do you think this means anything?

[bevoette]

where i work, we posted a position back mid-summer, a mid-level, non-supervisory, degree-preferred-but-not-required position.

we had over 70 applicants, initially screened down to 32, then 7 for interview
(for comparison, a similar job TWO years ago would have had maybe 20 apps total, and we might have interviewed 3)

all 7 were excellent. our final candidate was fantastic (and #2 was good enough to get an automatic offer for a totally different position!)

unfortunately, he had been in the market a while, and within 6 weeks he received an offer he couldn't refuse on another job in a different state.




finally reposted last month. this time around...

about 30 total apps...we interviewed 4 (would have been 5 but one got a job between the time they applied and the time we called!)

1 was a total dud...2 were okay, not great...and luckily, the '1' was again fantastic. we don't know if she's accepted yet...if not, we'll probably repost.




i really thought that was an interesting contrast.

i also felt it was quite positive, especially considering what an influx of population we've had lately. it used to be extremely rare to see out-of-state license plates in the middle of Texas...nowadays, i see 5-10 a day...mostly California, lol

anyway, does it seem like a positive change, or am i just being optimistic? :)

[leftstreet]

1. Suicide rates increase with prolonged unemployment n/t

[RagAss]

2. BINGO !

[The Wielding Truth]

3. Maybe mid summer is when most people look for new jobs?

Or maybe you are seeing fewer unemployed in your area? I hope things are getting better.

[janx]

4. If you learn to use capital letters and articles, you might get

better qualified applicants. ;-)

[lapfog_1]

5. Most folks that have been unemployed for a long time,

like myself, give up looking after a series of rejections... actually that's not fair, I wasn't "rejected" most of the time, most of the time I simply never heard from the job posters again, or even the head hunters so eager to submit me. One time, there was a contract in New Jersey that I was well qualified for, probably over qualified. Anyway, I have my resume on Dice.com. I got 6 cold calling head hunters emailing me or calling me in the next 3 days, all wanting to submit me for the job (the first one, who may not have been the best, got my resume). Got to the point when the last few called and started describing the gig (they never want to give away too much info), I would simply say "Is this about the 3 month contract in Jersey for Verizon?"... and when they would sheepishly admit it, I would tell them "thanks, but I've already been submitted for that one".

Now, in my career, when I've changed jobs in the past, I never waited longer than about 1 week to get an interview, and I ALWAYS got an offer from every interview I did (even if I didn't really want the job and knew it about 20 minutes into the interview day).

This time... I never hear back from anyone. I even (recently) had one guy email me saying "Can you come in on quick notice for an interview, we loved your resume...", the email was sent 8pm, by 8am the next day I had emailed them saying I could come in anytime after 10am (it's an hour drive). I never heard from them again. Not after repeated emails. I didn't have a phone number for them or an address or I might have even just showed up and asked directly "WTF?".

Anyway, another thing is that this is the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Not a lot of people want to make a change at this time of year. After the 1st, you can expect people to turn their attention to getting employment again.

And, the stats don't lie. The economy is still shedding jobs. As long as that's true, the total number of unemployed is growing, not shrinking. And the stats are slanted in favor of showing "robust" "strong" economic bullshit anyway. For example, I've been looking for work for 1 year now, but I've never been counted in the unemployment stats, because I've never filed for unemployment benefits or any other aid. And there are a lot of people just like me.