The employment process today BLOWS and I'm about to lose it.

reply to: fleabit

good for you. i get so sick of hearing the HR bull#. the hiring process has changed dramatically. HR used to be support and didnt make hiring decisions. that was up to the department head. so let's cut the crap hr. it's far more difficult to even get a interview than it used to be reply to: fleabit

hOw in the # do you know what the attutude is? he or she is blowing off steam and you start your crap.a reply to: GiulXainx

bull# you HR hack.
a reply to: GiulXainx

a reply to: mblahnikluver

I do not know where to start with this but I can understand your frustration. I live in the UK and finding a job has some serious problems. Here finding a job or even a half decent job means you have to know someone, generally. As most new hiring managers do not want someone that has no connection to internal work. To make matters worse, a lot of companies in the UK hire internally. So literally you have an influx of jobs coming available only to never reach the job market, only for internal progression. To make matters even worse, jobs they offer to the public job market are only so they fill their quota for the government initiative that they must interview a selected number of new potential employees.

So you have this constant circle of jobs hidden. Most people are capable of doing most jobs and even jobs they have no training in, yet are ignored. This I am sure happens worldwide too. You want to talk about seriously being messed around, well I can tell you my recent situation is reaching level bullish*t.

I haven't read this whole thread Mblah, and maybe you have had this suggestion already. I could see you working in catering ... have you tried applying for jobs in food and beverage industry?

I actually could see you running your own catering. Paula Deen started out making delicious sandwhiches which her sons would sell for her on the street .

Whatever you do , try and take a deep breath and stay calm, though I totally understand how you must feel and why.

My prayers are with you for a better tomorrow , and for a job that suits you and pays decent.

a reply to: pacificwaters

I'm sorry, but his negative attitude in his post is porbably only the peak of his ice berg.

And like i said before i can give him a practise interview, but it would have to be in person.

And comments like yours only tells me that you, yourself, are having issues keeping a job. If you hate Human Resource employees that much. Then don't lose your job.

originally posted by: mblahnikluver
SOOOOO.....

I have been without work since February. I worked for Bank of Satan aka America. It was a horrible experience which that itself could be an entire thread in various forums. My advice is if you bank with them LEAVE!

[...]

Watching them balance their drawer and counting was painful to watch. I could have done it ten times over by the time they were done.

[...]

Yet when they DO call I am expected to drop whatever I'm doing to give an on spot phone interview. I have a damn 4 year old and it is impossible to do that when he is around, he is actually with his dad right now because it was making job hunting more difficult.


[...]

I wake up every morning, check my email and fill out MORE applications. Also WHY THE HELL do I need to fill out a form of my previous employers when I also have to submit a resume with the SAME information?! It's a waste of time.

Not here to give you a bad time, looks like you are already having one, but I did want to give my opinion on some things.

1- Don't tell people to leave BoA!!! You're here telling us that job hunting has been a nightmare so why would it be different for someone else? Note employers prefer someone who is currently employed. There is no easy solution to that, but a friend of mine who was in the same situation joined one of those car ride companies.. That was enough to change his status to "employed" and also got him through a few months of bills.

2- Every person, every company, is going to have a different method of doing similar things. Watch, learn, and have fun, doesn't matter if you used to do that at your old job. If you can't handle watching something, perhaps you are on the wrong line of work (could it be that's why you also hated BoA?) and they are right not to hire you, either that, or your attitude needs to change. Employers know they can't teach new tricks to an old dog, if you walk in and expose yourself as a person that thinks they can do everything, that's a big red flag. Ask questions even if you know the answer and don't say things like "oh, at BoA we used to do it this way" unless they ask you, they likely do not want to know that and it's a tell-tell that your mind is not there but back with your old job.

3- You're not expected to drop everything for a phone call, usually, the first non-scheduled phone call will last no more than a few minutes. If they call and you are, say in the middle of shopping, mention that they caught you on an awkward position but don't ask them for a number or to call back. If they are willing to call back they will tell you and that's when you can ask if you can call. If they are not willing to call back, likely they will tell you they just want to ask a few questions.

