Thursday, September 20, 2012

My Recent Adventures in Job Hunting Land, Part II

Another month goes by with no solid prospects and no idea when the economy here in Southern California will start to pick up.

Today, I noticed that several places where I interviewed either in person or in phone are advertising the exact same opening again. Really incredible and makes me think that American HR practices really are dreadful for the most part. Alma thinks it's that these places are practicing age discrimination and, once they know you're past the magic 50-spot, they want nothing further to do with you.

There's something really wrong in an economy when someone with over 10 years' professional experience and three degrees (two B.A.s and an M.A.) is not even getting offers. There's something really wrong in an economy when someone over 50 has to create redacted resumes, leaving out relevant experience and skills, just to disguise one's age. Simply put, this economy is way under-performing what it could be doing. Readily available resources (labor) are not being used.

When I saw these ads for positions for which I had interviewed being re-run verbatim, I found myself thinking "Why bother?" The employers are wasting their time and money advertising the openings and applicants like me are wasting time applying for them. So really, why bother?

I'm just glad I have my IRAs to tap to pay monthly expenses. Of course, I am sacrificing my future retirement prospects to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. So I think American capitalism is a pale shadow of its former greatness.

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