Employer Idiots

Some people do not understand how to be employers.

Good employers give you plenty of time to be prepared. They do not call you and ask you to come in immediately. Especially employers that are looking for a freelancer like me.

I was asked if I could go to a fair in my area today. Uhhhh. Why didn't you ask me yesterday so that I could be prepared.

I was asked if I could go right away. Granted, this is for someone that hasn't given me a cent, nor offered me a cent. Which means I'm not all that inclined to drop everything and obey.
Now, I realize that sometimes you have to put in your due. But, it is never up to the employee to begin talks about money. It is always up to the employer to at least begin the conversation.

It can be simple, something like, "what are you expecting financially from this gig."

It can be something intense like "I'm giving you $50 for every story."

It should never be nothing. When you don't get paid, that's called volunteer work. That's great to put on a resume if you're I don't know, 16 years old.

People are not looking to volunteer if they are not over the age of 65. Baby boomers can be volunteers. New college graduates, well, not so much.

Honestly, I cannot wait to be on the other side of the hiring table. I'm going to make it a great experience for the candidate. I'm going to want them all to want to work for me. That way, I can actually hire someone who's excited.

Well, either that or I can send them to Central America to do some work at a church or dormitory.

At least then they can put it on their college application.

But people need money right now. Offering to not pay isn't going to give you a good employee. It'll give you one that resents you.

(How about that game! Thanks Google images!)

WaMuuMuu

I have an interview for next Wednesday.

It's with a newspaper in a town about 20-30 minutes away.
I know that originally I have said that I did not want to do journalism, even though I graduated with that degree. However, I have come to realize that in this economy, you have to get a job and then ride out this bad stretch.

I would estimate that this bad stretch will continue for at least one or two more years.
And clearly, the $1.50 that I've earned this month writing this blog is not going to be paying any bills. On the upside, I have had almost 500 hits. Google told me.

So, even though I did not want to get into journalism, I am going to give it another chance. Don't get me wrong, I like journalism, but sometimes it can be quite frustrating, such as when a source doesn't call back or when I'm having trouble with a story. That, fortunately, does not happen very often.

And, writing for a newspaper will give me the opportunity to continue writing, which is something I like to do. I'm planning on writing a variety of things. I've held off writing for myself (other than this blog, but hey, it's for you after all) since I've been searching for a job.

It's funny because after two months of searching I'm closest to having a job through doing none of the hard work that I've proclaimed. Well, sort of. Networking has worked the best. It's hard for me to say it.

I look at myself and I know quite a few people. It makes me wonder what people do when they do not know a whole lot of people. Oh, wait. I know what they do. They line up at the unemployment office and take my money.

I once watched a video in one of my classes from the '70s or '80s (well, maybe the '90s) that showed people who scammed the US government into getting welfare. I can't even imagine how many people do that now.

Especially in this economy.



If you try hard enough, eventually you'll catch a break. The odds will slowly be in your favor. It might take two months like it did for me or it might take six months like I heard about for one person. It might take two years.

That would suck big time.

So that's my final advice. (For today?)
Networking will pay dividends. Let people know you are searching for a job.
Don't be afraid to turn down job offers. It might be the greatest thing you ever do.

Oh, and a little anecdote:

I interviewed for this sales position. The guy told me if I wanted the job to call him. I called him a few days later. He didn't answer. I left a message and he called me back a couple days later. I told him I didn't want to take the job.

He acted all cool, saying "oh, well that works out for both of us. I wasn't sure you really wanted to do it." Now, when I was interviewing, he was super pumped to hire me. Like he wanted me to start the next day. But, not wanting to be too pushy he told me to call in the next couple days.

He also told me he wasn't good at sales and all that baloney. Too bad I'm not an idiot. Classic sales technique. (Seriously watch the video connected to "Classic") Always look like the bigger person.

So don't take jobs that you don't want to, just because you need a job.

Millions of people do that.

And now look where we are.

The List From The Job Expo

I went to a job expo today in the downtown convention center of the city where I reside.

It was quite an experience. To lay it straight on you, it was a terrible expo. It was clearly not directed at people of my education level, even though I only have a simplistic Bachelors of Arts.

I saw some things that were completely absurd. So, I will share with you what I saw. In a list. Believe me, you'll want to read this list. I guarantee that you will laugh (or snicker softly) at least once.