4- Depending on the number of previous employers you have had, if all of them are on your resume, then there's probably something wrong. The resume is a paper that's supposed to tell them "this is why you should call me". Relevant experience only - and if they are all relevant, only the recent ones.. They don't need to know that you had 20 jobs or what you did in 1999. If an old job gave you a skill set but it's not too relevant, list the skills on the skills section. The form that you fill with all your previous employers is so that they can call them if needed and ask information about you. This has to include all of them.

I used to work for BofA. I was in the call center, I won't say which location or position but I will say they were racial biased. Because the upper management in charge of promotions and final say on hiring was hispanic, many hispanics got treated better and offered opportunities regardless of their ability to perform. They pride them self on being diverse but actually went too far on it and started hiring a lot more hispanics. Not saying anything is bad about hispanics it's just the favoritism towards them because management was hispanic. Also if you were part of the LGBT community you also got special treatment because the site manager was Gay. Again nothing against LGBT or Hispanics but there was a lot of favoritism towards them. Many people did a great job and these certain individuals were getting promotions, meanwhile came to me and other great performing individuals for answers to questions they should know since they are "managment" now. Needless to say I quit that job, I was making $19 n hour and I valued my sanity and happiness a lot more.

OP...Have you thought about doing Lyft/Uber? You work when you want and there is no "hiring process". As long as you have a car that is no less than 10 years old from the current year and a clean background check, you're in.

Let me know if you might want to try it. I'll help you. I love it. I make less than I did at BofA (avg $15 n hour after gas) but I am way more happier and I get to work when I want.

a reply to: GiulXainx

Well my point was, you came across as a bit judgmental and condescending, it just sounds bad when someone, who you do not even know, puts their life struggles out in public, and then you respond with a self righteous know it all lecture.

That's not to say that some of what you said was not good advice, I agree with a lot of it, it was just your approach but hey at the end of the day this is an open forum, and people expose themselves to analyzation from complete strangers when they post personal experiences.

Anyway, So yeah tomorrow is another day though. ~$heopleNation

a reply to: mblahnikluver

I wanted to motivate you a little more OP.

I got an initial interview invitation on sunday for a long shot job I applied to on Friday. Friday was a busy day so I had forgotten about this one. It was a gut feeling moment that made me apply.

So I was eagerly awaiting the confirmation email with my interview details after booking my window. The day before the big day, no confirmation. Died inside a bit. I figured this competitive job was taken and my truck driving butt was out of luck.

I decided I had nothing to lose. I looked around in the last email received and found another email address and a phone number burried in a mass header that their HR uses.

I write back to this direct contact in HR, ask for my confirmation. I call and leave a voicemail.

3 hours later they sent it.

I interviewed today, made it to second interview, and was invited back tomorrow for the last phase of the process.

Great success! I dont know if I got it. I know I did my best and aced all the interviews. (I think I got it though)

I only mention this because this job was exactly the type I would gloss over while job hunting.

I was a truck driver. I may be something much cleaner and better paid soon.

I just wanted to leave you with that. Some old school stuff still works. Be persistent. Show your future bosses what you do with obstacles. Faith, faith, faith.

I know you said you were going to keep trying for a bank job you already like to do.

I say go for it until you get it. Also, see if you can get something in that field but just a little better than what you had before. Go for those jobs you think you need something you dont have in order to get considered. Audacity to succeed is everything.

I will let you know how it goes tomorrow.

I am blown away though and just wanted to share. Keep the faith maam!

Have a good one.
Hold it down.

I'm sorry mblah...just keep on keeping on, it's all you can do. My hubby is going through similar but he he does currently have a job - and he's still depressed and stressed. I can't even imagine what it's like for you.

