An open letter to potential employers...(long rant)

[JLRodgers]

....These same employers then can't figure out why their position still isn't filled, and the ad runs every Sunday, and has...for the past 6 years

6 years? I think I'd of gotten the hint after, oh, two weeks with no applications. Or even two weeks with no one applying that had the CPA license.

[PuckishOne]

Locally, many employers want their prospective hires to be well-educated. It annoys the hell out of me that a CPA is required (or "preferred"), yet, the starting salary amounts to jack shit!

I get something similar to this in my job-hunting: Yes, I have a bachelor's degree. Yes, it's from a "good liberal arts school." Yes, I have a good breadth of knowledge, flexibility and tons of experience. And yet, if I hear the word "overqualified" one more time, I may commit a violent act.

I've worked in HR before; I know it's perfectly acceptable to tell an applicant that "the salary range of this position isn't what you've indicated you're looking for." Just tell me that you were looking to pay an entry-level wage and I'll be on my merry way and stop wasting your time. But it's frustrating - not to mention demeaning, annoying, and several other -ings - when I go to the trouble of an interview only to have the "o-word" inflicted upon me as code for "we'd really like someone as smart as you, but who will work for 15 grand less per year."

[draftermatt]

It annoys the hell out of me that a CPA is required (or "preferred")

How about this one:

A lot of drafting jobs in my area require you to have an Associates Degree in CAD (which is dumb, but I digress) I have an Associates Degree in Engineering, and have been a CAD operator for almost 7-8 years. But I don't qualify for the jobs because I don't have a CAD degree.

[Geek King]

I get something similar to this in my job-hunting: Yes, I have a bachelor's degree. Yes, it's from a "good liberal arts school." Yes, I have a good breadth of knowledge, flexibility and tons of experience. And yet, if I hear the word "overqualified" one more time, I may commit a violent act.

I've gotten the "overqualified" speech many times over the years, and it seems to mean one of two things:

1) We're afraid you'll find something better and take off.

2) We're afraid you'll take our jobs, as you're more qualified for them.

I've also had the worst excuse ever--"We're afraid you'll be bored." WTF? What kind of excuse is that? I've actually told HR people before, "If you keep me paid, I promise, I can keep myself busy." I'd rather be bored than busy starving.

I won't even get into the union job that told me I was too productive.

[Mr. Rager!]

One of my best friends went for an RN internship at the Mayo Clinic. He got a lot of rave responses from the people who interviewed him and it sounded like it was pretty much his; however, he did not get the internship.

So, he wrote a letter thanking for them their time and consideration. And he also added in there that he was glad that they found the high quality people to fill up all the intern positions.

About 2 weeks after sending that letter, he got the internship and it eventually led to a job.

I've had it happen before too where I was given rave reviews in the interview, but did not get the job. There are times when it just comes down to whether or not they feel you fill it in appropriately with the people that are already working there. And yes, soemtimes they just like to string people along and it's really unfair.

But to call them and complain definitely hurts your chances of any shot in the future with them.

[PuckishOne]

I've also had the worst excuse ever--"We're afraid you'll be bored."

Yeah, I've heard that one, too. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt (for some reason) and take it as a compliment, but once I couldn't de-snark myself in time and I asked the interviewer if she was concerned that a bored Puck would conspire to take her job. I then thanked her for her consideration, apologized for wasting her time, and excused myself. Not my finest hour, but it really does get old, hearing lameness like that over and over when you're just trying to find gainful employment.

[JLRodgers]

I absolutely HATE the overqualified thing! I once told a HR person (I was a tad-bit annoyed when they said it, so it wasn't like I'd be losing a job):

"If I could find something better in the area in my field, or knew I wouldn't like the job and would quit -- do you really think I would've applied? Yes, I've been a manger... I've worked for an international company dealing with more security issues than you can imagine... I've developed programs that if were inaccurate could cost lives (it was a car based industry, programs were designed for QA, if the numbers were wrong, defective parts would be shipped and could cause deaths)... yes I have certifications in fields not related to this, all of which make more than you probably do ---- so if I could get a job in any of that in this town, do you really think I'd be applying for a part time administrative assistant position that makes minimum wage?"

