Yes, it’s hard to find a job
If you ask yourself, “Why is it so hard to find a job?” I challenge you to do a quick self-assessment.
- Turning in resumes and not getting called back? Ask someone for feedback on your cover letter and resume.
- Going to interviews and not getting an offer? Ask for assistance with your interview skills.
- Had multiple interviews with multiple companies and are not receiving an offer? Ask someone for feedback on your interviewing and/or negotiation skills.
I see it time and time again
Individual candidates repeatedly encounter the same obstacles at various stages of the process. Some are having a tough time getting a response to their resume. Others receive multiple interviews but still have no job offers. In each case, each candidate makes it to a particular stage in the interview process. The candidate is not able to progress beyond a specific stage.
How I figured it out
- I have helped candidates with their resumes. The candidate would walk away confident and excited. Unfortunately, they did not receive a callback after submitting the document.
- I would then help them with the cover letter. Boom, they would get called back. They would head into the interview but not receive a second interview.
- I would help with interviewing skills. The candidate would have multiple interviews but would not receive an offer.
- Offers only came in after I helped with the entire process. This included the resume, cover letter, interviewing, and negotiations.
The common denominator? These candidates absolutely believed that they could find a job. And why not? They have landed jobs in the past, heck, they landed 3, 5, or maybe even ten positions. In some cases, AN OFFER WAS RECEIVED FOR EVERY JOB THEY INTERVIEWED FOR.
No level of candidate is immune
I have worked with candidates at every level. Executives? Check. VPs, Directors, and recent grads? Check, check, and check. I have realized that very few people understand how to interview or how the interview process works. It makes perfect sense when you think about it. We have all interviewed for a job in the past, and we have all had success. Some of us have interviewed hundreds of candidates. The conclusion I have come to is two-fold:
- Most of the jobs were landed in a very different economy.
- The experience of interviewing a candidate at a SINGLE stage of the interview process doesn’t give enough perspective. If you are an executive, you know how to conduct effective executive interviews. There is very little experience when BEING interviewed by a less experienced person.
Sports/dating analogy
Think of it this way: You may know how to hit a golf ball 300 yards. You will not be a scratch golfer if your short game isn’t up to par. You may be a great infielder, but you won’t make it to the Bigs if you don’t hit well. If you are drop-dead gorgeous but you have bad breath, the prince isn’t going to kiss you. We need the entire package, including all five tools. We need to brush our teeth and crush some mints.
Make no mistake. Interviewing is a WINNER TAKES ALL game with players, judges, and scores.
- Players: Candidates who are interviewing and looking for a job.
- Judges/Referees: Recruiters and hiring managers conduct the interviews and keep the score.
- Score: How well you are doing at each stage of the interview. This score determines whether you receive a job offer or a rejection letter.
No one is teaching the rules
But when you think about it, the players, AKA “the candidates,” never really learned how to play the game. Most of us haven’t had an interview or negotiation class. In most instances, the judges, AKA “the interviewers,” didn’t even learn the rules. Not many companies can afford to have a formal interview training program. This is why we get rude interviewers and inappropriate interview questions.
Lastly, we don’t REALLY know the score. We don’t really know the score until 8 weeks later, when we receive an offer. However, if we never heard back, we wouldn’t have learned the score. If we do receive any feedback from the recruiter, trust me, it will be sugar-coated. This way, the company can keep good relations with you and your social network. And yes, they avoid a lawsuit. Yes, this all adds up to the fact that it is hard to find a job.
No formal training
Most of us learned what we know about the interview process based on our prior experience. We interviewed, and we got the job. Conclusion: “This ain’t so hard. I know how to interview”. If we interviewed and didn’t get the job (same performance and different outcome), we would reflect and change our behavior. If we do get an offer, we assume it was our adjustment, but we don’t REALLY know.
The rules are changing:
- Every time you interview in a different economy, the rules change. In some economies, hiring managers can afford to be VERY picky. In other economies, the bar may be a little lower.
- Every time you interview with a different company, the rules are a little different. One company wants a suit. The next one wants a blazer and the next allows flip-flops. That is just the dress code. We haven’t even discussed your experience, education, or public speaking skills.