We're here for you and we're glad you're back, despite your struggle/circumstance. (((hug)))

originally posted by: cd5love96
OP, I'm with you on the whole job process nowadays. I'm currently employed (hit my 10 year mark on the 7th of this month) and am looking for another job. We are always told it's easier to find a job once you already have one but I've been searching for months. I'm looking to relocate from NJ to Georgia and find a Network Engineer position and that's hard. I decided in the interim to work towards my CCNA, CCIE, and other certs. It's really frustrating. I just want a new start somewhere else. NJ is all I've known all my life. I'm tired of paying high rent, high everything!

Good luck to you and hope you find something soon.

I don't know if you've tried Indeed but look on their site and see if anything pops up.

Hey guy...North GA here. Tech triangle. Unless you are H1b, forget about it. Every grocery store, Target and Wal Mart for a 20 mile radius is wall to wall H1b families filling their baskets with Chinese made #. It's depressing.

originally posted by: mblahnikluver

originally posted by: Woodcarver
Construction jobs start at $15 an hour if you have experience. There are plenty of jobs out there. Prob not the kind of jobs you'd be interested in. Aim lower perhaps. No excuse to be out of work since february.

I AM A FEMALE!!!!! I don't know a damn thing about construction and all those job are taken by Mexicans and immigrants where i live. Dont' even start with me. NOT in the mood.

No excuse? are you kidding me? Do you know my life or what I have done or where I apply? I am not picky at all when it comes to work. I am sick of the PROCESS of it and how nobody contacts you. If it was so easy to find a job I would have had one but when you are one of 100 people applying for a position yea it's gets to be rough. It's so easy to judge someone when you aren't in THEIR SHOES. Clearly you lack any form of empathy.

Go away with your negative judgmental crap. This is the RANT forum. It's called a rant for a reason!

so, you want to rant, but you don't want anybody to reply unless it's to give you pity and sympathy. seems reasonable.
He's not saying to get a construction job. He's saying to get ANY job if you're really that desparate. Widen your scope, or aim lower. Your post implies that you've only applied at bank and finance jobs. Try other things.
And being a single parent has nothing to do with it. I'm a single father. When I lost my last job, I had found another literally within 24 hours. You're either being too selective, or giving terrible interviews? or something. 4 months is more than enough time to find a job, unless one is being entirely too picky. A single parent can't afford to be picky.

originally posted by: mblahnikluver
SOOOOO.....

I have been without work since February. I worked for Bank of Satan aka America. It was a horrible experience which that itself could be an entire thread in various forums. My advice is if you bank with them LEAVE!

Anyway I have spent my time filling out NUMEROUS job applications online and submitting my resume more times than I can count! I have gone on various interviews and wasted my time and gas for nothing. Money I don't have is wasted! I used my income taxes to pay my bills through July, and well that is coming up and I have NO job and I am beyond flipping out. I can't handle the stress anymore. I want to curl up and disappear. People have no idea how hard it is to find work now a days. It is NOT like it use to be! I use to be able to walk into a place speak to management and have a job. NOW it's a three step freaking process for a minimum wage freaking job and even then they never tell you the position has been filled. I have shown up for interviews that were canceled because the position was filled yet nobody contacted me!!!!!! I recently had to SIT for FOUR hours at a cash advance company to see if I would like the job. I was like are you kidding me? I went through TWO interviews before this "observation" they called it. I was like I worked in freaking banking and for BOA this is a piece of freaking cake. Watching them balance their drawer and counting was painful to watch. I could have done it ten times over by the time they were done. The job only pays $10/hr which is insulting to my $15/hr from BOA. I would take it because I NEED A JOB! I am having massive anxiety over all this and I have been sick to my stomach. I am so beyond frustrated with the way it works now. I have taken a dozen banking assessment tests and guess what THEY ARE ALL THE SAME DAMN TEST! It's a freaking joke! I have to jump through hoops to apply yet I never hear a thing back!? Yet when they DO call I am expected to drop whatever I'm doing to give an on spot phone interview. I have a damn 4 year old and it is impossible to do that when he is around, he is actually with his dad right now because it was making job hunting more difficult.

