Why Job Hunting is SO Frustrating

By Lauren | August 5, 2014 | 0 Comment

I’m not sure how to even begin this post without it turning into a 5000 word rant about how frustrating job hunting can be. I personally am working full-time, and although have been one of the lucky few that landed a career right out of college, it didn’t just happen overnight.

I applied to hundreds of jobs, sent out my applications all over the place – even in different cities, and countries. I even applied for jobs and internships that I knew I was overqualified for. My life revolved around going to school, my internship, and job hunting, and unfortunately when it was time to look for my second career, although it was a bit easier, it still wasn’t easy.

So why, oh why must job hunting be so frustrating? I mean obviously the job market is competitive, and it can’t be easy for people to just land a career but I feel like organizations, HR Managers and other contributing factors don’t always make it the easiest on us.

Here are just some of things that really make my skin crawl. If you have some as well, use my comment section as a place to vent! I’d love to hear them.

1. Your job is entry-level, why are you hiring over-qualified people!

AHHH.. I can already tell I may need to take a breather while writing this post. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve seen entry-level positions posted, and in-turn the company ends up hiring someone who is way over-qualified for the position.

I get that if an over-qualified person is willing to be paid at an entry-level salary then you are getting more “bang for your buck” but seriously what does that leave entry-level, and new grads with?

2. It’s labeled entry-level but I need 2+ years of experience.

We live in a world of contradictions, but seriously, what!? If your job is entry-level, and I need 2+ years of relevant work experience, how does that even make sense?

You need a job to get experience, but you need experience to get the job. Come on now people!

3. Those annoying application sites.

I understand why large organizations have to use their own micro-sites for job applications, but the amount of technical difficulties I’ve experienced start to make me wonder if you’re testing my technological skills while applying.

I’m a tech-savvy person and the amount of jobs I’ve missed out on because my resume won’t upload to these sites, or is “too big” despite me altering the file size to the smallest possible is truly annoying.

The worst part is trying to find someone to talk to about these things is next to impossible for most organizations because out of the many applicants that can’t get it working, there’s hundreds of more that did.

4. I never hear from you again. 

I understand that it’s tough for a hiring manager to follow up with every applicant out there, but sending even a copy & pasted email saying they weren’t selected for the position makes a world of a difference.

If you’re not going to let all applicants know, at least let the ones know that sent you a follow up email OR that had an interview with you.

If I made it far enough to get an interview and you don’t even have the decency to respond back to my follow up to let me know I wasn’t the right candidate, maybe I don’t want to work for you after all!

5. I dedicated so much time to be rejected. 

Personally I’ve had many interviews in my short time as a full-time professional, I’ve been through enough to know that every interview process is different. I’ve had to do presentations, writing tests, write articles, and many places call you back for 3-4 interviews before they even have a decision.

So aside from the time you spent on your actual application, often you put many more hours behind preparation and execution of your interviews (if you land one).

I love how companies do this because I think I can shine a lot more through my work, but it is extremely discouraging when you go through 4 interviews of extensive tasks to only find out you STILL weren’t the right candidate for the position. The reality of this is that it’s not going to change, it’s good experience, and you should be grateful to get the chance to interview. BUT it still doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s discouraging and disappointing.

6. Job postings lacking the most important details. 

Many companies like to keep certain information confidential until they absolutely need to reveal the information, but the downfall in this is there’s many jobs that may sound cool, but the minute I find out what that “confidential company” is I’m suddenly not interested.

Does this really help companies out? I’ve had interviews with these “recruiters” and go through this long process to finally find out that the company or client they’re hiring someone for is not something I’m interested in at all. Now we just wasted their time, and mine.

Don’t even get me started on job postings that don’t include a specific location, or say “Toronto” and they’re really
based in Burlington.

This list could probably go on for days, and to be honest this wasn’t created to be helpful in anyway, as you can tell it’s more of a rant. I’m sure many of you read this and went “YES” to many of these points. So how can hiring managers and organizations help improve this? How can we change the frustrations of the job hunt, or is meant to eat us all up and spit us all out on our faces?

Thoughts? Comment below! 

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