Posted on 04/16/2013 7:05:13 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
There's a real stigma associated with people who have been out of work for more than six months or those who are prone to job hopping.
To find out how hiring managers view these candidates, economist Rand Ghayad conducted an experiment where he sent out 4,800 fictitious résumés for 600 job openings.
Ghayad found that managers would rather hire people with no relevant job experience than someone who's been unemployed for a long time or has had several jobs in a short period of time.
The resumes sent out described candidates looking work for different reasons across several industries, but all were all male, had racially ambiguous names and similar education backgrounds.
Below is a chart from the paper illustrating how little it matters if you have experience in the industry you're applying for because "the first thing employers look at is how long you've been out of work, and that's the only thing they look at if it's been six months or longer," writes Matthew O'Brien at The Atlantic.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
So I should just give up?
I don't think so. I've never collected a dime of public assistance and I'm damned well not going to start now.
Several resumes out already this week, Job Fair tomorrow. should I cancel? After all, the human nature you cite says I'm doomed.
It’s a silly study the way it is set up.
A better study would be long-term unemployed who have attempted to fill the resume gap with constructive things versus those that didn’t. (Started a business, part-time job, volunteering, education, certifications.) Is the long term unemployment the problem, or the gap in the resume?
Also, if two similar people are laid off at the same time, what did the short term unemployed one do different than the long term unemployed one?
She has a degree in Business Marketing and has been working in the SEO and Digital Marketing field. She has told all her unemployed friends and cousins to enhance their LinkedIn page, get endorsements from colleagues and put all your experience online because the HR departments are looking at resumes on line at LinkedIn.
They offered her $10,000 more a year, $80,000 + major benes, to get her from their competitor.
I would say that it’s time for him to consider moving to where the jobs are.
Good advice about LinkedIn.
My heart goes out to you...that’s a tough situation. I’d be curious to hear what other people say who have worked in hiring.
Is it possible for you to relocate from CA, if you’re just doing freelance and part-time work anyway? Maybe move to a state with a much lower cost of living, so that the money you do make goes much farther?
Also, do you have stuff you can sell on ebay? If so, you can use your current assets to get you liquidity and an immediate cash infusion, which you can then use to buy other merchandise and sell it online. It doesn’t take that much time either.
Are you asking me for advice? If you are a trained engineer, it would seem to me that you might have more valuable skills and knowledge than I do....(I’m a Poli Sci major!). Without knowing the details of your situation, it’s a little difficult to offer constructve advice. Do you have a college degree? Where do you live? In a big metropolitan area or a rural area or small town? You might have to move to find a job. You mentioned you are 60. But many people who are 60 keep in good shape these days and look like they could be 40 or 45. My mom is in her 70s, looks like like she is in her 50s. She works at a hospital and has no desire of retiring anytime soon. In fact, her superiors at the hospital have found that she is much more reliable than many of the twentysomethings who work there. I think retirement is an over-rated concept for some including myself. I have colleagues I work with who are in their 80s. I have no great interest in golf or daytime TV. I want to work as long as I can.
“.but in a tough environment, businesses are more careful than ever to hire the right person. They make mistakes, because everybody does, but because of central planners, mere survival is the only agenda.”
How many CEOs can directly point to a tend fold + contribution to the bottom line?
The last company I worked for, went bankrupt paid their CEO $6 Million in bonuses during the final 3 years when the company was hemorrhaging money and had not had a single profitably year since he took office (After his father died. get the picture?). Even with their dire financial picture, I exceeded my 10X requirement.
You are trying to apply to yourself a category that does not apply. Your situation is not at all the one cited in this study. The human nature test works in your favor, because you’ve been anything but idle. This stigma is talking about those who don’t try, or give up, not those who try and hit bad luck.
*ouch*
I’ve even crafted resumes specific to a given job, to emphasize relevant skills and experience that exactly match the advertised position and been blown off sight unseen.
The simple truths are:
Just because they are advertizing does not mean they are actually hiring, sometimes it simply means that are trying to look like they are hiring and growing to entice investors.
Just because they are advertizing does not mean they have not already selected a cheap H1-B to fill that job, and are just going through the motions to prove they couldn’t find an American with the exact skill set the H1-B has, one year’s more or one year’s less of experience in any of the half dozen given skills and you are over or under qualified.