I wake up every morning, check my email and fill out MORE applications. Also WHY THE HELL do I need to fill out a form of my previous employers when I also have to submit a resume with the SAME information?! It's a waste of time. I am in tears right now I'm so frustrated. I seriously can't take this anymore. I feel like being a single mom I am discriminated against because I can't work at night or on weekends, Saturday banking hours are fine because my mom will watch my son but I have NO other options for child care and I can't afford it period! I just want to disappear and snap at the same time. Everyone thinks I'm so happy right now well guess what I am NOT! I am not ok. I am not happy. I am beyond stressed. I can't eat or sleep. I worry about how I will pay rent next month. It is not fun and I feel like a failure.

I feel your pain. I've been going through the exact same thing since the company I worked for sold out and closed. It truly is hard out here unless you know someone. Try to hang in there my friend.

originally posted by: pacificwaters
good for you. i get so sick of hearing the HR bull#. the hiring process has changed dramatically. HR used to be support and didnt make hiring decisions. that was up to the department head. so let's cut the crap hr. it's far more difficult to even get a interview than it used to be reply to: fleabit

Honestly for any decent sized company (and I mean 300+, so not that large really), HR has nothing to do with the hiring process. You have a corporate recruiter that handles that. I rarely see HR in an interview, except for C-level jobs. They also employ many new methods to match up personalities, growth desires, and all sorts of other metrics to match up employees with what your department needs. I've had to fill out forms for recruiting rating importance of certain skills or traits we were looking for, and after an interview, they produce a sheet that shows where the candidate matched, or was far off. Again those are often for management positions or higher, but recruiting is becoming a science of its own.

Also nowadays, most companies try to meet other external (if busted in the past) or internal requirements. So.. minorities, disabled, etc. et al. - so the pool narrows. So it may have very little to do with you, but with weird metrics, a doofus recruiter (though most are pretty good), larger pools of diverse candidates, etc.

Hey.. if bad comes to worse, do as I saw on a news story once. A guy couldn't find a job, and he was very qualified. Frustrated, he printed out his two page resume large-style. Pasted it neatly on a placard like those "the end is near!" people wear over their head, and stood on a busy street corner downtown. He got a ton of calls for his resourcefulness and drive. : )

a reply to: mblahnikluver

I am self employed, I can help you for a bit till you get back on your feet =] just ask away

originally posted by: mblahnikluver

originally posted by: MOMof3
a reply to: mblahnikluver

I am so sorry. I don't have any answers. I think good paying jobs are like gold and the corps can play with people's lives. With no social programs in this country for the working poor, they have all the power.

OH yea they do. I don't really care where it is or what it pays. I just want a job! I have applied at fast food places and even freaking wal mart which I hate and don't shop at! I have been told by these places I'm OVERQUALIFIED in basic terms. I mean what is that? So I should dumb myself down? I just want to work.

Just like "out there", there are many on this forum who are arrogant, self-righteous and judgmental about people in your position. Just on the first few posts, I saw "attitude", "no excuse to be out of work..."...and so on. YOU PEOPLE ARE DISGUSTING AND I HOPE, ABOVE ALL ELSE, THAT YOU FIND YOURSELF IN THIS SAME POSITION FOR MUCH LONGER THAN THE OP. Only then will you learn to shut your fat trap and stop judging others.

These people have no concept of reality but enough of them for a minute.

I have my own law firm and have been self-employed since 2008. It's just me, I could never afford to hire a staff, not even a kid to pick up mail or run errands/deliver documents. Since November last year, business has dropped considerably, not just for me but for other attorneys who practice alone. Applying for jobs is a joke. First, if you're over 50, you can pretty much forget it. And if you have a lot of experience, you're even more screwed because you're worth more per hour than a much younger and inexperienced person. But that's who they want -- someone they can pay substantially less ( I would even work for that at this point) and work to death. My point is that no matter what so many do to improve their lot in life, there's always bull# to contend with.

