Back in the day, we were concerned about the amount of words
we used to advertise a position. We were
paying by the word after all! Back then,
we read contracts all the way through, no matter how long it took, and dotted
our I’s and crossed our T’s. We didn't skim or rely on someone else to
tell us what the contract said, we actually READ it…every word and understood
it or we didn't sign it! Reading something thoroughly, due to technology, has
become a thing of the past. I don’t even
seem to read texts thoroughly.
Now, our attention span has been reduced significantly by
the multi-tasking we have done for so many decades. When it comes to job advertising now,
companies are posting their job descriptions and expecting people to actually
read those things. They are long,
tedious and frankly, BORING! Companies
put crazy things in those job descriptions…asking for proficiency in software
that may have existed for a short period of time, but only 10 people (all
professors that don’t want another job) became proficient in it. This really means the company has not
invested their profits back into the company.
Oh, and they do the disclaimer on the job description saying that it is
not meant to be an exhaustive list of job duties…even though it is, whether it
is meant to be or not.
The hiring process is just as crazy. Generally, the people they call for an
interview look good on paper but certainly 50% of the time, the person doesn’t
walk the walk. The company wants someone
to be a super hero and do all the things they can’t get the other employees to
do PLUS the lengthy list of things on their own job description. This means the conscientious person will
become burned out quickly and move on as soon as someone agrees to help them go
through this exercise again.
For some companies, the qualifications have little to do
with the person that gets hired for the position. The person that is hired, is the one that the
interviewer liked (sometimes a mirror image of themselves) and not really the
one that is qualified for the position or read that crazy job description all
the way through and put those same bullet points in their cover letter. As if the cover letter gets read by someone in the company.
We have all been there at one time of another, or will be. Life, love and work don’t make any sense
really. Life is only fun when you have a sense of humor about everything.
