So, I've been unemployed and on the job hunt since summer started, which is ... just not where anyone wants to be, especially when you have three small kids to take care of.
I do count myself very lucky in that my fiancé got a job two days before I got laid off - that meant I just got to be angry about watching all my wedding plans swirl down the drain instead of having a massive heart attack about how we were going to keep our apartment, feed our children, and pay the bills. I also know that I'm lucky in that I JUST lost my job, and haven't been looking for a year or more.
I'm not really fond of the job search to begin with ("PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HIRE ME PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE" is how it feels to me, plus, who loves that much rejection?), but then I read two articles about what employers are NOT looking for that just blew my mind.
On this lovely Yahoo link, I find that
But even if companies don't spell out in a job listing that they won't consider someone who currently doesn't have a job, experts said that unemployed applicants are typically ruled out right off the bat.
"Most executive recruiters won't look at a candidate unless they have a job, even if they don't like to admit to it," said Lisa Chenofsky Singer, a human resources consultant from Millburn, NJ, specializing in media and publishing jobs.
She said when she proposes candidates for openings, the first question she is often asked by a recruiter is if they currently have a job. If the answer is no, she's typically told the unemployed candidate won't be interviewed.
"They think you must have been laid off for performance issues," she said, adding that this is a "myth" in a time of high unemployment.
Well, that is just awesome. I can't wait to get out there and submit some more resumes!
But hey, at least they're not putting it right in the ads, right? I mean, you're not getting ads that say "SCREW YOU UNEMPLOYED SHLUBS, WE DON'T WANT YOU", right?
In a current job posting on The People Place, a job recruiting website for the telecommunications, aerospace/defense and engineering industries, an anonymous electronics company in Angleton, Texas, advertises for a "Quality Engineer." Qualifications for the job are the usual: computer skills, oral and written communication skills, light to moderate lifting. But red print at the bottom of the ad says, "Client will not consider/review anyone NOT currently employed regardless of the reason."
and
Sony Ericsson, a global phone manufacturer that recently announced that it would be bringing 180 new jobs to the Buckhead, Ga. area, also recently posted an ad for a marketing position on The People Place. The add specified: "NO UNEMPLOYED CANDIDATES WILL BE CONSIDERED AT ALL." When asked about the ad, a spokeswoman said, "This was a mistake, and once it was noticed it was removed."
Oh, well, at least you REMOVED it when it was NOTICED. Because THAT makes it right.
And yet, there are people saying that we shouldn't have unemployment benefits because it makes people not want to search for jobs. Yeah, THAT'S why people get discouraged and don't bother - because they're just rolling in the dough from their unemployment insurance, am I right? I know that as soon as I got my first $400 check, I ran right out and bought a Caddy from one of those shady car dealerships downtown. /snark
Between this and "it's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know," I'm a little disillusioned with this whole "job search" and "of course you can get a job on your merits" thing.