A Look at Unemployment from the Other Side of the Résumé

I don’t remember what I was searching for the other day on the Internet, but I came across an article from Workforce Management, a magazine I once (when I had a job) relied on for source material. The pub is written for HR folk, and I thought a few of the remarks quoted in the article might be of interest to Lull’s unemployed readers.

The second graf frames the seriousness of our situation:
“The most conservative official estimates indicate that 15 million unemployed workers are now chasing 2.5 million jobs [sic] openings. A more realistic estimate would show that there are 10 unemployed workers for every open job.” The boldface emphasis is mine.

Note that this does not say there are 10 unemployed people applying for each job. No, no, no! There are 10 people for each job opening. This does not take into account anyone’s match for the job, nor does it represent how many actual candidates apply for the job.

According to John Younger, CEO of recruiting firm Accolo, “The average number of applicants across the board, including applicants for executive positions, is more than 200 per job. In the first hour that we looked to fill an executive assistant position, we received 500 applications and shut down the search.”

500? You can hardly blame them for shutting down the search. But the more frustrating number reported here is 1. Our window of opportunity to be considered for some jobs is ONE HOUR. This means that we need to be sitting at our computers at just the right moment, viewing just the right job board in just the right category and be able to write a customized cover letter on the spot.

What’s worse, though, is that Younger continues with this tidbit:
“A lot of companies are afraid to use broad distributions, so they don’t even post jobs and go only to one networking site—for example, the hiring manager’s alumni association.”

Again, this is perfectly understandable from where the hiring manager sits, but it further narrows the opportunity for applicants. I recently applied for a job that I found out later from an insider was probably already promised to someone before the job ad even got posted. The ad was merely a formality.

This is what we’re up against, my friends. But the worst? Younger says employed candidates are preferable to unemployed ones. In fact, he says, “[S]ome employers are vehemently opposed to hiring anyone who is unemployed … .”

Well, isn’t that peachy?

Granted, this is not an investigative report; I’ve given you only one perspective from one publication. But I think it’s worth knowing, if only to use the next time someone asks you what’s taking so long for you to land a job.

On one hand, this information can make us feel hopeless. But on the other, it can give us the courage to go out on a limb—to try unusual tactics, to apply for positions we’re not perfectly qualified for, to not try so hard to write whatever it is we think some HR person is looking for. Our chances of winning a job are about as good as winning the lottery. The important thing is to stay in the game.