Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Recently there was a story in the New York Times about a talented middle manager who was laid off. He had been involved in volunteering, attended a function at the White House and was an all around good guy. The theme of the story was he’d sent out over 400 resumes and had not received a job offer. Oh, I forgot to mention that he was in his late fifties Therefore, it was concluded the reason he hadn’t been offered a new job was because of age discrimination.
We’ve read similar stories to this in major publications regularly since the beginning of the recession. I’m not so naive as to believe that age bias doesn’t exist. Of course, it does. How pervasive it is in the hiring process is more difficult to assess.
My complaint with the story is the implication that because he sent out four hundred resumes, he was conducting a good job search campaign. The natural conclusion one could therefore reach was he was a victim of discrimination. I’m here to proclaim, based on the evidence provided that there is not enough information to conclude bias, but adequate data to say he didn’t run a good job search.
I started writing resumes professionally when classified ads were used to find jobs, not the Internet. Since looking for a job first began, we’ve been on a quest for an elusive system that will systematically link qualified candidates with job openings. The Internet isn’t significantly more efficient than help wanted ads in the local paper.
What works then, you may be asking to find job openings? I’ve also been teaching job search classes for many years and one of the exercises I like to do have participants count on their fingers how many jobs they’ve had. If it’s a group of middle-aged people, some might have to use their toes, also.
Here is a summary of the jobs I’ve had and how I acquired them. Do the same for your work life.
My first job was working at a dime store which I got through a girl friend. Her father was the manager and I worked for him at two stores.
In my second job, I worked for a finance company in a large furniture store. I got this job from a posting in my college placement office.
I actually got my next job from an ad in the newspaper with a caveat. My dad had a friend who worked for the company and he put in a good word for me.
I grew up in a small town in west of Denver that had a brewery. You may have heard of it. I was still in school and thought I’d apply for a part time job as a tour guide. Marching confidently into the employment office, I inquired if they had any openings in the hospitality department. I was told there weren’t any openings. Once again, I went back to my parents. My mom knew a teacher who worked part time at the brewery. I called him. He explained they had at least two openings for tour guides. He gave me the name of the hiring manager who I then called. We set up an interview and I was offered a job without ever going though HR.
In conclusion I want you to know that I’m a Introvert without a large social circle. I didn’t learn about searching for a job from books. Back in those days, there weren’t many books about job search. I used all the resources available to me, but networking and accessing the ‘hidden job market’ worked then just like it does today.
I’m not going to tell you not to use job boards. just don’t make that the whole focus of you job search. Sending out massive amounts of resumes through help wanted ads is statistically one of the least effective ways of looking for a job. It was in 1980 and it still is today.
The post The Difference Between Age Discrimination and Poor Job Search Skills appeared first on RLM Now.
