On August 10th I blogged about Passive Recruiting and the EEOC. On August 18th, Today's financial editor Jean Chatzky chimed in on the "passive" recruiting issue and offered some advise to jobseekers.
I wanted to throw a rock at her.
According to Jean, employers who refuse to hire unemployed or long-term unemployed are not practicing any form of discrimination. Why? Well because the test for discrimination has to apply to something that you can't change about yourself. Like disability, age, or gender. In her words, it's not discrimination because unemployment status is "changeable."
Matt pointed out that according to some employers, if you are out of work for a period of time, you are a less than desirable employee. Jean's response was that it feels "outrageous." *Really?* From her point of view,". . . what employers are saying that if you have been long term unemployed, they think you are less desirable because you were one of the first people gotten rid of, therefore you were a less valuable employee or your technical skills may have lapsed." * I did notice that not once did she reference or discuss EEOCs hearing and review regarding the practice of "passive" recruiting. Maybe she missed that?*
What bits of advice did she throw out? Here's a couple that I found most interesting. And please note, these words of advice were for the "recently" unemployed. Not the 6 million "long term" unemployed.
1. Make a personal connection with the employer (when applying for a job). "It's not enough to send in a resume anymore. You have to make sure that you are not a piece of paper." *Recruiters are going to love this. Candidates will be swinging by to drop off their resumes, expecting to be interviewed right then and there. Maybe random phone calls or emails to HR, the hiring manager, etc.*
2. Work pro bono. *If you're unemployed, you can't afford to work for free. And, if you do work for free, there is a serious likelihood that this is going to impact your ability to collect unemployment.*
I wanted to throw a rock at her.
According to Jean, employers who refuse to hire unemployed or long-term unemployed are not practicing any form of discrimination. Why? Well because the test for discrimination has to apply to something that you can't change about yourself. Like disability, age, or gender. In her words, it's not discrimination because unemployment status is "changeable."
Matt pointed out that according to some employers, if you are out of work for a period of time, you are a less than desirable employee. Jean's response was that it feels "outrageous." *Really?* From her point of view,". . . what employers are saying that if you have been long term unemployed, they think you are less desirable because you were one of the first people gotten rid of, therefore you were a less valuable employee or your technical skills may have lapsed." * I did notice that not once did she reference or discuss EEOCs hearing and review regarding the practice of "passive" recruiting. Maybe she missed that?*
What bits of advice did she throw out? Here's a couple that I found most interesting. And please note, these words of advice were for the "recently" unemployed. Not the 6 million "long term" unemployed.
1. Make a personal connection with the employer (when applying for a job). "It's not enough to send in a resume anymore. You have to make sure that you are not a piece of paper." *Recruiters are going to love this. Candidates will be swinging by to drop off their resumes, expecting to be interviewed right then and there. Maybe random phone calls or emails to HR, the hiring manager, etc.*
3. Keep credit in good shape. Make minimum payments on time because employers check your credit. *You have these people working for free! I don't think they're eligible for unemployment anymore. So, how are they going to make these payments?*
If you are interested in viewing the clip, here's the link!
http://www.clicker.com/tv/today-show/why-are-some-denying-jobs-to-unemployed-2045456/
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