Of course I was told "good point" and said I was no longer "overqualified".... then the college lost the funding for the division I applied for, so no position existed (and the HR person was "demoted" to prevent having to let him go). I'd say they lied... but it's a small town, the place actually closed down (it's a meuseum now), and the HR person is now a part-time professor.

[Andara Bledin]

I've gotten the "overqualified" speech many times over the years, and it seems to mean one of two things:

1) We're afraid you'll find something better and take off.
2) We're afraid you'll take our jobs, as you're more qualified for them.

I've also had the worst excuse ever--"We're afraid you'll be bored." WTF? What kind of excuse is that?

*twitch*

When I was job hunting over a decade ago ($deity, I love working in a stable environment), I used to get denied positions constantly for two things, often from the same exact companies. 1: Over qualified. 2: Not enough experience.

The thing that drives me nuts about the whole "you need more experience" is that nobody that was hiring that didn't require experience would give me a second look, because for them I was usually massively over qualified.

The boss man here actually told me that he thought I'd get bored and stop being productive because the job I was hired for was pure data entry. I sat at a terminal for 8 hours a day entering information that had been stored on cards prior to then.

I love data entry. Sure, it's as exciting as counting grains of sand, but it's dead easy, and there are no surprises. You don't have to deal with others, much, and as long as you know how the program works, you're golden.

^-.-^

[CancelMyService]

Here's something worse: my wife got lied to by a temp agency of all places. Her current job underpays and over stresses, not to mention they put her safety at risk by having her alone with juvenile sex offenders. Since our healthcare and other fun bennies come from my job, she's ready to tell them to GFY and find something else.

A local temp agency here was advertising a position with the agency itself as a recruiter. It seemed like something she would be into so she applied. They had her drive downtown at the end of a business day (ie: right into mindblowingly heavy traffic) and instead of interviewing her for the job they just had her fill out the usual temp agency paperwork you do for them to find you a job. Complete waste of time, energy, and $3 a gallon gas.

She has a Master's degree so she's getting variations on the "you're overqualified" speech left and right. At this point it seems pretty clear employers are afraid that anyone they hire with a college degree won't be as easy to turn into a "lifer".

[Kogarashi]

I've been on the receiving end of "not enough experience" too many times to count. It irritates me that everyone wants more experience than I have. How am I supposed to get it, for crying out loud?

Surprisingly, Wal-Mart didn't give me the "overqualified" speech when I applied there just four months out of college. Go figure.

My only temp agency gripe was with the job they advertised as "light industrial work, assembling packets." Sounds like sitting on something akin to an assembly line and putting stacks of paper together into information packets or something, and that's how the temp agency lady described it, too.

First, I was told to be at the job at 11am. 8:30am rolled around and I was woken up by a phone call from the agency asking why I wasn't at the job yet. I explained the time I was told to be there, and was told that the job started at 8am and the employer was wondering where the extra help was. I told them that I couldn't be there any sooner than 10:30, but would try.

I got there, and there was one other temp employee in this warehouse/factory setting changing out labels on mailing bag tags. I got put to work with the same job, which seemed easy enough, though it wasn't "packets." I could lean against a nearby stack of bags to rest (I was about 2 months pregnant at the time).

Got that job done in about two hours and asked to take a break to eat something. I spent about fifteen minutes eating my lunch before heading back down to the factory floor because the employer didn't seem to understand the concept of a break, let alone multiple breaks (I didn't ask for any more). I spent the next four to five hours without a break from the work (remember, 2 months pregnant, and quite hungry/tired).

