Don't bother applying for a job unless you've got one: study
As the recession wanes but joblessness stays high, out-of-work Canadians have good reason to feel ostracized.
After all, at a time when 7.4 per cent of Canucks remain unemployed, any job that reaches the market is a prize. In some global sectors, there is something like 83 applicants for each new opening.
But while at least those are the breaks – with so many out of work, there’s bound to be a flood of hopeful employees rushing to any opening – what if a level of unfortunate discrimination was facing job seekers?
What if you were only considered for a job listing if you were … already employed?
According to the New York Times, that’s the reality today facing many unemployed, who are not considered for many listings on account of their being out of work.
It’s the perfect irony, when you think about it, but of a recent review of job vacancy postings on sites like Monster.com, CareerBuilder and Craigslist, the NYT found hundreds of listings that “said employers would consider (or at least ‘strongly prefer’) only people currently employed or just recently laid off.”
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Many of the considered listings contained phrases detailing desired applicants as “must be currently employed” or “are currently employed or recently employed.”
“I feel like I am being shunned by our entire society,” a 45-year-old unemployed IT operations analyst told the newspaper, after a recruiter admitted she would be a “hard sell” to prospective employers because she’d been out of work for six months.
Of course, there are reasons employers would choose to discriminate against out-of-work applicants. An IT operations analyst, for instance, might have fallen well behind developments in her dynamic industry, and would require more training to catch up than another, currently employed prospect.
Still, it’s a damning message suggested on many employment boards: only apply for a job if you’ve already got one.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: Paul | Aug 5, 2021 11:40:17 AM
Absolutely true, even long before they posted the notice. Most postings have hundreds of applicants and the first thing personel departments want to do is reduce the pile, so one of the citeria is that if you don't have a job and or you are not currently employed in your field, your resume goes strait into the crapper.
Posted by: Long Ago | Aug 10, 2021 9:24:52 AM
Many people who are out of a job are due to no fault of their own. Many have not been fired for cause etc.
Unfortunate they may get passed over as they probably will work harder than someone who is currently employed and moving primarily for more money or promotion etc. and not just to make a living. The unemployed can be hired at a lower end of the pay scale and even if requiring some catch up if in a technical job may still be the best bet for many employers.
Those hiring need to put themselves in the same position should it happen to them, and keep an open mind.
Maybe the unemployed can immigrate to India etc. and get their old job back.