Top 5 Frustrations with Job Hunting

It has been quite some time since I have blogged, well at least on a personal level on my own blog.

I was hired back in March as a Media Specialist for Coastal Urge, a high end line of active coastal lifestyle stores located in NC. This blog DID in fact help me get a position within my field. YAY! Blogging worked! My hypothesis was correct! Maintaining a professional/personal blog can and will help you find a job.

Unfortunately, the position ended in July, so alas I am once again on the job hunt. 3 1/2 months, 137 resumes submitted and 7 interviews later, I am still unemployed. What is a guy to do? How do I get a position?  I am beginning to feel like a professional job hunter and interviewer. But wait, if I was a professional wouldn’t I have landed a position by now? It seems as though I am in a catch 22. Great at filling out applications & interviewing, just not so great a landing a position.

I had thought about writing a blog post about tips for those searching for jobs, as I feel as though I have become quite the expert. Unfortunately, that is a boring topic and none of my tips seem to be helping me. Letting the blind lead the blind is never a good idea.

I was incredibly surprised when I logged in and viewed my site statistics for the month. Having over 200 views and over 2,000 for the year even though I haven’t written anything in months! SEO must really be working.

The topic for today: Frustrations with the job hunt!

Yes! I am frustrated, as are many other job hunters in my position. I am finding myself over-qualified for the retail/customer-service oriented positions I spent over 5 years in but not qualified for the positions I am currently seeking–HENCE NO JOB!

As Target and Khols so blatantly lied to me, saying I did not meet their qualifications for a part-time sales associate position. Ummm, excuse me! How is five years spent in customer service retail not meeting the requirements for a position that someone without a high school diploma can?

That coupled with the already hard “big boy job search” which I renamed “Operation Find Scott A Better Paying Job” can really be demotivating and depressing.

So what are my Top 5 Frustrations with job hunting:

5. Overcrowding Syndrome (as I have deemed it). Too little jobs too many people. Simple enough.

4. Multiple Postings. The horrible feeling in the stomach when you applied for a position that you are clearly qualified for then see a posting again a month later for the same position. Obviously they didn’t find anyone they wanted. Hmm…maybe you should have given me a chance to interview.

3. Resume Forms. The dreaded option to upload your resume to extract the data. Easy enough? Nope. Not so much. A lot of these automatic forms submit just your resume and do not allow any attachments/forms for a cover letter. My sneaky solution, upload my resume/cover letter in the same PDF, this way employers are forced to see my cover letter.

2. Online Applications. Spending over an hour typically refilling out applications with my lengthy 5 years of employment history. I am sure by now I have every address and phone number for every job I have held memorized.

1.  Slow Decision Making I have spent weeks and several emails/calls waiting to hear back from interviewers who informed me that I would hear back in less than a week, only to be informed that I was not chosen for the postion though they wer every impressed with my skills, interviews and portfolio. If I am so skilled as you say, then why not choose me!