- Within each company, hiring managers vary in their approaches. One went to Stanford and is looking for Ivy League candidates. Another didn’t go to school and feels that job experience is considered the “equivalent”.
- On average, a typical interview loop will consist of 3-5 interviews. Within that loop, one interviewer might care about your technical skills. Another interview may not care at all. The next may be looking for a friend they can hang out with.
Yes, it’s a miracle that anyone is getting hired. Yes, it’s challenging to find a job.
This isn’t a post trying to impart any knowledge. I wanted to acknowledge that it’s okay to ask yourself, “Why is it so hard to find a job?” It’s a frustrating and full-time job that will ask more of you than any prior position you held. The kick in the balls is that you are not collecting a paycheck, and the bills are piling up.
You cannot do enough research trying to figure out the rules
- Yes, this is a self-promotional plug, but I have a wealth of insider information organized by category. Interview tips, resume writing, and what HR thinks about interviews are on the lower-hand bar. All FREE!
- Glassdoor.com provides insight into management, salaries, and interview questions.
- Leverage your network to reach out to current and former employees of companies you are interested in. Find out what it takes to get through the interview.
- Most people know someone in HR/recruiting or know someone who does. As much as we all bitch about HR professionals, we most intimately know the ins and outs of the interview process. If you ask them for SPECIFIC help, they will be flattered. Let them know you keep running into one of the above-numbered walls. This is where you want the help. If you are an HR person who declines a respectful and specific request for assistance to someone unemployed, you are dead to me.
See you at the after party,
HRNasty
nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky, and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone who is good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.
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Pencil
February 4, 2018I think the real disconnect in our economy is we have a bunch of people looking for jobs
that don’t know what they need soon enough and don’t know the market soon enough. No one at school tells you in your first year of college you need A plus grades to get the best jobs. No one at school tells you how what you are learning now is being used on the job right now and why its so important. No one at college shows you “all” the technologies and skills you will need to start learning right away to be “fully” prepared for the job you are going into in your home town. No one at college tells you how many degrees you will need or how much money you will make if you study in a certain field.
The people who actually end up being successful are able to run circles “around” college. I have two degrees. I have no job. I have 30 percent of the skills I actually need to land one. When and if I do get a job it will not be because I went to college…. it will be because I finished what college barely started. Some one here said the system is broken. Employers and job seekers and students need to be more connected by college right now more than ever but the exact opposite is happening today. This is the main pipe that has broken. It absolutely needs to be fixed.
do_japan
November 23, 2017Cause you need experience to get experience and most jobs go to those who got experience in a different time when things were easier.
peace261
January 3, 2017Every article I see online always brings up interview skills and resumes. There is also the issue of employer biases and discrimination against the unemployed, but funny you don’t see as many articles written about those. It is somehow always the applicant’s fault. You rarely see the employers and their discriminatory, ridiculous hiring processes talked about. Don’t even get me started on the lack of professionalism on their part and the rudeness many of them display.
7may
April 28, 2016The real problem in getting a job is usually not you it’s THEM. Forget about all that BS about rewriting your resume what color socks to wear at an interview and interview critiques. All this is made up stuff so people will fork over cash to useless resume writing companies, book companies etc. telling you how to get a job in the hope they will get you a job. Most companies, if they receive a thousand resumes, almost invariably will hire the worst person for the job because they are a bunch of cretins. Many companies post the same job year after year. Why is that? Because the jobs are nonexistent? Because the job stinks so much that it has to be re-posted? Was the person fired from the job because of incompetence? If they were, then I guess the company didn’t do a good job in hiring in the first place. Either way it just shows how full of crap these companies are. Temporary agencies are always advertising jobs. When you send them a resume or call them they never answer back. Probably have better odds of winning Powerball than finding a job.
Eric Korbly
December 30, 2015The author so believes in the validity of this advice a sur name is used instead of revealing the true author. If you can’t put your name & face to what you say then … I question how honest you are HRNasty.
random
December 20, 2015God damn, you don’t reveal anything any job seeker wouldn’t already know.
The reality is that the system is broken. There’s more people than there are jobs and as time goes on it will get worse as companies find more ways to optimise the processes for creating larger profits.
