. Needless to say, I brought her a big bouquet of flowers on my first day of school. Seventeen years later, I am still teaching at the same school (and I wish some administrators knew as much as that secretary did!)