Help wanted. Whiners need not apply.
Hiring's not what it used to be. And, honestly, given what I read about the economy every day, I'm more than a little surprised we can't get more resumes in our own office. We've been trying to fill a position for a couple of months now and it's been a frustrating process rife with shoddy resumes, blank stares and mismatched qualifications. And those are from the few candidates who manage to actually show any interest in us.
Where the hell are all the unemployed people clamoring for jobs?
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Oops, better watch my language. Which reminds me, I ran across a new survey last week that declared roughly seven out of 10 employers reject candidates based on their social media presence. In fact, nine out of 10 employers regularly use a social media site to screen candidates, a practice virtually unheard of even five years ago.
The study comes out of Reppler, an online presence/reputation company, which surveyed hundreds of HR personnel.
And while most candidates disqualified themselves with the old standby of lying about their qualifications, employers also apparently get turned off by postings laced with profanity, inappropriate comments and photos, and of, course, trash-talking previous employers. Because who wants that, right?
As a writer, though, I was encouraged to see employers also taking into account their candidates' communications skills – all those typos and bad writing can do as much damage to your job prospects as those topless photos with the 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor.
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