The Glade 4.0

So, while I'm waiting for all these companies to call me back after countless hours of interviews, applications, seemingly pointless questionnaires and tests (yes, tests!)....I have taken a job in the meantime for minimum wage, part-time (18 hours a week) as a grunt worker at a local vet clinic.

I had a 5 hour interview with a Fortune 500 company in January and never heard back from them...called them 3 weeks ago and they said they were still "in the process of interviewing applicants." I spent 3 hours applying for, completing online exams and writing my 6 page "written interview" (EVERYTHING is done online these days...no human contact) for an in-house job at the local temp agency and it has been 3 weeks without so much as a peep. I called them a few minutes ago to check in and she said they have no idea how long it will be but hopefully they will know something within a couple more weeks, but really they are not sure, "it just depends." On what?? Finish your sentence, lady!

I keep hearing that over and over..."it just depends." And no one completes the sentence.

There is no business etiquette anymore. You can spend literally hours of your time applying for and jumping through hoops for EACH JOB and, as the rude little English lady at the temp agency informed me: "Employers no longer have to inform you of anything in regards to a job application." So, there is no way to know anymore whether you are being considered for a job other than to ask, and as I have found out several times even asking does you no good as you just receive vague answers about "still reviewing" and "it depends."

Used to be that most places would give you a courtesy call or email within 2 weeks or politely inform you when you called or emailed them. Now? Now you can wait several weeks without so much as a damn email (seriously how long does it take to send out a form letter via mass email to all applicants? 2 minutes?) but still be considered in the running for a position even after 6 weeks? It's incredibly frustrating because my time is valuable too, people. Don't waste MY time!

The only thing you can do is what I'm doing now....keep applying for everything, keep going to interviews, keep hoping, and take whatever part-time job you can get in the meantime to help make ends meet.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

*hugs* hang in there.

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Thanks Hop. Had my first day at the grunt job yesterday and got chewed out by the receptionist who has been there for 20 years and thinks she runs the place..."You are NOT ALLOWED to answer the phone!"
(She was busy and the phone was ringing off the hook so I put down the broom and answered the phone)
Really? I'm 30 years old, I have a COLLEGE DEGREE, I've been in the work-force since 1998 and I'm not allowed to answer the phone??
Oh boy.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Oof I have one of those at my office. I call her the guard dog.

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Yeah, the vet pulled me aside and told me that she doesn't like anyone, she'll make me cry, she thinks she owns the place, she bosses HIM around, she thinks everyone is lazy but her, he tries to get her to stay up front but she comes and does everything in the back of the house too, he should have gotten rid of her a long time ago, but she is soooooo good with the animals...blah blah blah and if I would please kinda do what she says and go along with it like everyone else even though he says I probably know more than she does. *sigh*

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

That sounds eerily familiar

Hang in there and sneak peanut butter cookies in her pockets for the dogs to find.

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Determine how much you're worth per hour, and send the Fortune 500 company a bill for the time you spent interviewing with them. Do the same with the temp agency.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

I would be sending them a bill for about $100...ironically the same amount I am currently making for a whole week's worth of work as a doggie maid.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

When you made the first post, I suggested billing them for your time. A five hour interview is excessive. That's half a day of work. If your time isn't worth enough to you to pursue it, why would you expect your time to be worth enough to the company to hire you?

What's the worst that can happen? They decide not to pay and not to hire you? That's already happened. Send them a bill. Boost your hourly rate, too.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

The bill wouldn't hold up in civil court. A meeting is not a contract.

By the same rationale they could bill her for their time.

She couldn't take them to court for $100 anyway.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

LK,

I'm sure you know this, but Coro is giving you really bad advice.

Just keep following up with them every week or two and hope for the best.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are roughly 238,000,000 American citizens in the Civilian, non-institutional population, of which 148,000,000 currently have jobs (62%). The Civilian, non-institutional population is every citizen between 18 and 67 not employed by the U.S. Armed Forces or in prison. As it stands, of the 148,000,000 people with jobs, approximately 30% are economically underemployed (that's 44.5 million people). These are people, like you, who have some sort of work below (either in terms of actual compensation or hours worked) their average earning potential as established by the period from 1990 to 2001. Now, it's important to note that balancing metric, because 1990 to 2001 represents a fundamentally over-saturated and cash loose employment period. It's not a good standard by which to judge current employment, but we've been chasing peak 1997 employment levels since Bush the Younger took office. This tends to skew both expectations and actual statistical reporting, because "normal" is actually what traditional economics views as an irrational job market.

Of course, you're wondering how all of this applies to LadyKate, and I have an answer for that, but it's not very happy. I do apologize in advance for how heartless and cruel this will seem.

We're in a depression. 30 years of over-employment, coupled with an unreasonable shift in product and service balances, created a situation wherein you are neither needed nor qualified for the positions you seek. This is not through any fault of your own, but economic realities are shifting requirements upward and compensation downward all around you. Quite simply, the companies (including the temp agency) where you seek employment have no need for you, because there exists a glut of previously over-qualified (both in terms of certifications and experience) applicants against which you have to compete. Indeed, the market is such that even people with degrees as prestigious as MBAs from Harvard and U Penn's Wharton College are being told to go back to school.

Consequently, there really isn't much you can do about the situation but to keep hitting the bricks and hitting them hard. It is a good thing that you have taken the work available to you, but the situation we're facing is not as hopeful as the television, pundits, and government wants you to believe.

Or, in case that was TL;DR ...

They aren't being polite because the economic situation means they don't have to be.

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Khross, I've pretty much come to that conclusion already. Each time a job opens up in our area, the employer is flooded with so many applications they have to stop accepting them...anyone who is hiring right now can have their pick of the most qualified applicants for a fraction of what they are really worth, even in a realistic market.
Simply put, the job market is flooded with very qualified people and unless you have several years experience in the specific job you are applying for or an advanced degree and/or certifications for that specific job, you aren't even in the running.
I can't even get a clerical position, that's how fierce the competition is.
I may complain about having a college degree and being worth $37k a year (my last employment compensation) and having to be a doggie maid for $100 a week, but I'm extremely lucky to have even found this job and gotten hired for it.
Not that I'm giving up or anything, but I have an extremely realistic view right now on the job market and I am confident that the unemployment numbers for our state are probably not even close to accurate.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Actually Khross, what she's running into has been standard operating procedure in the corporate world for a long long time now. Sadly fewer and fewer companies take the time to send out rejection letters or emails anymore.

Well, he didn't say it was a new thing.

I actually did receive ONE letter so far out of the 3 dozen jobs I have applied for in the past 10 weeks. Nice and formal rejection letter from my old job that I applied and couldn't even get an interview, hahaha!
Seriously, I can't believe that companies don't even bother emailing or sending phone calls at least to the people they have personally requested an application from, chosen to interview, or otherwise have required their time while dangling a job in front of them. I can understand not sending an email to every Tom, Dick, and Jane who emailed you a resume, but come on people! Have SOME etiquette for those who you have parlayed with!

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Or in short it's an employers' market.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

In situations like this, I believe the best thing to do is to start a service oriented business.

Find a niche ... a thing that you'll do that people who have disposable income don't want to do, and offer that as a service. Market it aggressively, target the folks that will want the service, and work hard. Do that for 6 months or so and then re-evaluate. Change what you're doing 'till you find success.

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In time, this too shall pass.