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I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 4:14:09 AM

mistoferin

Posts: 8284
Joined: 10/27/2004
Status: offline

I've been interviewing people for the last couple of weeks now and I think I know why the unemployment rate is so high.

People come to their interviews looking like they pulled their clothing out of a rag bag.

Actual answers to questions I asked:

Q. Why did you choose our company to apply to?
A. Because I just really need a job.

Q. Why did you leave your last job?
A. I have a problem getting along with co-workers.

Q. What do you see as your biggest fault?
A. I'm pretty lazy most of the time.

Q. Do you consider yourself to be dependable?
A. Well, other than I'm late a lot...yeah.

Q. You have experience listed that doesn't coincide with your job history. Where did that experience come from?
A. That's what I did when I was in prison.

Q. Have you ever been fired?
A. A couple times. I have a lot of issues and I've been absent a lot.

Q. Tell me about your former employer.
A. He was an immature asshole who needed to grow up and try to act like a professional.

Q. What would you do differently if you had his position?
A. Everything!

Q. What do you think is your greatest asset?
A. At my last job I am the only one who ever did anything. I don't know how they are staying in business since I'm not there anymore. I can't believe they fired me.

Three people didn't bother to show up for their interviews. One was 40 minutes late. I finally selected 3 candidates. Two of them were supposed to start this morning. It's my day off but I drove out there at 5 am to welcome them and introduce them to the staff. Both were no call no shows.

Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!

_____________________________

Peace and light,
~erin~

There are no victims here...only volunteers.

When you make a habit of playing on the tracks, you thereby forfeit the right to bitch when you get hit by a train.

"I did it! I admit it and I'm gonna do it again!"

Post #: 1

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 4:16:00 AM

bandit25

Posts: 3029
Joined: 6/18/2005
Status: offline

What type of business are you in?

(in reply to mistoferin)

Post #: 2

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 4:20:43 AM

mistoferin

Posts: 8284
Joined: 10/27/2004
Status: offline

Well I have my own business doing full scale catering. I also manage a large bakery and that is what I was conducting the interviews for. The positions available were for skilled people....not minimum wage positions.

_____________________________

Peace and light,
~erin~

There are no victims here...only volunteers.

When you make a habit of playing on the tracks, you thereby forfeit the right to bitch when you get hit by a train.

"I did it! I admit it and I'm gonna do it again!"

(in reply to bandit25)

Post #: 3

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 4:21:45 AM

bandit25

Posts: 3029
Joined: 6/18/2005
Status: offline

That is surprising then. Yes, I was thinking unskilled, more or less minimum wage.

(in reply to mistoferin)

Post #: 4

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 4:31:08 AM

cyberdude611

Posts: 2596
Joined: 5/7/2006
Status: offline

They dont teach interviewing, resume-writing, or career skills in schools anymore. And now that "generation Y" is entering the job force, It's starting to show.

(in reply to bandit25)

Post #: 5

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 4:39:34 AM

Twicehappy2x

Posts: 1096
Joined: 3/27/2007
Status: offline

Well.....at least give them points for honesty.......

_____________________________

The human heart is not a finite container but an ever expanding universe with all the stars contained there in.

(in reply to mistoferin)

Post #: 6

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 4:41:52 AM

pahunkboy

Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline

employees- umm. well pay a man/woman a fair days wafe for a fair dasy work.   the peon worker has been downsized outsourced, depensioned, and viewed as disposable. hence: many take on the same "non-allegience" to the employer. no so shocking really.

as for a slothfull culture- im sure we are more slobbish now as compared to past generations.

employers also want someone already trained- and has never had a personality conflict- and no gaps in employment.

my brother screwed out of his pension by 2 months. [2 months!!!!]

at the same time- you have CEOS with golden parachuts. if you hurt yourself at work- you are baggage. a trouble maker.

then there are places that combine 2-3 jobs so as to not have to pay the expense of ample position. with the focus on "emergency" mode- afteer a while every day is an emergency. thus- good staff reaches the breaking point.

i seen an ad around 88 that said no job hoppers. excuse me?   a bank can change their name every year and fake like they are upstanding pillars of community.

at one time a CEOs pay was 68x the rate of the lowest paid worker.

did i mention pensions? any that exist are underfunded.   when i build houses they loved the guys to work or go to jail for child support. guys that had car payments and HAD to work. management would purposely make them angry- and the men would swing the hammers harder that day- improving production. [in theory]

it is nothing peronal- but the almighty corporation- is reaping what it has sowed.

i hereby award myself pahunks informal post of the day award. congrats to me,

(in reply to bandit25)

Post #: 7

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 4:44:51 AM

mistoferin

Posts: 8284
Joined: 10/27/2004
Status: offline

Why bother to apply and waste everyone's time if you don't actually want the job?

_____________________________

Peace and light,
~erin~

There are no victims here...only volunteers.

When you make a habit of playing on the tracks, you thereby forfeit the right to bitch when you get hit by a train.

"I did it! I admit it and I'm gonna do it again!"

