That was my disclaimer, how I started the bare all session for 7 job club members who were facing the end of unemployment compensation.

They had all sent countless resumes, received calls and attended interviews. They were turned down every time during more than a year of searching. After longevity ranging from 7 — 30 years, and one odd duck that had never held a job more than 2 years, they were hurt and confused why no one “wanted” them. They had been loyal and hard working and considered themselves “lifers” at their jobs. They felt put out on the street even though they all acknowledged that it wasn’t personal.

“I go in, they look at me, see I’m in my 50’s and I can see it in their faces… they’re thinking, what are we going to get out of her, she’s old”.

“What happened to paper applications?”

I asked each of them what they considered to be their profession or career and how long they had held their longest job for. I found that they felt it necessary to manufacture resumes that look like lengthy to do lists rather than career marketing pieces with examples of strengths and accomplishments because they were proud of every single thing they did well.

“How do I know if they got my Internet application, there’s no name of anyone to call?”

“The job was taken down off the site a week ago and I still haven’t heard anything. How long should I wait to call?” Call about what,” I asked. “To see if I am being considered”, the professionally dressed 50 something asked. She wanted to know before she went on vacation so she could stop thinking about it.

“Here, let me help you”, I said.  I let her know that if the job was taken down it meant the search was over and a decision had likely been made or at the very least final candidates selected. She didn’t get it because she continued on. “What if I am one of them and I’m not home to get the call because I’m on vacation?” I tried to be gentle as I explained it was over… I asked if she needed to hear the rejection.. She said yes. I saved her the call and suggested she enjoy her vacation and get excited about new opportunities that might be available upon her return.

The patriotically dressed woman who was concerned about her age had difficulty coming up with her most important career accomplishment. After all, she was just an Admin Clerk who maintained hospital departmental records and administered the database over the past 30 years. “I don’t know you”, I said, “but let me guess what your strengths and accomplishments were and you tell me how accurate I am”.

• You have superior time management skills
• Your can learn on the fly and implement new processes and technology rapidly
• You are good at training and working well with others
• Attention to detail and accuracy are finely honed skills you possess
• Your attendance record is excellent and your personnel file lacks disciplinary action

And I went on… And her face lit up. Her demeanor changed as she agreed with what I was saying. “Yes, that’s me”, she said. I asked how many records the department maintained and the policies for record retention. I talked about converting the to do list into an achievement oriented resume that captured her skill as a repository specialist with great capacity for knowledge management.

She asked me to slow down so she could take notes. She was getting it…

There are people who need your help my friends. They are good people but they do not understand what we look for. It’s not their job to understand and we really shouldn’t expect them too. We’re out there looking for expertly crafted resumes and polished presenters. Fortunate individuals do not spend a significant amount of time between 18 — 65 searching for work. Why should they be expected to be experts at job search, resume writing and interviewing?

The light bulb went off for me the first time I was invited to speak at the local job club. I felt the questions were from far left field. Each time I go back I hear the same or very similar questions. So if it’s a bunch of people that do not know each other, at different times and places with the same questions… is it them or us?

It’s us. We’re expected to do more with less, we look for the perfect candidate on paper. It’s easier to put a resume in a no pile than the maybe pile and pick up the phone to help make that determination. We pop out the job postings electronically and sit back for ATS alerts that there are incoming. We don’t think about the effort and time put into each web application filled out, each resume and cover letter crafted.

We look to disqualify candidates, not qualify them.

I challenge you to pick up the phone. Call a local job club, state employment agencies (one stop job shops) all have them. Volunteer to speak. You’ll learn from them as much as they learn from you.

I agree it would be super cool to be a Wine & Cheese Sommelier or Art Auctioneer on a cruise ship but I had one of those “the cheese smells in Denmark” moments thinking those jobs certainly aren’t representative of the majority of those 2.6 million unfilled. And I know I’m right, however, I do not feel qualified at this time to comment on the Gentlemen Host vacancies.

Heidi Allison, a public relations person who also runs a reference-checking service called Allison & Taylor, Inc., is quoted in the article saying that they remain vacant positions because, “People don’t know about them. I’d say that’s the main reason.” Obvious to me with a background in recruiting, there are more concerning reasons unless all of a sudden no one wants to work on the Love Boat. I’m skeptical but might consider applying myself if I knew where those exotic jobs were posted.

So we move on to the “mismatch” theory.  It’s the one where geographically speaking qualified people aren’t available where the jobs are located. I don’t buy it with the exception of highly technical fields, in which case the whole country has brain drain. But, were not talking of 2.6 million brain drain type jobs. According to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics were talking about jobs in manufacturing, health services, construction, hospitality, blah blah blah.…

No unemployed available to do those jobs in every city in our great Nation? I don’t think so…

Here’s my stabbing guess:

• The jobs pay minimum wage or just above and that’s not a living wage so no one wants them. They are holding out to find something they can actually sustain their families on.
• Employers think because so many people are out of work they’ll find a Rocket Scientist to do it — at minimum wage.
• Over qualified candidates are applying because their unemployment comp is running out and employers are afraid they’ll bolt once there is a turnaround.
• The companies have a bad rep as employers and have horrid turnover regardless of the economy because they don’t value their employees the way they should.
• The right Recruiters are not working the requisitions or there is no Recruiter working them at all, it’s an office Secretary.

I don’t know, I might have missed a reason or two, but you get the idea. Anyway, I did a little more digging.

“On the last business day of May 2005, there were 3.5 million job openings in the United States.”

OK, so there are a little more than a million less jobs available in 2009 than there were in 2005.  So, why were there 3.5 million jobs available in 2005 that couldn’t be filled?

Let’s continue to have a poverty level minimum wage and at the same time  virtually halt Visas for immigrant workers.

Sound like a fix?