Zest. Vigor. Ideas. These words describe the world of intent that most college graduates start down the yellow brick road of hopefulness holding onto tightly. The graduates review the horizon of prospective careers and gleefully smile into the future.
Five years ago I too put all of my aspiring energy into my profession. I fulfilled quasi-inconsequential duties like coffee pot refilling and personal laundering assistance. Somewhere in between I became a woman who flew on the company plane, received comped room service at The Four Seasons and sipped wine with clients on their yacht. Somehow I never stopped to question these great opportunities because I had earned my keep and actually done what I sought out to do. I made something of myself- or so I thought.
In this unsettling economy the plush industries are the first to feel the strain. Even in an area like Palm Beach County, where certain communities never live shy of fortune, alerts of layoffs are pleonastic. Good jobs are at a premium and people seeking work appear abundant. Many have come to terms with leaving their chosen career behind and just want to have some level of cash flow filtering into their households. Job Compass, Career Builder and notably Craig’s List are websites that are ping words in many-a-conversation this year, which isn’t surprising based on the statistics. According to The Employment Situation Summary released in May 2009 by The Bureau of Labor Statistics the Unemployment Rate is at 9.4 percent with 14.5 million out of jobs. The unemployment rate of adult women is reported to be at a high seven point five percent. Needless to say, my glorious career path towards Interior Design has dwindled down for the time being.
While many job seekers are making desperate attempts to hear back from a company many businesses are trying to resolve problems of their own. Employers are receiving surpluses of resumes yet there are so many that they cannot be sorted out because of the onslaught. I know this because I have witnessed it.
Amid the job-hunting I had come upon a unique opportunity that just couldn’t be resisted. A relative of mine, whom we’ll call Auntie Jane, owns her own business and needed a new hire. In a swarm of stress Jane told me that she had posted a new job on Craig’s List and had a surge of responses. “Within the first 15 minutes there were 100 resumes!” said Jane. With a sly grin on my face and the excitement of using more brainpower in a day than it takes to watch Tori and Dean: Sweet Home Hollywood, I offered, practically insisted, to help. I was graciously handed the role of narrowing down the applicants. Being in the control over the inflow of job applications seemed like an experiment that was too good to be true.
And so I sifted: “No attachment? Delete. Grammatical Errors? Delete. No loyalty to previous jobs? Delete.” The rigorous analyzing went on for hours. Each time that The Inbox was cleared of new mail it only took minutes before the latest e-mails arrived with cover letters and qualifications. A part of me was disconcerted by the amount of people who sent in their resumes with errors. I thought back to high school when Ms. Brown instructed my class on how to write a proper cover letter and resume. She stressed the importance of the fact that these writing tools were the only means of an introduction of ones’ self. Apparently the people applying for this posting didn’t have Ms. Brown for a teacher.
The rest of my thoughts focused on the number of people who were jobless. I realized that with each tap of the delete button I was contributing to their loss of livelihood by withholding a job opportunity. Reflecting on the number of people, just like me, who were looking for work was crushing. Resumes that didn’t make it to the next level lacked the basic prerequisites required of the position. Possibly a handful were seeking a career change. Probably most were aiming to earn wages in order to eat, provide for their families and pay the rent. This struck a chord within me. It made the bitter reality undeniable. I learned that while the business acts of hiring and layoffs are essential and meant to be unemotional; it’s hard not to feel compassionate for what fellow individuals are struggling against.
My tenure as Resume Referee had ended after only a day’s work. Eleven of several hundred resumes made it to Human Resources. One person was hired. Perhaps this economic struggle enveloping our world is a life lesson. Some suggest that all of this change is pushing our lifestyles in a new and better direction. I believe that it can be. Let’s all hope so.
How wonderful! It’s fantastic to see my work published! Cheers to Disfunkshion Magazine!