RationalOne
October 31, 2015Eugene, “Originally I sucked, but with every new interview I became better and now I think I’m pretty good.”
Just out of curiosity, how do you know you are good. Have you seen or heard the answers and body language the other candidates are conducting their interviews with? Yes, in our own minds, our resume’s, cover letters, and interview skills may be pretty good, but how do we really know unless we talk with someone who has seen 100’s of resumes and talked with 100’s of candidates. That person has something compare different interview performance to. As candidates, I get it, we may think in our own mind we are good, but if we do not know what the competition looks like, how can we really know? Food for thought.
modell
July 29, 2015Looking for a job is more complicated then it has to be.
Life is more complicated than it has to be.
Society brought this on themselves.
byakuran
May 25, 2015I am right now having a hard time looking for work and I had job interviews and never got hired in those jobs I just need work please
Robert Jackson
May 20, 2015I can’t even get an interview. My resume sucks because I have been self employed all my life since 18 and went out of business in 2008. When employers see a long period or unemployment or self employment on your resume they IMMEDIATELY TOSS IT OUT.
Robert Jackson
May 20, 2015My problem is I have never had a job so i have nothing to put down other than self employment from 18 to 28. Employers really look down on self employment. I feel self employment is probably worse than being a felon.
In the last 7 years out of all of my attempts I have only landed 1 interview, the programming team liked me, the hiring manager just could not get over the fact that I had owned a business all my life. He kept asking how do we know you won’t just start another business.
I have now 100% given up on ever finding a job since I can’t even bet an interview. I now have to figure out how to make money on my own.
Mark
March 12, 2015I too was able to find work (as a sub-contractor in IT) frequently. In fact, there were plenty of times when I was simply called by recruiters when I wasn’t even looking for work. However, something changed in a big way after 2013. I was suddenly not receiving calls, nor have I been successful applying for roles. So what changed? Why can I suddenly not find work anymore? I have been told by numerous recruiters, contractors and employers that my credentials are impeccable and that I have an excellent background, with many valued skills. I have two degrees (one Masters degree), and ample experience since 1993. I have been told just through a chat on the phone that I obviously have a good command of the English language, and am able to carry a conversation and communicate with anyone on any level. I even had one recruiter tell me (to my face during a meet-and-greet interview) that my credentials are so good that he couldn’t see finding me a role take longer than a week….perhaps two. That was now over 5 months ago, and he’s extremely difficult to reach (i.e. it’s like he’s hiding now), although he did try to place me into an oil & gas role….right when the oil & gas business died.
I can no longer attend networking events or afford to take potential employers out for lunch or coffee (after 18 months of unemployment I just don’t have the money to do that anymore), but I have been extensively networking online through e-mail, LinkedIn and various job-boards. However, much of my job-hunting has been all across the country so I can’t really do much networking for those roles anyway. Even recently many people check out my profile on LinkedIn and tell me that I have a great profile.
So what’s the problem? Why has work totally evaporated since 2013? When I decided to branch out and try contracting I started right when the economy tanked….when thousands were losing their jobs in 2008. I never even blinked….I just kept working. I didn’t even realize that there was a economic problem So why now?
Ideas?
HRNasty
March 23, 2015Mark,
Thanks for stopping by and sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I have been out of town. I am not sure what is going on with your sudden lack of offers, but my first guess based on everyone saying that you are so well qualified is that you may be OVER QUALIFIED. Without going into detail, check out this post I wrote: http://hrnasty.com/overqualified/ Basically, no one wants to hire anyone that is “overqualifed”. You may have TOO much listed on your resume. No one wants to hire anyone that is going to be bored with the job. They want to hire someone who will be a little challenged. Because most companies want to hire employees that WANT to challenge themselves. Put it this way, would you want to hire someone who just takes the easy job? That person could be looked at as “lazy”. I would need to know more about your situation, see your resume and what jobs you have been applying for, but this is my first guess. Feel free to email me directly. Good luck, HRN
Robert Jackson
May 20, 2015It is the IT industry. I have had horrible luck trying to get interviews, much less a job. LOL My cousin graduated top of his class in Comp Sci from a Texas State college, he hasn’t been able to get a job in the IT field either. He has been lucky enough to get a job at Home Depot.