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 8

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 4:47:08 AM

pahunkboy

Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: mistoferin

Why bother to apply and waste everyone's time if you don't actually want the job?

a job- not to be treated like a horse put out to pasture.

the deck is stacked. i made more real dollars in 1981 then 1999.

(in reply to mistoferin)

Post #: 9

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 4:48:09 AM

Alumbrado

Posts: 5560
Status: offline

Good points PA... the workforce is shaped in part by the workplace.

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 10

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 6:15:27 AM

petdave

Posts: 2479
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Twicehappy2x

Well.....at least give them points for honesty.......

Seriously. Job interviews are bullshit.
*pauses thoughtfully*
"Well, I think that my biggest flaw as an employee is that I sometimes work *too* hard, and don't realize that I've missed eight meals in a row and all of my colleagues have dropped from exhaustion trying to keep up"
"In five years, I would like to be in a career-focused management position, proactively working to grow the company and expand new paradigms"
"I left my last position because I felt that it did not give me the headroom I needed to buzzword (verbed noun) buzzword superlative"

(in reply to Twicehappy2x)

Post #: 11

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 6:30:11 AM

Sinergy

Posts: 9383
Joined: 4/26/2004
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: mistoferin

Q. Why did you choose our company to apply to?
A. Because I just really need a job.

I usually know what the company does when I get there. And talk to them about what they do.

quote:

Q. Why did you leave your last job?
A. I have a problem getting along with co-workers.

Liminted opportunity for advancement or learning or ojt.

quote:

Q. What do you see as your biggest fault?
A. I'm pretty lazy most of the time.

I am a maverick who will not sign off on something that does not work. Then I cite examples of where this actually happened on various previous positions and the attendant promotions or offers of promotions which followed.

quote:

Q. Do you consider yourself to be dependable?
A. Well, other than I'm late a lot...yeah.

I am psychotically early and if I say I will do something, I will go to the ends of the earth to get it done.

quote:

Q. Have you ever been fired?
A. A couple times. I have a lot of issues and I've been absent a lot.

No. I have been laid off 3 times, twice when the company folded and once when they lost the contract.

I wonder, mistoferin, what industry you are talking about. The dot.bomb offshored a vast number of IT jobs to India, flooding the market in the US and dropping the going rate for, say, a UNIX system administrator from approximately 90k to 36k, if one can even find a job. To suggest that IT engineers are out of work because of poor interviewing skills, without framing it in the context of a crashing industry, seems a bit accusatory.

However, if it is simply a comment about the piss-poor attitudes of people who once commanded great salaries and are now fighting for crumbs, I empathize. Happily, now that I am a union person, I never have to interview again in my life.

Sinergy

_____________________________

"There is a fine line between clever and stupid"
David St. Hubbins "This Is Spinal Tap"

"Every so often you let a word or phrase out and you want to catch it and bring it back. You cant do that, it is gone, gone forever." J. Danforth Quayle

(in reply to mistoferin)

Post #: 12

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 6:44:39 AM

TreasureKY

Posts: 3032
Joined: 4/10/2007
From: Kentucky
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: petdave

Seriously. Job interviews are bullshit.
*pauses thoughtfully*
"Well, I think that my biggest flaw as an employee is that I sometimes work *too* hard, and don't realize that I've missed eight meals in a row and all of my colleagues have dropped from exhaustion trying to keep up"
"In five years, I would like to be in a career-focused management position, proactively working to grow the company and expand new paradigms"
"I left my last position because I felt that it did not give me the headroom I needed to buzzword (verbed noun) buzzword superlative"

Individuals that I interview who give answers such as these immediately go to the reject pile. I have a very low tolerance for BS.

Mistoferin's op made me laugh in a sad sort of way. I can't tell you how familiar those kinds of answers are.

(in reply to petdave)

Post #: 13

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 6:54:19 AM

GhitaAmati

Posts: 3263
Joined: 5/30/2007
Status: offline

Oh good lord! Yea I know how true everythign in that OP is...I saw it as a manager is my previous job....but the truth of it is, it ruins things for all us good people too....

I have 7 years of college in an engineering feild. I also have 10 years working experiance in the same field. I was one of the lucky ones who knew exactly what I wanted to do when I was 15, started working for the company I wanted to, and went to college in the evening to get my degree in the field my boss suggested. When I got pregnant with my second child, I had to take time off for medical reasons. I wasnt able to go back to work there after the baby was born because he had medical issues. Now, that he is two years old. I can not find a job anywhere making more than minimum wage. My husband, who barely passed high school and never went to college past 2 classes, makes $20 an hour and brings home over $1000 a week. Me, I apparently went to college for 7 years to be a housewife. I cant find a job that pays more than daycare wants to charge me, and I cant see working all week just to hand my entire paycheck to the daycare.

_____________________________

I said I was a submissive, I never said I was a GOOD submissive.

Sex without love is a meaningless experience, but as far as meaningless experiences go its pretty damn good.
~Woody Allen

(in reply to TreasureKY)

Post #: 14

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 6:59:29 AM

cyberdude611

Posts: 2596
Joined: 5/7/2006
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: mistoferin

Why bother to apply and waste everyone's time if you don't actually want the job?

