How to Design a System to Frustrate Job Seekers

I remember when I applied for my first job. The age of the internet was just starting to take hold of us--Netscape required winsock--so you actually had to know what you were doing in order to get on-line. Because of that, we still had to literally "pound the pavement" in order to find a job. Jobs were usually posted on a board outside of the human resources office or could be heard through a job line you had to call. If you found one that struck your fancy and were qualified for, you went in-person to the prospective employer and asked for an application. An actual human being could give you the once-over the same way you gave their establishment and decide whether or not to hand over a hard-copy application that had to be filled out by hand. Resumes and cover letters were welcome, but not necessarily needed since the job applications were pretty extensive in and of themselves, at least in my experiences.

This process seems slow and clunky in today's fast-paced, on-demand society, but when I see incompetent people with stable incomes (or even worse, in positions of power), it's like a listening to a joke (one that was not funny int he first place) over and over again. I feel this extra bit of inconvenience might actually pay off in the long run in the form of a competent, qualified work force that actually puts in the necessary effort needed to produce a quality product or benefit the employer. Sure, it might eat into complacent office staff myspace or facebook time, but those are exactly the people that need to be replaced! As the system is currently, quality and progress are never going to come about because the bar has been set so impossibly high, those that are capable are put off by the inordinate and excessively intrusive applications. Meanwhile the phonies and idiots brazenly walk right under it and into a job (by being "innovative" and "thinking outside of the box"). Further complicating matters are alleged budget constraints make it cheaper to outsource the data-aphid work needed to screen out potential hires to either Bangalore or an algorithm as opposed to a human resident in the location of the job. Quantity counts while quality has been replaced by planned obsolescence because it's cheaper. People have been reduced to living in fear of being replaced as quick as an empty tube of toothpaste with their talent and life squeezed out by an system that only knows the price of everything and the value of nothing either because it is stupid (remember, garbage in = garbage out) or simply does not care.

Yes, I am writing this in frustration as a bilingual, educated, well-traveled unemployed individual who just received a rejection notice stating I wasn't qualified enough to be a utility laborer. Anyone think maybe this is a good time to bring back apprenticeships?

Jay Dead of WA 3:42PM August 03, 2010

Have you ever noticed that in a public social venue such as a restaurant or bar, even the most unattractive woman with little to offer from the quick glance could attract attention and potential suitors?

Employment market places are no different. Poor job descriptions, or templtes put together by computer software with $10/hour clerks responsible for weeding in/out candidates and underqualified hiring managers asking asinine questions during a pre-screen phone interview. Sound familiar?

Problem is, everyone wants to feel sexy and wanted. Companies are the same, even if they are absolute slobs sitting at the bar. And sadly enough, because most of us need a job and have bills to pay, we will approach that woman and have to deal with absolute nonsense whether she was a dream girl or not. The same happens in pursuit of jobs.

Corey W of CA 9:44AM July 31, 2010

i am another frustrated job seeker, wondering what to do ? ive been sending out resumes into the great void of the web and wonder why theres no companies offering living wages anymore?

when i do get one GROUP interview ,its demeaning and and unbelieveable that companies consider this a way to find good employees. to sit in a room and hear out of work job seekers trying to up the next one ....this is what we've come to?

it seems at interviews the answers are never right, its never enough experience, or never enough smile or enthusiasm.

its very dishearting to send out resumes and get no reply or scams.

i've rewritten, redressed and rethought myself over and over to point of lower esteem.

my old job went bankrupt and finding some job thats even close to helping me pay bills seems impossible. i was just doing a temp job , and everyone of us said the job saved us, but now what?

it seems the companies now dont want reliable, intelligent people , they just want unthinking robots for so many minimum wage dead end jobs. i only see this trend getting worse with no way to support myself.

cl pyle of NY 9:31PM July 20, 2010

Re: "Inflating the job requirements would be easy. For example, we can put “Three years of experience required,” in all of our recruitment notices for entry-level positions. We can also require degrees when they aren’t really needed."

Apply anyways. I suspect this is a ploy to discriminate (hey, it's in writing that you do not meet minimal requirements!), but to be able to legally do it, then (cough cough) "bend" the rules when they think someone is suitable without those requirements.

Or, they're trying to get you to accept less pay, because hey, you're lucky you were considered (cough cough).

Re: "Yes, I just want to piggyback on Mary’s ideas and suggest that we use some tests that don’t closely relate to the actual performance of the job."

Yes, the old honesty and integrity tests, where they really (wink wink) want people to be 100% honest and never ever ever flat out tell a client that they're misbehaving and demanding (seriously, of course you never tell a client who is being obnoxious what you really think...duh).

Those tests weed IN people who can manipulate them (and if you can't, you are dumb as rocks), as well as those who are seriously so honest, they're going to be THE most gullible, naive, and...well...dumb as rocks employees you've EVER hired.

And of course, these companies are headed up by Ivy League grads in many cases. Go figure.

Glad I'm Employed of IL 12:01AM July 19, 2010