I applied to home depot 2 times. I really thought since I had owned a landscape business all my life that they would at least consider me for the lawn and garden section. I didn’t own some garbage mow and blow crap like you see now either. I had employees, a 1600sqft shop, several trucks, a website and I used software like you see on HGTV to do mock landscapes. I did water gardens, landscape lighting, ponds, stone patios, retaining walls etc. But apparently I was not qualified to work in Home Depots gardening section NOPE I clearly didn’t have the correct skills or work history for that job, not in any way.
I applied to Walmart, Burger King, McDonalds and sent my resume to every company looking for people with my skills.
Dodo
June 17, 2014To get a job we need to learn how to lie. We need to tell what the interviewer wants to hear. You can have best knowledge and experience, but if he ask you, “Do you know how to play guitar?” and the answer is no, so probably you are out. We are living in motherfucker system.
HRNasty
June 18, 2014Dodo, thanks for stopping by. I am not asking anyone to lie. I am asking candidates to play on the strengths and not mention the weakness. If someone asks you if you play the guitar, and you do not play the guitar, I have to wonder how important playing the guitar is to the actual job, and consequently if a hiring decision will be made based on playing the guitar. If a hiring decision will be made on playing the guitar when the guitar isn’t relevant to the job, then I would think twice about working for this hiring manager. Hope this puts things into perspective. HRN
Robert Jackson
May 20, 2015Soon I am going to start doing this. I am thinking of making a totally bogus resume so I can at least get an interview. I’ll look for jobs then write the resume 100% like the job, even if it is all lies, at least I will increase my chances of getting an interview.
If employers can lie and put up fake job ads why shouldn’t we lie to the employers?
Annoyed
April 26, 2014HR Nasty – take a closer look at your comments section. You’ll notice that arty received more votes of agreement than your more chipper positivity drones. This is because this system sucks, and we need to shoot the people who make it suck and start afresh. This includes HR people, such as y’all.
Youonlyliveonce
May 6, 2014a the fuck men
Pamela Kennedy
October 6, 2013You could do everything right, have the right education, right background, right skills, show up for the interview impeccably dressed, not say anything wrong, but just BE the wrong whatever for the job for usually discriminatory reasons. Too old. Too female. Too dark-skinned. Too short. Too fat. Etc, etc. The interviewers can’t read. The moment they put a face to the resume, so to speak, their jaw drops, they hem and haw, then they ask you “so what subjects are you qualified to teach, again” with your MATH teaching license copy right in front of them. Things like that ensure that some people will never work again….unless it’s completely online, dealing with another country and sight-unseen…and getting paid in Pesos instead of Dollars….
lordblazer
April 6, 2015Actually I interviewed for a teaching gig in Taiwan. I did it over skype video chat. I got the job and I’m black. teaching social studies. It’s just a tough job market that’s gone global. US is a neoliberal economy and I think people in america don’t realize this means the job market is available for candidates who reside overseas, but may want to move to America and for Americans who want to move overseas. It’s cool to look local but be willing to look in the neighboring state or other side of the country or outside of the country too.
Robert Jackson
May 20, 2015Damn it sucks you have to go all the way to Taiwan to get a job.
Tabitha
October 31, 2015I know…I have to go all the way to Korea to teach…it sucks…
Robert Jackson
September 13, 2016I hope to move to Costa Rica or Panama to find a job in Web development or Software Engineering. At least those countries do not sabotage their own citizens by bringing in millions of cheaper workers.
FUCK THE UNITED SOCIALIST STATES OF AMERICA.
https://goo.gl/r6vWbu
November 22, 2016This isn’t a post that is trying to impart any knowledge; it was more of an acknowledgement that it is OK to ask yourself “why is it so hard to find a job”. It’s a frustrating and full time job that will ask more of you than any prior position you held. The kick in the balls is that you are NOT collecting a paycheck and the bills are piling up.