Just because they are advertizing does not mean the hiring manager will actually get the budget he or she was promised when they submitted the req.
There are several issues here, and you seem to be conflating them. Are many HR department vermin too insecure or incompetent to recognize real talent? Very often so. Is there an age discrimmination thing going on? No doubt, at least to a degree. Those are totally separate from the arguement about whether chronic unemployment versus hustling for part time jobs, etc, is a valid measurement of future productivity.
In an earlier post, you said you had handled your retirement with good planning, and I hope for your sake that is the case. You sound like a guy who has the skills to dabble with your own venture of some kind while in your retirement, or semi retirement. Yes, it is criminal that our government has made options tough for a guy with your track record. I am having to re-invent myself as well - post 50 - and you can darned sure guarantee that there will be no time frames of inactivity.
I wouldn't call a contractor/consultant a job hopper. While they do work various assignments for various companies, they may actually work for the same company over a long period of time, i.e. Accenture (or for their own company if freelancing).
To me, a job hopper is someone who is hired by a company (not contracted, but hired) who leaves shortly thereafter for whatever reason, and then does it all over again. . .and again. . .and again.
My brother in law comes to mind. Always quitting jobs because someone did something to tick him off.
Wouldn’t I have to get a job out of state before moving there? I’ve applied for jobs in Pittsburgh, Atlanta, New Jersey, Minnesota, and other places. Not a sniff of an interview.
I’m not working a part time job. I work six days a week, 42- 48 hours per week. I’m not getting much freelance work. As I said, it would be a struggle to get it done with my schedule and they always want it yesterday.
The reality is I’d be a damn good worker. Four years of retirement has made me ready to go back and work for 10-15 years...but will anyone even look at me?
Short answer? Yes. Despite all the goings on and shenanigans in the government and business world it is still possible to get hired. (Says the guy who has been looking for years!)
You have 25 years with a single employer, one who is noted for discipline and loyalty, one who is world renowned for its ability to get 'er done even when literally being shot at, with ability to make do and improvise even under the harshest conditions.
Some employers even preferentially hire ex-mil.
Besides, when you're done with school, we'll be done with Obama...
Go for it!
RE: Besides, when you’re done with school, we’ll be done with Obama...
Can’t help but be pessimistic... but our demographics are slowly changing. There’s no guarantee that after Obama, someone like say ( heavens forbid ) Hillary won’t be waiting in the wings...
Well played.
(Is it really paranoia when they actually are out to get you? *looks nervously over shoulder*)...
Damn! You’re me! (Except 5 years younger and maybe 400 miles further south)
Passing over the best candidate for the job, to select the person longest out of work, does not show integrity for the job I was hired to complete.
if you hire just some operator who will stay with you for a year and then move on because he is a careerist ooh, so “cool” where does that get you, if you hire someone who is simply building their resume, or if you hire someone who will actually appreciate the job because they know how vicious things are.
Not relative to the point we were discussing.
Also, ask if you pay extra would they be willing to buy their own health insurance because I have an idea that is why these older folks are getting passed on,
Not legal.
, but the older ones are the ones with experience, who actually know how things work, remember how to work and not just screw around on the computer to make it look like they are working.
That is why we pay more for experienced people in our business. But some people gain 20 years of knowledge, some other people gain the 1st year of knowledge 20 times over. The difficulty can be discerning the difference in an interview; that can make reference far more important. One comment I keep getting from my boss lately is I sure take a lot of time talking to the candidates. I think he means it as a request to hurry up; I take it as a complement and a goal to keep hearing that.
“You sound like a guy who has the skills to dabble with your own venture of some kind while in your retirement, or semi retirement. “
There is a huge plus working for oneself but you have to be driven, disciplined and, in my case, tolerate travel. Nah!
Had my expertise been in a field where travel was not required (90%), I might still have my toe in the water.
Owning your own business is a risk but a risk with a potential for great rewards and I would highly recommend it to someone who has been pushed aside by the current business climate.
Hillary will seem like a breath of fresh air after Obama....and they’ll make sure the public believes it, though it doesn’t take much for the public to swallow whatever pill they’re given.
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