the world of gayeA BIG CONVOLUTED MESS OF MISREPRESENTATION
July 22nd 2009 08:05
After being involved with Job Agencies for the last six months while searching for a job I have decided to go right over thier ridiculous heads and write an honest and truthful letter describing myself to potential emplyers.
The job network has become a nightmare full of usless advice, too many barriers between the jobseeker and the employer and too many resumes being put together by agencies that are full of half truths that make the applicant sound perfect in every way.
Advice on how to dress, advice on what to say, advice on how to behave, advice on how to be the perfect person. I am sick of it. If we all take the mountains of advice that is thrown at us there will be hundreds of clones applying for jobs.
Here is why I object and why I think looking for a job has gone beyond a joke. You take a resume into these places which details your strengths, your experience and your qualifications, they then take it and decide that if you have had a months experience on a switchboard then you should put down you were a receptionist at one time. I was not a receptionist and I am not leaving myself open to feeling like an idiot if I am asked to operate one. You may have done a course years ago in office procedures and they tell you to write down you are a skilled office worker. I am not a skilled office worker and I will not lead an employer up the garden path and make them think they are employing someone who will have the skills they require.
The job advertisements now nearly always have something written about good grooming or excellent presentation and then the agencies make sure they tell you to look appropraite. But in todays youth orientated world if you are middle aged like me (which should have nothing to do with the job) you feel like you are finished before you even try. What a middle aged person can bring to a company should not be underestimated, I have years of experience in the workforce and in life which brings maturity and commonsense. I have raised my child which means very few days off. I have learned how to handle all kinds of people in all kinds of situations and I have the confidence to trust my judgement and think on the run.
These are the things I will be putting on my resume..........not half truths.
The barriers that are placed in front of a person before they can even get an interview are beyond a joke as well. Why can I not ring up an employer directly and represent myself if I am intelligent enough to do so? What can a girl twenty years younger than me tell them that I can't? I resent it. I am intelligent and can conduct myself correctly and I want them to get to know me before they decide If I am not what they need. When you ring up for a job sometimes you have to go halfway across Sydney just to see someone in the agency to find out if you can even get an interview !! It's a waste of my time, I want to see the employer directly and if they do not have time to see me surely they are capable of telling me themselves.
I have written my own letter to employers and been as honest as I can be rather than sending the robotic official memo that was made up for me to send. I wonder which one employers will appreciate more?
The job network has become a nightmare full of usless advice, too many barriers between the jobseeker and the employer and too many resumes being put together by agencies that are full of half truths that make the applicant sound perfect in every way.
Advice on how to dress, advice on what to say, advice on how to behave, advice on how to be the perfect person. I am sick of it. If we all take the mountains of advice that is thrown at us there will be hundreds of clones applying for jobs.
Here is why I object and why I think looking for a job has gone beyond a joke. You take a resume into these places which details your strengths, your experience and your qualifications, they then take it and decide that if you have had a months experience on a switchboard then you should put down you were a receptionist at one time. I was not a receptionist and I am not leaving myself open to feeling like an idiot if I am asked to operate one. You may have done a course years ago in office procedures and they tell you to write down you are a skilled office worker. I am not a skilled office worker and I will not lead an employer up the garden path and make them think they are employing someone who will have the skills they require.
The job advertisements now nearly always have something written about good grooming or excellent presentation and then the agencies make sure they tell you to look appropraite. But in todays youth orientated world if you are middle aged like me (which should have nothing to do with the job) you feel like you are finished before you even try. What a middle aged person can bring to a company should not be underestimated, I have years of experience in the workforce and in life which brings maturity and commonsense. I have raised my child which means very few days off. I have learned how to handle all kinds of people in all kinds of situations and I have the confidence to trust my judgement and think on the run.
These are the things I will be putting on my resume..........not half truths.
The barriers that are placed in front of a person before they can even get an interview are beyond a joke as well. Why can I not ring up an employer directly and represent myself if I am intelligent enough to do so? What can a girl twenty years younger than me tell them that I can't? I resent it. I am intelligent and can conduct myself correctly and I want them to get to know me before they decide If I am not what they need. When you ring up for a job sometimes you have to go halfway across Sydney just to see someone in the agency to find out if you can even get an interview !! It's a waste of my time, I want to see the employer directly and if they do not have time to see me surely they are capable of telling me themselves.
I have written my own letter to employers and been as honest as I can be rather than sending the robotic official memo that was made up for me to send. I wonder which one employers will appreciate more?
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Comment by Janet Collins
Acceptable Etiquette
The Social Critic
Janet Collins Blog
My experience with recruiters is this. They all seem to be around 21 or 22 years old. The majority of them seem to be English (not that it should really matter but they seem to dominate the field). They don't even read the Resumes even prior to interviewing you and they are just used to cut down the number of applicants for employers.
The trouble is that it is really hard to get through the doors of employers because they have contracted this job out because they are too busy to do it themselves.
One other thing about recruiters in my experience is that they tend to put people in boxes. If you have a career that might cover a few broad areas, they are at a loss of what to do with you. You really have to tell them.
There is a much bigger queue in cyberspace than anyone really admits unfortunately but I have to agree with you, recruiters always seem a complete waste of time but you really need to be at least registered with them......just in case!
Good luck.
Comment by Anonymous
Schmoozer
I don't know what the job situation is like in Sidney, but in America it stinks, so I imagine times may be difficult in Sidney too. Keep your chin up, and good luck.