Michael Gullion
January 29, 2018actually, it’s rather extremely capitalistic. the Soviet Union eliminated unemployment and homelessness. they don’t like to talk about those aspects over here for obvious reasons.
p789
June 14, 2017This is very true. The interview is a subjective process and you cannot identify whether the interviewer is discriminating against you or not. Any discrimination can be shoved under the carpet simply by saying that its an individual judgment. It really sucks, especially as there are plenty of things that you cant change about yourself.
The right and wrong are no longer absolutes, they are open to interpretation.
Ryan G
May 12, 2013Yes, HRNASTY, you forget about the Saturation in the same position. My thought after a short stint, three years of research, and no expertise is go find something no one else does and do it, if some other folks do it, hope it is a small amount and do it better. I am looking at getting back to do what others, would not think of.
Best to all on this post in the RR
HRNasty
May 14, 2013Thanks for stopping by and I love the way you think brother. “amen”. HRNasty
Ryan G
May 12, 2013Yes, HRNASTY, you forget about the Saturation in the same position. My thought after a short stint, three years of research, and no expertise is
go find something no one else does and do it, if some other folks do it, hope it is a small amount and do it better. I am looking at getting back to do what others, would not think of.
Best to all on this post in the RR
Joseph Lanzendorfer
February 22, 2013Question for you HRNasty: Let’s say you’re someone who’s so discouraged by the job market and potential income, that you’re considering going back to school, when really all you really need to do is follow your advice and keep at the job the search. On the flip side, maybe you’re someone who’s constantly tweaking the resume, researching companies, and working on interview strategies, when really no matter how well you do, you just need to improve your education. How does you know which category you belong in?
HRNasty
February 23, 2013Great question. I could have sworn I blogged about this but didn’t find anything so I know I have a draft somewhere and will post it soon.
This is a chicken or the egg question and I am not sure there is an answer without knowing a little bit about the individual. I would say two things. First and foremost, we need confidence going into the interviews. I interview so many people who are perfectly qualified but they lack confidence in themselves and I know that even if I feel they can get be successful, others will not and they will be declined. A self fulfilling prophecy of sorts. Others who are NOT qualified can get hired because they interview SO well. Confidence is what gets them through and they may or may not be successful, but they did get the opportunity.
If you feel you have a strong background and are tweaking and changing tactics, to no avail, I would ask this. Where is the process stalling? Is your resume getting initial phone calls? Are you having the initial phone interview but no more? Are you getting multiple in person interviews for a single job but not getting the offer? I work with many people who seem to make progress but over and over the process ends at a specific spot. If you are NOT getting calls, it is probably your resume. If you have a phone interview but no in person interview, it is probably your phone etiquette. http://www.hrnasty.com/phone-interview-you-blew-it/
If you are getting a single in person interviews, it is probably your presentation layer because you know how to answer calls based on your phone interview.
Hopefully this helps, let me know if I can add more.
Robert Jackson
May 20, 2015Why won’t employers consider interviewing or hiring people that have long, long histories of self employment? Are they afraid to hire people with brains who are capable of THINKING? Or are they afraid people that were long time self employed will quit and start another business, maybe even become a competitor?
Either way nothing I do, no amount of tweaking my resume, nothing, nothing can even get me a phone call or email much less an interview. Interviews are exciting. I had one company interview me twice for a programming position. The HR guy liked me, the programmers liked me, the hiring manager was a real dick sucker. All he was interested in was the fact I used to be self employed and how did they know i would not just start another business. NOTHING I SAID would ever change that fuckfaces mind, he had it made up and that was that, even though the programmers wanted me on the team, captain dicksuck said NO.
Robert Jackson
May 20, 2015And that was the only interview I have ever had with anyone. I don’t even get calls or emails.
I really wish I would have known as a kid that being self employed is about as good as writing down on paper I rape kittens and drown puppies, because that is how useful past self employment is on your resume.
P Kennedy
March 26, 2016I wonder if it’s better or worse than getting your Master’s and/or PhD’s in a foreign country?
