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April 09, 2007

No Second Chance

Name Withheld by Request

After a 28-year professional and rewarding career in the title insurance industry in San Francisco, I headed to the east coast to tend to elderly parents. Not having sought employment in many years (I was the one who was always approached by employers) I have been flabbergasted by many aspects of the job seeking and application process of today.

First of all, the amount of information required up front is outrageous. I have had to supply social security number, passport, driver’s license number, references, urine specimen, authorize credit check and background check, etc. etc., just to fill out an application, including for 6 and 7 dollar an hour jobs at grocery stores and nursing homes.

Not to mention all of the online submissions of my resume. All of this info provided not even an interview! If my identity is not stolen it will be a miracle. A staffing agency sent me to three interviews, one at a credit union and two at real estate information services firms. Thinking these would be right up my alley, I was shocked to be told I was “overqualified.”

I find myself in a down market in an economically depressed area (Pittsburgh) where there are very few middle management office jobs. I have discovered I am a dinosaur, and not sure what, exactly, to explore as a new career.

In the meantime, I cannot land entry level low paying jobs (I made more money babysitting in high school) because I am overqualified. I have to get my thinking cap in high gear and come up with a new profession pretty quick, just when I should be planning my retirement. News flash to job seekers: don’t move to Pittsburgh, Pa.

April 09, 2007 |

Comments

Their should be a website, LeavePAorStarve.com!!!! My best advice for you is to find out where friends or family of yours work, and are happy (if anyone is these days), and apply there. It is all about the people you work with.

Posted by: barbsright | April 09, 2007 at 08:20 AM

You're right - middle management jobs are far and few between. You're either overqualified or they already filled the position. And the low-level jobs are tough to come by.

Temp. agencies aren't much better. All the documentation just to do Data Entry?

I constantly monitor my credit statements/reports, but what about all the other information, i.e. personality tests, that the company gets, but you are not privy to?

Maybe we should all move to India?

Posted by: fedup | April 09, 2007 at 05:01 PM

It’s so sad, You spend your life building up a career and becoming a master at it when it turns out that the less experience person gets the job. If for no other reason then the fact that he/she can be paid less. Hmm…………

Posted by: Justin K. | April 16, 2007 at 10:57 AM

You been out of town for ten years? Welcome to the real world.

Posted by: jain | April 16, 2007 at 03:33 PM

I have absolutely no experience in the title insurance industry, but have you contacted your former employer (and other networking contacts in your field) about any free-lance project opportunities they might have.Many jobs lend themselves to working remotely. Again, don't know about your profession,but freelance at something you like and are good at may be infinitely preferable to the lower end jobs you're overqualified for to begin with. Good luck!

Posted by: Maureen Rogers | April 28, 2007 at 03:24 PM

I wish you the best of luck. I've never been to the East but judging by the number of Easterners hell bent on moving here (Colorado),it must be rough over there and I'm apparently not missing anything. Again, best of luck in your job search.

Posted by: Chris | May 13, 2007 at 11:04 AM

you should already know better than to look for work in Pittsburgh unless you are a doctor or a nurse

Posted by: dennis | June 05, 2007 at 12:45 PM

Oh, I forgot, maybe you can get a job as a change person at the new slots casino. Oh, never mind on that either, no change people, too expensive, the machines will provide all of the change.

Posted by: dennis | June 05, 2007 at 01:20 PM

It's not just Pittsburgh--Stay away from Florida-- it's one big plantation. Well, maybe Miami's an exception; haven't been there recently.It's a race to the bottom, as they say...

Posted by: Cris | June 05, 2007 at 02:01 PM

I can relate to your experiences. I am so sorry that you are having such a tough time. I am a casualty of the music business, which is in very bad shape, and I live in New York City. When I do get interviews, the words "over qualified" seeem to always pop up as the end result. For six years, I worked freelance, but that option dried up and now, for seven months, I have been frantically seeking work, and can't even seem to get hired as a cashier. Sadly, I know so many people across the country who are in the same boat. It isn't comforting, at all, to know that others are suffering.

Posted by: Susan Berlowitz | June 07, 2007 at 10:12 AM

I am looking for work as well- and I get those pre screen calls where the recruiter has no clue about the position and they expect good qualified answers about hypathical scenarios. How can someone expect you to nail the question about their workplace when you know nothing about the job or the workplace there?

If you look at it as a formula you would have;

X= right answer
Y= possible variables
Z= Question
W= other unknowns not know to you or the screener because they take the answers to the hiring manager.
C= canned answers found in books and internet

X= (Z)(Y/C)(W)

How could you possibly answer correctly?

example; "if you got the position, and there were some other people under you who were disgruntled about being passed over how would you handle the situation?"

correct answer; don't answer this, it is a trick. anything you say will be wrong because you don't know enough about the situation. or if you have to answer say "I would do nothing"

I am a director in a company and hiring like this is retarded. get to know the candidate first and tell them about the job and then lay into them about the past and what they did there- not what they can or cannot do for in a future situation.


Posted by: jeff | June 09, 2007 at 09:54 AM

Yes, Susan,

"Overqualified" is a term used frequently by hiring managers because

1) They don't want to pay you what you're worth,

2) They're afraid that you're smarter than they are and can see through their B.S.

Keep plugging away. We are all in the same boat! Good luck!

Posted by: fedup | June 09, 2007 at 12:48 PM

m365k

Posted by: ro945ck | July 05, 2007 at 07:31 PM

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