The problem now is that there are not nearly as many alternatives for the unemployed or minimally employed. At some point, we'd take ANYTHING to get by but the EMPLOYER is the one who makes the excuses for not hiring, not the unemployed. "oh, he's too old and couldn't handle the pressure", "he's got too much experience in _________ field and if we hire him, he'll just leave when he sees better opportunity in his area of expertise..." or "he's unemployed. We don't want to hire the unemployed." (Yes, that is actually a serious issue lately). The list goes on but the bottom line is that it isn't the fault of the person looking for work, usually. It's the employers who have this idea that they have the best job in the world and only the most perfect candidate should be hired. They are incredibly full of themselves and much more so in the past 10 years.

I wish I had better solutions, but I'm actually looking for those myself. Best wishes, OP...

First, if you're over 50, you can pretty much forget it. And if you have a lot of experience, you're even more screwed because you're worth more per hour than a much younger and inexperienced person. But that's who they want -- someone they can pay substantially less ( I would even work for that at this point) and work to death. My point is that no matter what so many do to improve their lot in life, there's always bull# to contend with.

Not really true. Experience trumps all. The key is picking a field where experience matters. Rote skills no matter how skillfully they are applied, will always be outdone by someone younger and cheaper. There is a saying that is true, even if applied at a lower level. "Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t." Which isn't entirely accurate, but if you work your butt off for 7 to 10 years, you will be in a very good place, no matter what your vocation, as long as it's a learned skill, not something easily repeatable.

I haven't always enjoyed it, but I've worked my butt off for years to get where I am. Long hours and ridiculous stress. I've taken on and asked to take on anything no one else would, to increase my skills, and make myself an asset. Not always wise.. I've gone to the doctor because of extreme tightness in the chest.. nothing wrong, was just extreme stress. So you need to pace yourself. But if you do this.. you will be valuable. I received raises from 8 to 15 percent every year, for years, doing this. Not super-fun, but you learn a ton, and make yourself valuable to whatever company you work for. I walk by people who are browsing the web half the day while at work.. on Twitter.. texting.. whatever. That will usually never make you successful (seen exceptions though). I don't recommend it maybe how I did it.. there early, no lunch, work late, work weekends.. but you know, at the end of the day, that is what makes you the money, and will get you a job anywhere.

I'm exactly 50, but I am not screwed at all, as you say. I guarantee someone younger doesn't have the experience I do. You act as if hard work doesn't pay off. Not true in the least. It pays off in spades.

she already stated a few pages back that she got a job! why do people have to be rude, better she vent in the rant section than to take it out in a job interview or her child...

originally posted by: Maroboduus

originally posted by: mblahnikluver

originally posted by: Woodcarver
Construction jobs start at $15 an hour if you have experience. There are plenty of jobs out there. Prob not the kind of jobs you'd be interested in. Aim lower perhaps. No excuse to be out of work since february.

I AM A FEMALE!!!!! I don't know a damn thing about construction and all those job are taken by Mexicans and immigrants where i live. Dont' even start with me. NOT in the mood.

No excuse? are you kidding me? Do you know my life or what I have done or where I apply? I am not picky at all when it comes to work. I am sick of the PROCESS of it and how nobody contacts you. If it was so easy to find a job I would have had one but when you are one of 100 people applying for a position yea it's gets to be rough. It's so easy to judge someone when you aren't in THEIR SHOES. Clearly you lack any form of empathy.

Go away with your negative judgmental crap. This is the RANT forum. It's called a rant for a reason!

so, you want to rant, but you don't want anybody to reply unless it's to give you pity and sympathy. seems reasonable.
He's not saying to get a construction job. He's saying to get ANY job if you're really that desparate. Widen your scope, or aim lower. Your post implies that you've only applied at bank and finance jobs. Try other things.
And being a single parent has nothing to do with it. I'm a single father. When I lost my last job, I had found another literally within 24 hours. You're either being too selective, or giving terrible interviews? or something. 4 months is more than enough time to find a job, unless one is being entirely too picky. A single parent can't afford to be picky.