HRNasty
April 4, 2016I don’t know if it is better or worse from an accreditation standpoint, but I will say that often times, if the hiring manager does not recognize the school from a foreign country they won’t acknowledge the degree. There are exceptions to this EG: if you have a PhD from Cambridge in they will understand and recognize that. This isn’t necessarily a racism thing. Let’s say the hiring manager is in the United States. If the manager has two candidates and both are relatively equal, if one comes from a school that is recognized, and the other from a school that is not recognized, then the “first choice” would be the recognized school. It isn’t about the country it is about the recognition of the school itself. Hope this helps. HRN
P Kennedy
March 26, 2016Methinks at least the “stated” reasons will be that they can’t get references from your former supervisor or “verify employment.”
Robert Jackson
September 13, 2016Well they could look the licenses up that I had to have to be in business, but you know people that never owned shit and always worked for big brainwash corporations are not intelligent enough to have that information.
A. Moroboshi
December 30, 2015There’s part of the issue, even getting a job is a popularity contest. Who cares how capable someone is, doesn’t matter as long as they are fun to be around. Under qualified people shouldn’t even get an interview if there are better options, and for ground level jobs experience is not a qualification, only an advantage. That’s why so many companies are falling into the gutter, the employees have no clue and are completely incompetent. Leaving it up to HR and managers ends up with the wellbeing of the company being neglected. The people in charge of hiring don’t care and have no reason to, they have a job and they want the people around them to be to their liking and have the power to make it so. There’s also the wage/salary factor wherein they can hire an under-qualified person and pay them less so that more money goes in these higher-ups pockets. That how the rediculous conception of “over-qualified” came to be, it’s a lame excuse to give to not hire someone. Tell them what you’re willing to pay and if they take it great, if not move on. Greed is as rampant as idiocy and it’s a shame that hard work is meaning less and less. There’s so much more than that so what are people supposed to have confidence in, experience. If you don’t fit in you don’t get in. If you’re shy, expect to be homeless since some other person who’s completely incompetent will get the job because they’re more personable. There’s fewer and fewer places that actually value quality over popularity. The world we live in is a joke and the standards are dropping faster as each year passes.
P Kennedy
March 26, 2016Or this: we “sounded white” over the telephone. Intelligent, educated, articulate, possibly even in two or more languages. Then we showed up in person and they saw brown skin and “that’s all she wrote.”
Now, I don’t call this KKKolorado for nothing, but it happens to me everywhere. Now, granted, I have yet to try Guatemala, Panama, Fiji, Malaysia, or French Guyana. Places where “people who look like me” ARE what they’re used to seeing in Maths, Sciences, computers, law, and medicine.
Robert Jackson
September 13, 2016Maybe something you said or did gave off hints of your racism. Kind of like your entire race based comment, which shows that you think you are a victim. People can sense those that feel entitled or angry.
Kimberly Johnson
February 7, 2013HRNasty is the best!!!!
HRNasty
February 23, 2013Kimberly, I am so sorry I missed your note. Thank you for stopping by and thank you so much for your note. This is one of the nicest notes anyone has left on the blog and I really appreciate the gesture. Thank you!
artythekid@yahoo.com
July 27, 2012if u wana know the real problem with getting hired at a job heres why. 1. theres a million people applying for the same job, your chances are almost the same as hitting lotto. if you do actually get a call back it’s most likely you and other people you’re “competing” against. if you have a background forget about it, don’t even waste your time. plus most jobs nowadays give out drug tests so if you do any of those your also screwed. if you manage to pass all of the tests your chances of getting hired is still lower than a coin toss. if your young, for the most part forget about it. there gona pick an older person with family, kids, and bills 99% of the time before they pick you. if your a male (which i am) and your competing against a female, odds are your probaly not gonna get picked. yeah thats a bit sexist but its the truth, espically the state i live in (connecticut). also add on the construction jobs and restaurants nowadays who take in illegal immigrants who will work cheaper than you will and also do twice as much work as you would. then theres the education part, if u got none good luck. i’m a 22 yr old male with a computer trade under my belt. i consider myself a little smarter than the average american (not to sound cocky) and have a load of confidence when it comes to anything. my resume was made by a professional from my school whose been working in the HR department for 40+ yrs. i’m a pretty smooth talker and can stay very calm under alot of pressure. ive never been arrested, have no background whatsoever, and dont use drugs or alcohol. im not physically built, and i didnt go to harvard. i drive a 95′ honda civic and can barely pay for my bills / pay to even live. i look for a job EVERY single day, put out tons of applications and resumes even to companys where i wouldnt have a clue of what im doing but rarely ever get call-backs. and like i said, even if i do, u gota go through that whole process of competetion. i try and try, but i cannot seem to find a solution. not physically built for construction, not illegal immigrant, not a female, and have no REAL education, which pretty much puts me in a simple category – minimum wage. the jobs in my area that are suitable for a person like me are taken up, even when some place isn’t hireing that still have 100’s or applications anyway. another thing is most jobs are found by connections. which i have none. dont have any friends or family that can “get me in.” so if theres anyone out there, anyone at all that can tell me a solution please explain. cant get unemployment, cant get food stamps, cant get section-8, cant get medical insurance or ANYTHING from the state of connecticut. like i said, if anyone has a solution then post it. ill wait. . .
