Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Less Experience Preferred

Below is an email I received this morning.

It is a rejection for a position I applied for.

Rejected not for lack of experience, but for too much experience.

For having done well in my profession. For being, perhaps, just a little too old. Maybe a little too loyal to the company I had been with for twenty years. Cradle to grave at a company means nothing in America anymore. Excelling at what you do means nothing anymore.

Yes, I know it is not an out and out rejection. But I also know how it will play out.

If I state I am still interested and if they decide they still want to interview me we will go through the motions and then they will decide to go with someone with less experience. Less of a risk to leave if something better comes along. Someone more malleable. Someone cheaper and content to be so.

Never mind that I could show their workforce analyst a thing or two.

Think I'm kidding? The very same thing happened with the very same position, but at a different international company, two weeks ago.

In that case I was asked why in the world I would want to take a step down like that.

The irony is that I used to do what that position and two others on their telecom team do by myself in my former position.

And I did it very well.

(one of the persistent problems for the long term unemployed is a diminishing of self esteem. happens when all you have to keep you sane during the day is a crazy Jack Russell and your deepest conversations happen with the checkout girl at the grocery store. so you have to pat yourself on the back now and then)

But companies don't want that, despite their protestations to the contrary.

So the next time you hear the TeeVee bubbleheads decry a lack of skill and talent in the American workforce, that we've gotten soft here in America, keep this in mind.

It's a two way street. There is plenty of valuable experience out there looking for work. Both professional experience and just as importantly or more so life experience. I've seen this before experience. I know what really does and doesn't work experience. Imagine what younger employees could learn from those who have been down the road.

But the companies don't want to pay for that experience. And they don't want to take a chance on it, regardless of how beneficial it may be to them, long or short term.

I've raised a family. Taken two daughters to be terrific adults and a third well on her way. Balanced a household budget and navigated the tricky financial shoals when times were tight (getting much tougher these days. ask my creditors). And all the while working. Same place all those years. Climbing toward the top of my game.

Letters, emails and phone calls like these are an all too common piece of my life these days. For the last 2-1/2 years. And of so many like me.

Is it any wonder that there are so many who have given up hope on finding a job?

It's not age discrimination. Not exactly. Not overtly.

It's experience discrimination.

From a regional bank:

Good morning, John, and thanks for your interest in the Workforce Management Specialist position available at Susquehanna.

I wanted to reach out to you before I proceed with the prescreening process as I wanted to be sure that you were still interested in being considered after I share the following information with you.

First of all, this is an entry-level Specialist position reporting to the Workforce Management Analyst. Upon reviewing your resume, I can’t help but wonder if it would be challenging enough for you.

Secondly, we are looking to start this candidate in the $14.85-$15.50/hr range.

Please take a minute to think this information through and then let me know if you are still interested or if you prefer to withdraw your application for this specific entry.

Thanks in advance!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd say "don't let the bastids get you down", but the truth is, there is only one bastard responsible for this fucking mess, and he's in the White House.

Do not let you "defeats" go to your heart. You are not less talented because the economy is bad. The economy believes it can't afford you, which is, of course, bullshit when you only want to earn your own living.

SamenoKami said...

Don't let the bastages get you down.

Tell them you're interested and that if it'll make them happy you'll pretend you don't know enough to do the job.

Anonymous said...

It's typical. They don't want to pay for your experience, it's true. But it's also true, that you are applying to an entry-level position.

Their concern is also valid. Will you be able to put up with having to report to someone who probably knows a lot less than you?

If I were you I'd ask what are the foreseeable career opportunities
within a reasonable period. And take it from there.

Stretch said...

The auto reply rejections don't bother me. Triplicate rejections do.
WMAA Police sent both acceptance AND rejection letters. I enjoyed making the HR wonk squirm over that one. Rejection letter given precedence. Talked with a WMAA-PD sgt. some time later and he confirmed my suspicion that my age was the deciding factor.
I've been underemployed for over 11 years. My lack of expertise (TS/SCI TK clearance was my major selling point) is main reason.
Kept sane by:
Painting the garage and getting workbench and cabinets up.
Cataloging my gun books.
Digitalizing slides and photos.
Been UNemployed since Oct. and will soon run out of VA bennies.
Smarter Half says as long as I do the laundry and keep the bathrooms clean I Don't have to worry.

Anonymous said...

it's not necessarily the experience that's the issue, it's the pay rate; they're looking for someone willing to work for slave wages

I was sent an offer for position as a computer administrator with loads of experience, pay was $11 per hour, something I was paid in 1990

people with 6 and 7 figure salaries are so tight they won't even offer decent wages, because it's money out of their own pockets

regards,
kelbi yahud

Anonymous said...

just tell em no job is menial they all need to be done you know you will fit right in and you are excited at the prospect of being part of the team no matter the capacity.

make it impossible for them to wiggle out, make it so they want to take a chance and say ok if you want it its yours.

im gonna seriously abridge a story of a section of my life, but here it is,

when I got back to the united states several years ago (living expat in south america) I needed a job any job I needed to make some money and get back on my feet.

bottom line no matter what it was I told them what they wanted to hear. if they wanted to hear I was in for the long hual thats what I told them.

and when I moved on to a new better job a month later my conscience was clear I gave them a chance to match the new better wage they declined I moved on.

I did that three times in one year to get back to my feet. tell them what they want to hear mean it, thats it get the job worry about the future later.

tell them what they want to hear it is that simple

Bob's Blog said...

What happened at the company for whom you worked 20 years? Best wishes to you!

midnight rider said...

Bob -- short story -- position eliminated. Outsourced. Thought an offsite vendor could do better.

A slightly longer version -- several years before I believe I queered a dirty little deal going on between a husband and wife team trying to bring in a new vendor with new and unproven products (products that have since been shown to be far less than advertized). Only my boss at the time and I stood in the way but we held the lne for over a year in no small part because it was our department that would have born the brunt of the problems. And those two were pissed. Smoke from the ears etc.

I could never prove shenanigans were afoot but as soon as that wife managaed to make herself a v.p. I was transferred out and then cashiered shortly thereafter. And my old boss has been passed over for a number of promotions.

Interestingly, that husband and wife team were both fired within a year of seeing me let go. At least I was given a decent severance.

Funny thing, the very next morning after I was let go, their entire call center phone system and a major part of their coompany phone systme crashed. It took their vendor months to get it working right and problems continue to plague them to this day.

Now ain't that curious?

To all the rest of you -- thank you for the encouragement and advice. These are tactics I have tried and continue to try but they still seem to go for the younger/cheaper/less experienced person.

Anonymous said...

Find another career. Use your imagination.

Anonymous said...

crossing my fingers for you anyway

#1