Now, before I get to the things I saw, I'd like to explain the flier for this job expo. It had a couple of key job-related info boxes. Key points said:
-Jobs ranging from entry-level to professional
-Dress professionally
-Bring copies of your resume

Now, a couple of the entry-level to professional businesses:
-Girl Scouts (Yes, those cookie people)
-Arby's (Yes the fast food "restaurant")
-Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino (Gambling, nice)
-U-Haul (I wonder what professional jobs they have...)
-JC Penny (Seasonal jobs, not management or salespeople)
-Holiday Inn (Housekeeper)
-Foot Locker (Take "steps" to build my professional career?)
-Vons, Bed Bath and Beyond, Old Navy, Anchor Blue and Party DJ Party (Whatever the heck that is)
-Finally, my personal favorite, AM PM (Yes, the convenience store)

All they had is minimum-wage jobs and sales positions. They really had no jobs for educated people. I don't mean to be mean. But come on. Are there really people out there looking for a minimum-wage job at AM PM?

Well, here you go. Here's a list of the wonderful things that I saw at the Expo. Remember the directions about dress and resumes.

-Mohawk
-Canadian suit (Yes, complete jeans covering every inch of the person)
-Camo pants (I saw multiple of these. No one wearing them were in the army.)
-T-Shirts
-Plaid Shirts
-Guy walking around playing music from his phone
-So many polo shirts without any buttons done
-Skater shoes
-Beanies
-Hella cool gangster gaits (the way they walk)
-People stealing candy from the displays
-People stealing keychains. From the Police display.
-Guys and girls trying to pull off the color purple
-People carrying nothing (no resumes, no pens, nothing)
-Black undershirts (with white collared shirt on top)
-Baggy pants. On suit pants. With a suit.
-Crowding around the Economic Development Department booth. Not only was it the first booth, people seemed to think that they would just give you a job if you stood there long enough.
-Sandals
-Sandals with socks
-Shirt, tie, pants, professional shoes and a backwards hat
-Oakland As' jersey
-San Diego Padres jersey
-No Raiders jerseys
-Raiders tattoos (on sleeveless shirts, notice anything about the spelling in that picture from the link?)
-Woman with mullet (in a wheelchair with a dog)
-Babies (like no more than 2 weeks)
-Children
-Gold chains on the outside of tie

And, my personal favorite:
-Middle-aged Asian man with a hat that said BLACK MEN SCORE

After walking around the booths a few times, checking out the "companies," I literally went and stood off on the side and documented what I witnessed for about eight minutes.

The Expo was a joke. I stayed for an hour and a half.

I shouldn't have wasted money on that. (For parking)
The lesson is this. If you are looking for a professional job, do so at job fairs on your college campus, not at ones put on by the cities. They are ridiculous.

But, you see a lot of interesting things, that's for sure.

What The Flip, Internet

So there are jobs that are posted on the Internet.

They are not real. They are fake jobs, or scams.
Take, for example, monster.com or yahoo hotjobs.

What wonderful ideas these seem to be. Now, when I was first looking for a job, I thought that if I posted my resume on these sites, I would get some results. There would be people looking to hire me. I would be seen and had some eyebrows raised at.

Nope.


Most of the jobs posted on monster or hotjobs are scams or "career" opportunities that I am way over qualified for. My favorite jobs are the work-at-home jobs that say that there is unlimited potential. I have a tab open on hotjobs. The first available career opportunity is for an "International Diet Corporation Will Pay YOU $6000 Per Month To Process Weight Loss Orders From Home!"

Wow! That's so awesome! I can make some bank. Whoa there, cowboy. Actually you have to sign up for their service to find out how to make this kind of money. It's basically the people that got booted off of eBay for scams moved over to the job market. Now, the postings literally litter these sites. Which means that these sites are not actually resources at all. They are spam. They are ads. They are scams.


Also on these sites, there are employment staffing companies that flood the boards with job "opportunities." Instead of actually applying for the job that they post, you are forced to go over to the staffing company's website and register to send your resume. Then, after sending your resume, you never hear from them again. Or, they send you an e-mail that asks you to send your resume (again!) to them so they can "review it and get back to you."



They never get back to you.
They just send more e-mail asking for another resume.

Every time I see a job post that I like, or that I might be qualified for, it's not actually for that company. Instead, it's for some other random company that will never actually get your resume to the correct people.

The crazy thing is, I'm sure there are people making money off of these "services." I can't get a job and there are people scamming a genuine workforce out there. In a bad economy.

Go Internet!

Tomorrow: Other sites that are better. And worse. Monstrous.