Pamela Kennedy
October 6, 2013Well, I DID go to Yale, so never fear, THAT’S not your problem.
joeblow1984
July 7, 2014Obama hates you,
Larry McKeogh
April 15, 2012Here is more for you and others, Harvard Business Review “The Making of an Expert” Good quick read. It talks about experts are made not born. While on the one hand that is promising for everyone. On the other hand, that means that it takes time and deliberate practice to achieve expertise. That’s code for hard work. If you weren’t putting in the effort before you’ve got some catching up to do.
HRNasty
April 16, 2012Larry,
Thanks for sharing this. Great read! There are a ton of great references in there including to the movie Bottle Shock. I absolutely, agree that making it through a interview loop and then being successful at work is about practice, but more importantly, knowing WHAT to practice. If anyone is getting ready for an interview, know it doesn’t take 10 years of practice. Just write down the top 50 interview questions and put them on note cards. Practice the answers to these questions so you know what you are saying when you are asked. You do not want to walk out of the interview saying “I forgot to say x, y, or z”. Practice and preparation will help avoid this.
The other interesting thing that was mentioned was family support. I think this is absolutely critical and will post that shortly. Most folks get support early in their job search, but as time goes on, family tends to look at the candidate like a leper with no support.
Thanks again for helping out!
Robert Jackson
May 20, 2015This is why employers hire incompetent idiots, idiots that memorize BS
RationalOne
October 31, 2015if the employers hire the idiots that memorize the BS, maybe we should start memorizing? Maybe hiring managers want to hire candidates that can learn and memorize what they need.
Larry McKeogh
April 13, 2012As always, well put HRN! Speaking from experience, it is hard out there. The toughest thing I’ve had to do in the last 2 years was to land that job. There was a lot of soul searching to discover who I was and what I thought I wanted to do. That was only half the equation. Very often the company i would interview with didn’t know who they were or what they wanted me to do. They thought they had an idea but it wasn’t it was fully thought through.
This taught me that i can only control half the equation. That being the case I better make full use of that half. Why apply at a suit company when I want to work at a fliip-flop company (or vice versa). As you pointed out, how could I get the inside beta on an interviewer and company to be prepared on the company as well to make the necessary small talk and establish a report as quickly as possible. Glassdoor only gets you so far if that. Twitter and LinkeIn are great resources as well.
Update your knowledge and meet as many people as you can. When I say meet, don’t just have a passing greeting. Learn about them, their background, their interests, skills, and talents. This is not a a passing event. Getting new jobs will continue to be difficult despite the economy. Genuinely knowing people will begin to pay off down the road. That is part of what an individual needs to be begin putting in place is their future plan while working on their current need. I came to this realization while also serendipitously reading Ried Hoffman’s “The Start-Up of You.” I am not sure about recommending it as a must read, but there are some nuggets of wisdom in there.
As always, thanks for the thoughtful jog.
HRNasty
April 13, 2012Larry, thanks for stopping by and the support! You are so right, and I completely forgot about the point you make. Often times companies do NOT know what they are looking for. They start the interview process, meet a few folks and then realize they have the wrong job description and change the requirements. Again, I don’t say this to discourage anyone, I say it so that folks realize it really “isn’t you”. (sometimes the changes work in your favor) Linkedin is a must for research on individuals who you may be interviewing with. Will check out the Hoffman book. Thanks for the great tips!