Then came "packet time," which consisted of stacking homeschooling catalogues together, running them through a machine to print mailing addresses on them (and constantly unjamming said machine), grabbing the catalogues in stacks of 10-20, and rubber-banding them together with three bands before tossing them into a bag at the end of the assembly line. The factory owner and one of his regular employees (I suspect the only one) helped us two temps out with this, but it was hard on the back due to no chairs to sit on and hard on the hands due to the rough paper and rubber bands. We didn't get breaks for water or to sit down unless the machine jammed. At one point, the owner's wife and toddler showed up, talked for a while (distracting the owner), and in the toddler's case meandered around all this "don't stick your hand in here or you'll lose it!" machinery with little to no supervision. Oi.

The job was supposed to end for the day at 5pm. Around 5:30, the assembly line was still going strong but I begged off because I needed to be home. The owner looked confused and asked if I would be back the next morning. I replied, "probably not." As soon as I got home, I called the temp agency and explained that I couldn't do that five days a week and would they please find me a different job.

I ended up with the Call Center of Doom, but that's less of a misrepresentation and more of a "managers too upbeat to realize they're demanding the impossible."

[DesignFox]

Yea, the overqualified speech sucks, but at least for some of you, they were honest.

One store I worked at, they didn't bother telling me I was "overqualified." They just strung me along for about a year, promising me a promotion. I interviewed with the district manager and it was supposed to be "just a formality" but they gave the job to someone else.

I threw a bit of a tizzy about the whole situation. So, I got a call back...only to be offered barely more money than I was making and still only part-time work.

No one said it, but I know they low-balled me to get me out. I was overqualified for the job and I wanted too much money. Rather than even bother negotiating, I was basically forced to quit.

Oh well. Sometimes we don't get what we want, but it turns out to be better in the long run.

It's funny to hear some of you say that your employers fear that you'll "get bored." I flat out warn all my employers that if they let me "get bored" they can bet I'll be looking for a new job within a year. I like to learn, I like responsibility. So far, my current boss is the only one who's taken me up on the challenge...

It's frustrating but I hope all works out for those of you having interview woes.

[tropicsgoddess]

I've had this happen to me once last year, I was looking for jobs to get out of the low pay, low hour and no bennies job I had at the restaurant (I was a Hostess). I applied online to this pharmaceutical distributing company as an outbound phone sales rep. The interview went great, my pee test came out clean and the interviewer told me that he'd call me to let me know if I'll start next week or the week after. Fast forward, no call, nothing. So I tried calling him back to see what happened and all I got was his voice mail. I did everything I could without being pushy and still nothing. I was crushed and upset that they stringed me along like that with such a good offer and the fact that the job was 9-5 no weekends and holidays and close by my house.
Hell, I even see their ads for the very same position on jobing.com more than once, so I guess there was a reason why I didn't get that job.

[Racket_Man]

But to call them and complain definitely hurts your chances of any shot in the future with them.

it is not a matter of rave reviews during the interview it is in the fact that in my case the PRESIDENT of the company stated CLEARLY he was going to hire me.

my calling the HR person was to let them know I WAS displeased with their company personel.

as for calling them on their behavior, I'm sorry that is NOT a company I would want to work for for many reasons.

[zzapp the witch]

Had I been the one to field the, "Had he gone to design school?" question, I would have answered, "Obviously, he doesn't need to!"

[anyanka2]

Ugh, temp agencies. I applied to one via an ad for a position that I have experience doing and set up times to come in to fill out the application, interview, and testing. I shouldn't have bothered to fill out the app - my resume would have sufficed and I did not appreciate taking 45 minutes to come and fill it out. The interview was just going over my resume and finding out my preferences for job placements. The test process was insulting - I scored "beginner" level on MS Office and Powerpoint, despite have a BA from a top 25 university, which should speak for itself over the IMO arbitrary test results. The final straw was what happened after I finished the test - the recruiter was so busy chatting with another applicant who listed ebonics as a foreign language, thus delaying my departure at least 15 minutes, and told me that the specific posting had been filled, but she was anticipating more openings coming up. I was supposed to call back once a week for an update, not her informing me when there were openings. The whole experience just left a bad taste in my mouth.