Our Impersonal World

How impersonal can our world get? Think about this and all that has changed! It used to be when you drove into a gas station an attendant rushed out and started pumping your gas, cleaned your windshield, checked your oil, water and air and took your money (Note I said money, because you didn't pay with a gas card, because gas didn't cost an arm and a leg)with a smile on his face. Today you pump your own gas, in some states you pay for the air for your tires, clean your own windshield, check your own oil and if you don't pay at the pump you most likely pay a scowling attendant behind bulletproof glass (in some cases) that is just dying to tell you how much they hate their jobs. When you dial a professional office if you are lucky you get a human voice to talk to, otherwise you get a recording whose first response is dial 1 for English. Some of these automated answering systems get so complicated that by the time you get to where you were trying to get to you forgot what you wanted. Does the world really believe that this high tech garbage has lightened the load? Let's look at this in reality; most likely this aided the company in eliminating another position, but increased the load on another person whose task now is straightening out all that the automated system has messed up. Companies do not want employees anymore, they want virtual employees in the form of contractors. I thought that only computer systems were virtual in this world, but everything has become virtual. Virtual attendants, virtual receptionists, and now if you look on the job boards there are even virtual job fairs. What's next virtual relationships? You go to an online store and you order a contract for a wife and 2 kids for 20 years; at the end of twenty years you can either renew the contract or get a virtual divorce. Oh by the way the contracted wife must provide her own medical insurance for herself and children. I agree this is a bit far fetched, but think about it next time you hear about these crazy pre-nuptials. I pray that this world will get a grip soon and go back to a more personalized, friendly, value added place to live. Oh BTW, press 2 if you want this in another language.

Just a bunch of numbers

When did the world become so impersonal; when did we the people become just a bunch of numbers. Everything about the job search process is so impersonal it is pathetic. In days of old you would put together a resume on fine printed paper and mail it to a company; an actual person would open the letter and a staffing employee would read the resume for a possible fit. If you were not a fit for the position someone would write a nice letter thanking you for applying , but that your qualifications didn't match what the employer was looking for. You were informed that your resume would remain on file for a year and if another position came up fitting your qualifications you would contacted. Now enter the 21st century version! All applications are done online via some hiring application like "Taleo"; it takes you 20 minutes just to fill out all the information which in most cases is just a repeat of your resume, and oh BTW you still post your resume. An automated response comes back indicating that your application has been received and is in review; it says that you can track the process online and your resume will be filed for a year. Now let explore the real truth, The resume goes in and goes through a set of filters before it ever makes it to the hiring manager to see if you qualify. The staffing agent is looking for "THE PERFECT FIT", which BTW there is no such thing. The company never updates (at least very few) the website as to the status of the application. Your resume goes to the bottom of a 1000 other applicants and is forgot for ever and a day. You almost never received any confirmation that your application has been rejected so there is never any closure. When I do receive a confirmation I thank them whole-heartedly. I am assigned an applicant number, but it really doesn't me jack. The qualifications these days are so ridiculous that Albert Einstein couldn't get a job. A Master degree in computer science for a support engineer...."REALLY"!!! Let's stop being just numbers on a server somewhere and be human again.

Spam in a can

As all of the nation is quite aware the job situation is pathetic, to say the least. One of the things that I have read in the media recently are articles saying that the outlook for the young getting a job is poor. If this was the case why are there so many young managers? Maybe a certain age group; like fresh out of college is affected, but the old are affected as well, if not even more. The problem is not so much age ( although I wish I could prove it was ), the problem is the narrow focus of the companies presently. Companies are looking for what I term spam in a can; in other words they want to open it up and partake of the it without having to prepare it. Customers want you to to hit the floor running and are not willing to take experience into consideration that you could quickly learn the job. The other issue is location; Chicago for instance where I live does not have any IT high technology companies, so if you have a hardware storage background it is already strike 2 against you. Most of the positions in Chicago are for administrators and a great deal of them are contract positions. Nobody wants to hire full time any more; nobody wants to pay for insurance or other benefits. The high tech jobs seem to all be in every location except Chicago; Boulder, Arizona, Texas, Eden Prairie, MN, and of course Silicon Valley and Southern California, They even seem to be in the most obscure locations, like Nashua, NH! A third problem is the sometimes ridiculous qualifications and certifications that the customers require. Come on, a master degree in computer science, really!! Some of the certifications only require a 2 day class. I have heard tell that project managers with 20 years experience couldn't get a job because they didn't have a PMP certification. Since when did silly certifications outplace experience. The biggest issue is customer loyalty, this is something customers no longer have. Employees have become disposable and are just a number at the company. There is no personal attention anymore when applying for job, it is all done via the Internet on job application software that you submit along with a 1000 others. Some companies will acknowledge receipt, but a lot do not and it just goes to the bottom of a long list of applicants. America is in desperate need of going back to a friendly, loyal workplace; lets not end up just spam in a can.