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ORIGINAL: blessedinnyc

Don't forget headhunters and craigslist. What industry does your wife work in?

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ORIGINAL: stellaluna

I spent the last year looking for a new job and finally got one in February, so all this is really fresh for me. I'll give you as much help as I can.

My first best advice for your wife is to sit down and really REALLY look at her resume. Or if she doesn't have one, to put one together. There are lots and lots of websites to help her get started and/or clean it up.

While she's doing that...can you tell us how big a city you live in and also take a look at your newspaper's classified ads. Are the job ads the local "traditional" sort or are they sending people to an outside site?

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How does one handle these types of changes? What should we be doing different when you don't know of a number, a person to call, etc. when doing apps?

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ORIGINAL: gcsmithjr

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How does one handle these types of changes? What should we be doing different when you don't know of a number, a person to call, etc. when doing apps?

In reality, it's probably not as different as it seems. She can definitely look for jobs via the online website, but for someone getting back into the workforce, old fashioned networking is still by far the best thing she can do (this coming from someone who has looked at 489 absolutely worthless resumes submitted online in the last 2 weeks - all to fill 2 low-level jobs that I still can find anyone for).

I'd recommend that she start by asking people she knows for "informational interviews" to find out more about the companies they work for, what they do, and if they're hiring. She can use these as dry runs for the real thing, to get feedback on her resume, and find out who else she might talk to at that company.

Encourage her to talk to people at church, in the neighborhood, wherever she can to let them know she's looking, and don't let her get discouraged - it may take some time but she is way more likely to find something through networking (and doing the kind of old-fashioned follow up you mention), than by submitting her resume online.

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ORIGINAL: rlj

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ORIGINAL: gcsmithjr

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How does one handle these types of changes? What should we be doing different when you don't know of a number, a person to call, etc. when doing apps?

In reality, it's probably not as different as it seems. She can definitely look for jobs via the online website, but for someone getting back into the workforce, old fashioned networking is still by far the best thing she can do (this coming from someone who has looked at 489 absolutely worthless resumes submitted online in the last 2 weeks - all to fill 2 low-level jobs that I still can find anyone for).

I'd recommend that she start by asking people she knows for "informational interviews" to find out more about the companies they work for, what they do, and if they're hiring. She can use these as dry runs for the real thing, to get feedback on her resume, and find out who else she might talk to at that company.

Encourage her to talk to people at church, in the neighborhood, wherever she can to let them know she's looking, and don't let her get discouraged - it may take some time but she is way more likely to find something through networking (and doing the kind of old-fashioned follow up you mention), than by submitting her resume online.

What is it about the resumes that bother you?

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But also the old-fashioned follow-up that I use to do and mentioned here is considered...well...just that: old fashonied. You won't get much luck anymore like that.

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What is it about the resumes that bother you?

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The good news is that your wife is considered a minority because of her gender. Temp agencies are under a alot of pressure to hire minorities.

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ORIGINAL: gcsmithjr

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What is it about the resumes that bother you?

I could go on for about an hour but here are some highlights:
- Typos (if you can't spell "web development correctly I'm probably not going to hire you)
- Clearly over/under qualified (someone with 25 years of experience applying for a position that requires 2 years or vice versa)
- Ridiculous salary expectations (if we post a $35k - $40k salary why do people apply with a $60k salary requirement)
- Wrong company listed in the cover letter (We're not Webber Engineering and never have been)
- Cover letters that demonstrate that you have taken no time to understand what we do (spend 5 minutes on the website, then write the letter)
- Misrepresenting your experience (we check references and employment history and ask lots of questions, so if you can't back up what your resume says don't bother)
- People who apply for every position we have posted (how can you be "the perfect candidate" for three positions that have completely different requirements?)

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ORIGINAL: rlj

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ORIGINAL: stellaluna

I spent the last year looking for a new job and finally got one in February, so all this is really fresh for me. I'll give you as much help as I can.

My first best advice for your wife is to sit down and really REALLY look at her resume. Or if she doesn't have one, to put one together. There are lots and lots of websites to help her get started and/or clean it up.

While she's doing that...can you tell us how big a city you live in and also take a look at your newspaper's classified ads. Are the job ads the local "traditional" sort or are they sending people to an outside site?

She's pretty good at writing resume's I believe, the problem I think with that is her references go back to the '90s. She's been with the kids since 2001. Another problem is there is a Wal-Mart and they send you to a web site. There is a Giant Eagle and they send you to a web site. There is what looks like a decent part time UPS job and they send you to a web site. Time Warner was looking for office work and they send you to a web site. Two of those are within walking distance and 2 more within a couple of miles. The size of where we live is maybe 15,000? There's a good bunch of development in the area both light industry, service, and retail. We are however within 20 minutes of Akron OH which is around 200,000 people.

