Never Throw in the Towel!

Job seekers approach me quite often sharing their frustrations over submitting dozens, if not hundreds, of resumes and receiving less than a 5% response rate. I am not talking about getting interviews, I am referring to not even an acknowledgement of receipt. Most of us take a lack of response as a lack of interest or perhaps that the job was already filled with a different candidate. Common sense would tend to have us come to this conclusion but I am here to tell you that common sense and logic do not necessarily apply to job searches!

One might think this is simply a function of the abysmal economy and glut of unemployed professionals out there but I wish to take you back about 15 years. I had recently joined a recruiting firm and was working late one evening when the phone rang. On the other end was a director from one of the nation's telecommunications giants. Very excitedly, he told me our office had just sent him a perfect resume for a project he was managing and he needed to contact the candidate immediately. He had no idea which recruiter from our office was involved because the HR staff sent him the resume and said they just received it. Having never heard of the candidate, I did some research and discovered the recruiter had left our firm over a year back and the resume was submitted almost 18 months ago. Apparently, it got buried in the Human Resources office's database and just reappeared!!

Upon locating the candidate, I discovered he had taken a 2 year assignment in Europe a few months earlier since no one in the U.S. showed interest in his areas of expertise. The hiring manager at the telecommunications giant got very angry with me until I pointed out that his internal colleagues were the culprits, not our firm.

My long winded point is that a resume is never totally dead even though it appears that way. The corresponding advice is to follow up as best you can on submittals, keep making new ones if a company posts new jobs, and do your best to find new places to send your credentials. Sadly, it could take hundreds of attempts to get just a handful of interviews but please never throw in the towel because you absolutely must stay in the game to have a chance to get off the bench!

New Challenge

Never before in my 20+ years in the staffing industry have I been posed with the challenge that entered my life in the last week. After 24+ years working for 3 incarnations of a major telecommunications firm, my wife was caught up in their rather routine Thursday morning RIFs (Reduction in Force I believe) and finds herself unemployed for the first time in well over 30 years. The way this large company handles separations is rather cold, impersonal, and pretty much insensitive. Her unit was informed at close of business on Tuesday to be at their desks Thursday morning as their would be layoffs. On Thursday, her immediate supervisor walked in with an envelope containing her separation paperwork and, by the time she got home a few hours later, her email account was shut down.

The only silver linings are there are a few months before payroll and benefits stop and severance was somewhat fair. An outplacement company was provided to her for 3 whole months. At her orientation yesterday, she discovered that much of the advice disseminated to her was pretty much what I share with you in this blog! Her tenacity at not letting any grass grow under her feet is impressive. Occasionally, I will share snapshots of her search with all my readers, but have no fear, I will continue talking about whatever else comes to mind as always!