So you’re looking for work. Can we be honest? Looking for work is work. Unpaid work. How long would you work that hard for something and get so little, if anything, in return before feeling super frustrated? Employers want the ideal (if not perfect) candidate. As an employment seeker, you want good pay, maybe some benefits and a reasonable amount of needed time off. So you spend time crafting what you think is the perfect resume and cover letter. Which you send to the employer, only to hear nothing back. If you do hear back, it’s the hiring manager chose a different candidate. Yeah, that sucks. What are your thoughts?
If you are fortunate enough to have not looked for employment in a while, here are the step involved:
- Searching for an opportunity that pays well and you have most of the skills for. Per Madeline Mann, HR professional and the self-made millennial, if you have 80% of the skills, apply. (She also says the employer’s “requirements” are a wish list, anyway.)
- Updating your resume. Per indeeed.com, employers spend about seven seconds initially scanning resumes. (1) This varies depending on the number of applicants. Yes, employers get several applicants per job posting so they can’t contact every applicant to tell them why they weren’t chosen. Leaving you to wonder: Did the grammar-checking program miss something that it didn’t yesterday? Did you miss an error? Did you put the correct keywords from the description on my resume? What are the correct keywords? Do they need to be in the skills section or employment history? (Indeed says to put prioritized skills and expertise at the top of your resume.) And then there’s the cover letter… While it’s great that applications can be uploaded online without having to deal with anyone, this introvert appreciates that. Thank you so much.
- Applying. You upload a resume then have to fill out an application. To make sure your resume was uploaded correctly. (What? Technology makes mistakes?)
- The interview, which can be done over the phone or zoom, to save the employment seeker money for transportation to the interview you might not have. Self-made millennial made an interesting point on her Youtube channel. (3) She says the hiring manager might not hire someone who gets nervous and rambles some during the interview. (While they could have the personality of a piece of paper yet they get the work done.) Instead the hiring manager goes for the candidate who reminds them of their college roommate, who turns out to be a lackluster employee.
The standard work week here in the US is 40 hours of the 168 hours in the week, (close to a ¼ of the week.) That’s more time than we spend with our friends and family. With the 7 to 9 hours of sleep adults are supposed to get according to the we’re supposed to get every night (63 hours per week.) (2)
Since we’re supposed to spend this much time at work, (we’ll discuss if that’s antiquated at another time) shouldn’t we at least like what we do? Is it too much to ask that our work doesn’t leave us so utterly exhausted that when we get home all we want to do is collapse in bed? Seriously!
People do want to work. It is satisfying to be able to pay your bills, put some money aside for savings, and some left for something fun. Yet for many, this is as comprehensible as people being able to live on Mars at this moment. I live in a big city in a state where the minimum wage is $15 per hour. A person cannot live on that, and I really hope this isn’t news to you. Employers, if you don’t offer at least $10 more per hour than what the minimum wage is in your state, don’t be surprised if you get few applicants and have a high turnover rate.
Despite being an introvert, the career fair is appealing. It’s a way for a candidate to talk to several companies on the same day. The employers get to actually talk to these people to see what they are like as people and not guessing by the candidate’s resume.
At some point, people could live on one income, have a home and car. Not sure when that became unobtainable. Nowadays, after a day at work and running errands, we’re too tired to do much more than eat crap food in front of a screen before falling asleep.
As a possible solution:
Can we stop with the thinking that we need to be productive every single waking minute? *cough* hustle culture.
Can we stop putting profits over people?
- https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/how-long-do-employers-look-at-resumes
- https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep/how-much-sleep#:~:text=Language%20switcher&text=Experts%20recommend%20that%20adults%20sleep,or%20more%20hours%20a%20night.
- https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxVhvxSe3jWoRSKJ9ZA8dRCMdrXODtY9Tl?lc=UgwVMMoXVTK6V5VG0Dh4AaABAg.A6Elf5C27ItA6MCeKGee9m&lc=UgwVMMoXVTK6V5VG0Dh4AaABAg.A6Elf5C27ItA6MCeKGee9m
These are aspects of life that we don’t give much thought to. And we need to. These are aspects of life that need to improve. We have to stop thinking that this is how life is and there’s nothing I can do about it. Holding onto these ideas is like clinging to the Titanic. We know how it’s going to end and it’s not good.
The desire to revisit this topic came after months of being unemployed and looking for work. Now the pay isn’t the only factor, yet I value my time and if you don’t pay what I think my time is worth, don’t expect me to apply. I did find a federal gig that does important work, yet it doesn’t involve solving crimes, saving lives or protecting people. Some of the employees are expected to work 6 days a week. Hello burnout. After being told the agency couldn’t promise them work. (Not really surprised they constantly need help.)
What are your thoughts on looking for employment? Let me know in the comments below.
Reinventing yourself 
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