Are Online Job Sites A Sham?

Something just isn't right about the job market.  There's something extremely different about it now in comparison to 5+ years ago that's not sitting well with me.

I lost my full-time job of five years back in January 2013.  It was the best job I'd ever had in regards to the pay and the people I worked with daily.  I had a cool, yet effective, boss and some of the greatest co-workers a guy could ask for on any job.  However, a "financial decision" was made and 50 people lost their jobs.  Two months later we all got to read about the CEO of our company getting a $29.9 million dollar compensation (up 37% from the previous year).  He could have paid everyone in my office $100,000 a year for two years and still had roughly $20 million left over.

But, that's not my gripe (although I felt the need to mention it - LOL).  I don't think that anyone should be required to share their money.  But, I do think that it's morally wrong to take food off of people's tables so that you can turn $13 million into $30 million.  But what does this country care about morals anyway?  That's a blog post for another day.

I'm wondering about the job market itself and how employment rates are down yet opportunities are still not there.  When I searched for a new job I found so many openings, for which I was qualified, on multiple websites.  According to the e-mails that I saved with each online application, I applied for over 200 jobs in a three month period and only received five phone interviews and three in-office interviews.  This doesn't even include the times in which I applied for jobs in-person. 

How could there be so many listings yet so few responses?

After the first 50 or so non-responses to my online applications, I got some help from a friend and changed up my resume.  I did get my first phone call after doing that, but it was just that.  A phone call.  I continued to fill out applications on multiple sites and not get any responses aside from generic auto-emails.

I've never had a problem getting jobs in my life until last year.  Since January 2013, I've only had one company contact me about a job doing in what I'm most experienced in.  I didn't even reach out to them.  They contacted me!  Unfortunately for me that job was in South Carolina and I had no desire to move.  Luckily, I finally had someone give me an opportunity to work for them, but wasn't in the field of my previous experience.  

What are these online sites doing?  They're supposed to make it easier for people to get a job.  It's one thing to be turned down after an interview, but to not even get an interview?  I'm not bragging, but my resume isn't all that bad.  I have a wealth of experience in a lot of different fields.  I've been promoted in three of the last four full-time jobs in which I've had.  I've received performance bonuses at every single full-time job I've had since 1995.  Every one.  I've only missed work on my full-time jobs on two occasions since 2002 aside from three bereavement leaves (grandmother, mother, wife): when my late wife found out she had been diagnosed with breast cancer (2002) and when I had tore my patella tendon and required surgery (2011).  So, I'm efficient and reliable.

Are online job sites a scam?  Are they marketing your information to other sites and quick-fix educational institutions?  I don't have an answer and maybe some of you out there can shed some light on the subject.  I'm starting to think that the reason there are so many job sites online is because very few of them are on the up-and-up.

Do you think that online jobsites like Monster, Indeed, or CareerBuilder are scams?

Going Back to Cali

(written on 10/10)

I'm in pain as I type this. My upper shoulder area was sore prior to going to bed last night and now it feels as if Jason Statham just kicked me in the neck. I guess I need a firmer pillow and not one you can fold and put in your pocket. Anyhoo, I'll get over it.

Last week, The Mrs. and I spent Sunday-to-Sunday in Carlsbad (San Diego), CA for her birthday. Not only did we have a great and relaxing time, I also slept much better than I did last night (the pillows were firm at the SeaPointe Resort)!

The one thing that I did gain even more perspective on, while vacationing there, was the value of hard work. I met and unofficially interviewed almost every housekeeping and maintenance employee at our resort. To hear them talk about the jobs situation in America was fascinating to me.

One person in particular that I met was a housekeeper named Caridad was from Mexico. She has been in the states for most of her adult life (I'm guessing she was mid-20's). I asked her, "if I were to move to Carlsbad, would I have a problem finding a job?"

She replied, "office job?"

"No, just a good job." 

"There are plenty of good jobs here, but a lot of people only want desk jobs."

Intrigued, I followed, "why is that?"

"I don't know. Americans don't like to sweat."

Of course, she followed that statement with a nervous laugh to try not to offend me. I wasn't offended at all. I knew exactly what she meant. American-born people tend to want things easy when it comes to the job. I remembered my days of working in a cell phone company's call center and seeing people complain about being "tied to the phones."

But, every other day at the resort, I watched a 50-something Hispanic woman rake even rows in the sand of a beach volleyball area. It took her 20-30 minutes to erase all of the footprints, but she did it and made sure that the rows were even.

I recall wanting some more towels for our bedroom and watching Caridad run to retrieve them. When she returned, I asked her why did she run and she simply replied, "to get them to you faster."

Really? Who does that?  Was it because I was nice to her and I spoke to her daily or just because she understands the real meaning of customer service?

Don't get me wrong. We all complain about our jobs at some point. Mainly over the people we deal with more so than the job, but we complain nonetheless.  I'm sure that even LeBron James wishes he could stay in bed late some days instead of going to the gym. Even a male photographer for Playboy Magazine probably gets tired of packing luggage to go all over the world for nude photo shoots.  Well, maybe I'm reaching there.

From the Filipino woman at the airport named Tess, who was very helpful, to the Pacific Islander Seapointe Resort front desk attendant named Olga, who had the most pleasant of attitudes, I learned something: I learned that we have people, born and raised, in this country capable of being hard workers. The difference between the U.S. and the places where these particular employees originated is the culture.

We don't teach the value of hard work like we once did. So many people have rapped/sang, ran/jumped and sex-taped their way to financial freedom that a lot of us just wait on our "big break" instead of creating it. Do you know how many kids that I know who want to be a singer/rapper, basketball/football player, reality star, etc.? A lot more than when I was in school, that's for sure.

The point that I'm trying to make is that people aren't born lazy. We're turned into lazy bums by enablers. We have companies (insert fast food restaurant here) who hire "warm bodies." Some companies could care less if you're nice to the customers.  They just need you to flip the burgers and take the money.

We have parents who do everything for their children. "Helicopter parents" who hover over their child and won't let him/her do anything on their own.  And then other people have to deal with their children once they become "adults."

We have the media who portray sluts, slackers and drunks as idols.  No need to have talent!  Just do something really stupid that people will talk about on Twitter.

Where did we go wrong? (Sigh)

I enjoyed our vacation in Carlsbad.  I hope that some day we'll be going back to Cali for another stay.  I not only enjoyed the weather and sights there, but I also learned that there are people in this country who still take pride in their work.

It's just that must of them weren't born here...

Are we too far gone as a culture to restore a hard-working attitude back into the U.S.?