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05/09/2006
The Job Hunting Circus: Part 2
Quite a while ago, I wrote The Job Hunting Circus: Part 1, which was a rant about the seemingly common practice of posting a job listing when the reality is that the "competition" is rigged (or just a plain waste of time and money for everyone involved).
This time around, I feel like talking about some of the more general things I've come across in my little job hunt - things just make me shake my head, wondering if I should laugh or cry.
First up, a listing which, in the line below the job title, specifically said that the job was "entry-level". Reading further down the page, the requirements state that the candidate should have two years' experience in each of three different job-related things, plus "demonstrated experience" in a fourth. I think I'm going to just double-check a dictionary for the meaning of "entry-level", because I appear to have missed something. I wonder, then, what the term would be for someone who really does have no experience? "Please-gimme-a-job-because-you-feel-sorry-for-me level"?
Then comes my next pet peeve - job ads which say applications should be sent to: Human Resources [+ address of company], or emailed to hr@[companyname].com. Oh, and no phone calls please. Alrighty. So, assuming all those cover letter books are right, and that companies toss all applications which start with "Dear Sir or Madam", it basically means the company is wasting its time posting applications online. I also suspect that this would be a case of what I described in Part 1 - they already have someone in mind but can't hire them on a whim. They have to drag it out, spend money (bonus points if it's spending taxpayers' money), make the Chosen One wait, waste the time of 150 other candidates, and make the whole process like pulling teeth.
Now let's assume that a company is actually planning to at least look at the applications it receives from a public job posting. I've been to a few where actually finding the postings is already an achievement. Sometimes, the process goes like this.
1. Bring up the company web page (bonus points for having to skip a flash intro, mega bonus points if there's no way to skip the flash intro and you have to sit through the whole thing).
2. Try to find which header the job postings might be under. Usually it's in About Us, second most common is Contact Us. Bonus points if you have to bring up the site map.
3. Click on Careers.
4. Click on Opportunities.
5. Click on Current Opportunities.
6. This brings up a page which is blank except for a button which says "Current Opportunities". Click the nice button.
7. Click on the "Current Opportunities" hyperlink.
8. On the resulting blank page with one drop-down list containing "Current Opportunities" and "Completed Listings", select "Current Opportunities" and click Go.
9. A new window pops up with Search parameters. Leave everything blank and click Search.
10. Click the "View Results" link on the page that comes up.
11. Pull your hair out as the whole thing crashes and you have to start over. (Or, if you're me, find a different company.)
Hey companies, you wouldn't do this to your clients. Why do this to potential employees who are going to be the ones busting their butts to make your company rich and successful?! Your clients would see the warning signs - so will your brightest potential employees.
That's my two cents for the day. I've got more in my "Gotta Laugh.doc" file, so I'll pull more out of there soon. Happy job hunting!
15:45 Posted in Job Hunting | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this