I'm almost wondering if in those apps they aren't automated and they just dump it when there is no previous employment within a certain time frame.

For me it is just such a different way to do it.

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ORIGINAL: gcsmithjr

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The good news is that your wife is considered a minority because of her gender. Temp agencies are under a alot of pressure to hire minorities.

I have no idea where you got that idea, but women are definitely not considered minorities.

In many functional areas they outnumber men significantly. For example, our HR, Finance, Marketing and Account Management teams are dominated by women (and 3 of the 4 departments are run by women). As a matter of fact, women and Asian men make up about 80% of our employees (and I am the only white male on the executive team) so I'm definitely in the minority.

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You are a little confused about what a "minority" is:

You mention 80% of your employees are Asians. They are considered a minority becase of their race, not becuase of their numbers.

It would not make a difference of 99% of your workforce were female; they would still be classed as a minority. Your wife is classed as a minority because she is a female. That has been going on since the 1970s!

I can't believe you were not aware of that.

Here are 2 of the 4 official minority groups in the US:

(1) US Racial Minority Groups: Blacks, American Indian, Asian Americans, Hawaiians, Hispanics

(2) Women are classed as a minority

Numbers have nothing to do with minority definition. If that were true, women would be a majority. I worked for a company for 12 years where 85% of the work force was Hispanic. But they were still classed legally as a minority group.

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ORIGINAL: gcsmithjr

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You are a little confused about what a "minority" is:

You mention 80% of your employees are Asians. They are considered a minority becase of their race, not becuase of their numbers.

It would not make a difference of 99% of your workforce were female; they would still be classed as a minority. Your wife is classed as a minority because she is a female. That has been going on since the 1970s!

I can't believe you were not aware of that.

Here are 2 of the 4 official minority groups in the US:

(1) US Racial Minority Groups: Blacks, American Indian, Asian Americans, Hawaiians, Hispanics

(2) Women are classed as a minority

Numbers have nothing to do with minority definition. If that were true, women would be a majority. I worked for a company for 12 years where 85% of the work force was Hispanic. But they were still classed legally as a minority group.

Once again, you are incorrect.

Being a woman does not make one part of a minority group or a protected class in the workplace (and it is illegal to discriminate against men or women based solely on their gender). Here is the relevant information from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (which is responsible for enforcing all federal employment regulations:

I. What Are the Federal Laws Prohibiting Job Discrimination?

* Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;
* the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination;
* the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older;
* Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which prohibit employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector, and in state and local governments;
* Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who work in the federal government;

EEOC Website

It is patently illegal to discriminate on the basis of race or gender but those protections apply equally to all races and to both men and women.

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ORIGINAL: ctpruitt

You will probably need to go thru a temp agency as well. The good news is that your wife is considered a minority because of her gender. Temp agencies are under a alot of pressure to hire minorities.

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It has been my experience that even filling out an online application can lead to the need for an actual resume/cover letter. But it sounds to me like she is not applying for professional/managerial positions? (Just surmising from the companies you listed.) In that case, I would definitely be using more of the networking that gc was talking about, especially in such a small town.

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ORIGINAL: rlj

Yeah, this sounds like a dumb name for a topic but hear me out for a minute and it will make more sense:

After 8.5 or so years out of the work force my wife wants to return to work. I haven't put in a job application since 1990, been at the same place. Back in the day one would go into a place of employment and ask for an application often answering an ad in the paper or hearing about it word of mouth. After putting in an app and asking ared couple of questions we'd often call back and find out if we were hired or not- just kind of letting them know we were interested.

The difference today though is many places no longer do their apps that way. Now they seem online, and even crazier they are sometimes taken over the phone.(?!?) It's as if the human element has been completely removed from the equation. Do they just look at the online app and go from there with no interaction?

How does one handle these types of changes? What should we be doing different when you don't know of a number, a person to call, etc. when doing apps?

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I don't mean to make it a sob story it's just wierd that all you do now is fill out a web app, hit send and you don't hear anything back- no human contact, no anything.

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First of all, even though we post all of our positions online, 90% of the people we hire have been recommended by a current employee, client or supplier

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ORIGINAL: solo_soprano23
I even saw a woman that couldn't find anything in her field, so she applied to McDonald's. Then, they wouldn't hire her because she's apparently overqualified. Goodness... What happens when fast food doesn't take ya? I guess they assume you can find better, but sometimes you can't, especially right now.