Finding a new job sucks

Ok so a bit of a clickbait title as I’m personally not looking for a new job right now but I have been helping a couple of friends in their search as well as helping my eldest write a CV for school and look for summer work so I am a bit invested in it right now plus it’s always good to keep an eye on the market and who is hiring and for how much.

First off, the elephant in the room. The web industry that I am in is burning right now with lots of jobs being let go, companies cutting back or going under and it’s not just the little ones either. Big names are going through tough times as well so finding a new job is also difficult right now too.

That said, having now spent a bit of time reading job specs and listening to experiences as well as drawing on my own experiences over the years, I believe something needs to change as I see too many good people feeling so low and demoralised despite being top of their game.

Linkedin

We all use it to look for job related stuff. It’s got a bit more social but ultimately we’re here to talk work and jobs and I feel the system is letting people down.

Apply Now

On paper is great. Simple way to get your name and CV infant of hiring people quick. But then so does 100-200 other applicants. I recently read a blog post about this and why you should never use Apply Now, be more direct and go to the hiring manager or equivalent. Seeing the amount of applicants immediately sets doubt into your mind about that role and your chance of getting through or at least that is the experience of those I have spoken to.

Responses

If you have applied for a role, it’s always good to get a response and even better of the response is positive. Sadly for many, those responses never come, good or bad. You’re ghosted.

Now on the flip side, I have sympathy with companies who have 100-200 candidates to get through. I’ve been there so I wonder if the system is flawed in how it works to allow us to get into the situation to begin with. Remote working also means that you have candidates from all over the world. Like I said,? I have sympathy.

Skills

On postings, there is usually a list of skills on the role and if by chance you have the same skills listed, it will tell you that you matched. There’s a limit to skills you have can on your profile and I would tend to pick the ones that are relevant to me but often roles have such obscure skills listed that yes you have but with a finite amount of slots, I am going to pick UI and UX over visual ideation and visual design. I don’t know how companies use this section so maybe it’s not such a big deal if you only match 5 out of 10 but it seems unfair if you have chosen a set over something else.

Recruiters

It’s your turn now. Recruiting must be hard. I have sympathy here. You might speak to loads of people and the vast majority are just not good enough or cannot hold a conversation. I’ll flip that and say the vast majority of recruiters I have spoken to don’t understand what I do, have no interest in getting to know me and quite often ring me a week later with no recollection of speaking to me before and I spend the next 10 minutes telling them my salary and where I would commute from.

I know most times I speak to someone and the call ends, I’ll never hear from that person again.

I can count of one hand the amount of recruiters I would get in touch with if I ever needed help out of 100s I spoken to in the last 20 years.

It’s such a cold relationship and it doesn’t need to be. The amount of times I have been excited about a job only to speak to the recruiter and I feel negative about the role because of the recruiter and the experience of speaking to them.

CVs

I believe them to be a waste of time, especially in the area that I work yet I’m told mine has to standout from everyone else to get hired. I’ve spent ages on mine only for a friend who writes CVs for a living to tell me mine is boring, dull and she doesn’t care about who I worked for yet it follows the same format as every other CV I have ever seen. Helping my lad writing his and I get the point of them but being visual and working in a visual role, surely my design work is more important.?

What would help?

Communication is key for me here with recruiting. I believe there should be more conversations between hiring people and candidates. Don’t hide behind software and auto responders. Spend 5-10 minutes getting to know the people who applied. See how they talk about their work, their passion. I realise as I say this that this might be such a huge job for someone and I get it. I think we need to weed out the ones that are simply not good enough and maybe that comes down to how they apply. Can we not ask more questions upfront I don’t know but right now, it’s a very cold, frustrating and exhausting process to go through especially if you are not in work and need a job to pay bills. People feel rejected before they even start.

Salaries?

Post the god damn salary or a range. Be honest. Save yourself some time and others by telling people what you are paying.

In summary

We need to be more human about it all which I know is easier said than done. Answers on how to fix it all on a postcard please.