Only the employed need apply: the height of stupidity

06/30/09 08:30 AM Filed in: Looking for meaningful work

With unemployment at 9.4% and rising, it’s a buyer’s market for employers that are hiring. But many employers are bypassing the jobless to target those still working, reasoning that these survivors are the top performers. “If they’re employed in today’s economy, they have to be first string,” says Ryan Ross, a partner with Kaye/Bassman International Corp., an executive recruiting firm in Dallas. Mr. Ross says more clients recently have indicated that they would prefer to fill positions with “passive candidates” who are working and not actively seeking a job. Of all the things that I have read this is surely the most myopic and stupid statement I have ever seen.

This recession is like no other that we have experienced in that it’s affecting both white and blue collar employees. Companies are cutting back to make numbers and it doesn’t really matter if you’re a top performer or not it it’s you versus your boss chances are that you’re going to go down.

When I read the article in this morning’s WSJ my blood boiled because it truly shows how stupid a LOT of people are when it comes to filling vacant positions. For example:

Bobby Fitzgerald, a partner in five restaurants in three states, says these days he gets two dozen or more unsolicited résumés each day at one of his Phoenix restaurants, the White Chocolate Grill. But Mr. Fitzgerald says his top candidates, for jobs from servers to management, usually are people who are employed elsewhere. He currently has 50 openings across his five restaurants and has told recruiters to bring in only people who are working. I can tell you that I will not now or ever be visiting any of Mr Fitzgeralds restaurants.

Executive recruiters also can be a consistent source of frustration. When you’re a candidate for a job they are your best friends but the minute you fall out of contention for an open position they are nowhere to be found and you are lucky to ever hear from them again. I have worked with executive recruiters in the past and have to say that out of the dozens I that have contacted me there are no more than a very few who I would consider good at what they do who treat candidates with integrity and honesty.

People are out of work through no fault of their own and even top performers are finding out that it didn’t matter what you did in the past you’re often just an asset to be ditched when sales decline. The job market will once again become a “sellers” market. It will happen either later this year or next year and when it does recruiters will be scrambling to fill open positions. When a recruiter contacts me I listen and use business courtesy but I also hold them in the same regards as a used car salesperson. It seems that their ethics and common sense have also gone south...

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