It's about today's corporate attitude as well. American corporations dont care about their employees these days. All that matters is the bottom line. Employees know this and they end up with the same attitude. They figure that if the corporation shows no loyalty to them, why should they display any loyalty back?

I read some statistics on careers and it said that over 2/3rds of Americans do not enjoy their job. 3/4ths said they dont believe they recieve enough benefits, and 80% said they would fire their boss if they had the oppertunity.

(in reply to mistoferin)

Post #: 15

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 7:01:05 AM

defiantbadgirl

Posts: 2988
Joined: 11/14/2005
Status: offline

Ok, how about being fired in the past for someone else's failure? I was fired from setting appointments for an exterior remodeling firm because the salesman (someone else, not me) didn't get enough sales from my appointments that week. When asked why I was fired in a job interview, I told them the truth and they sent me away with the all famous "we'll call you."

_____________________________

Only in the United States is the health of the people secondary to making money. If this is what "capitalism" is about, I'll take socialism any day of the week.

Collared by MartinSpankalot May 13 2008

(in reply to TreasureKY)

Post #: 16

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 7:01:56 AM

VadFarkas

Posts: 923
Joined: 6/7/2007
Status: offline

I lost my job when the small company I helped start went under due to the "Orient Express". I have no sympathy for the big companies with high paid CEOs that got us to this point. I finally gave up on the job search when I couldn't get an $8 p/h job and started my own company. This is the 1st time I'm out of work since I'm 14 years old. I've only had 4 or 5 jobs in my life and all those came to me. I have 12 patents and had job offers constantly wup to about 10 years ago. I filled out my 1st resume 2 years ago at 57 years old. It was a very humbling experience to go on a job interview.
I agree that some of us have become very slovenly. I remember when flying, lets say, was something special and people would dress up. Now I see people at the airport dress in closes I would mow the lawn in. That goes for restaurants and most public places. So why not at a job interview? The sad part is that those people are in the majority and think that is the way it should be.

(in reply to GhitaAmati)

Post #: 17

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 7:03:42 AM

Rumtiger

Posts: 2634
Joined: 3/4/2006
From: Vegas
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: mistoferin

Q. Tell me about your former employer.
A. He was an immature asshole who needed to grow up and try to act like a professional.

Holy Shit, that was you?

_____________________________

Fuck the Pandas!
-Moi

Mmm, I love me some kickboxers, you know why? Cause ya'll cant take a punch!
- Quentin Tarantino.

If they cant take a joke, fuck em.
-Tucker Max

(in reply to mistoferin)

Post #: 18

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 7:08:23 AM

TankII7871

Posts: 174
Joined: 4/22/2005
Status: offline

Good people are hard to find. To me its all about attitude if a person if unskilled in my field but has the right attitude i will take the time to train them. I have ran ads, getting only 1 person calling and that person was high. I have found a way to make the whole interviewing process better for me. I meet the people for dinner and talk to them there, that way i at least can have a good meal if nothing else. Being a person who came up through the ranks in my field to owning the company, i know what the people go through in the field. The company is the highest paying company in this field of service in the area we wher i live. For 8 people, the last payroll was over $21,000 for a 2 week period. Even paying this kind of money out, it is extreamly hard to find people that will show up to work every day with the right attitude and get the work done with the high quality standard expected of them.

Good people are hard to find!

Eric

(in reply to Sinergy)

Post #: 19

RE: I know why the unemployment rate is so high! - 8/29/2007 7:17:06 AM

defiantbadgirl

Posts: 2988
Joined: 11/14/2005
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: GhitaAmati

Oh good lord! Yea I know how true everythign in that OP is...I saw it as a manager is my previous job....but the truth of it is, it ruins things for all us good people too....

I have 7 years of college in an engineering feild. I also have 10 years working experiance in the same field. I was one of the lucky ones who knew exactly what I wanted to do when I was 15, started working for the company I wanted to, and went to college in the evening to get my degree in the field my boss suggested. When I got pregnant with my second child, I had to take time off for medical reasons. I wasnt able to go back to work there after the baby was born because he had medical issues. Now, that he is two years old. I can not find a job anywhere making more than minimum wage. My husband, who barely passed high school and never went to college past 2 classes, makes $20 an hour and brings home over $1000 a week. Me, I apparently went to college for 7 years to be a housewife. I cant find a job that pays more than daycare wants to charge me, and I cant see working all week just to hand my entire paycheck to the daycare.

I'm sorry to hear this happened to you and I can relate. When I was married, my husband, a high school dropout I had to fill out job applications for because of his horrible spelling got a job with a higher starting wage than I was making after 2 years with the same company. I got tired of the low wages and call centers closing down so I decided to go to college. Even with a college degree, I doubt I'll make as much as my father did working for a union oil refinery. The most I can hope for is a low paying job where the company won't close down.

_____________________________

Only in the United States is the health of the people secondary to making money. If this is what "capitalism" is about, I'll take socialism any day of the week.

Collared by MartinSpankalot May 13 2008

(in reply to GhitaAmati)

Post #: 20

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