The Job Search Black Hole Revisited -- Is There Any Sign of Life Out There?

The blog post I wrote several weeks ago about the job search black hole struck a real chord with the audience. As space scientists send out probes to far reaches of the galaxy to explore possible alternative forms of life, I too have been keeping an eye out for this topic as it comes up in my job search networking events and groups. So far, I’ve received mostly feedback from job seekers and only a little from employers.

Personally, I’ve found a real difference in how I hear back from employers now compared to my job search 10 years ago. I recently stumbled upon my job-hunting documents from that search while looking for something in my rarely used book cabinets. I marveled at the close to 100 typed/computerized and personally signed letters from firms. I never even had the thought about a black hole 10 years ago. The communications were either a thank-you-but-no-thank-you for my application or a response to my inquiry about their firm. To date, I have only received two of these types of letters in this job search.

Granted, electronic communications of all types have dramatically changed the landscape for the types of responses exchanged, but a real piece of paper is a rare thing these days! I shall really hold the 2 firms that did not disappear into the black hole in high esteem.

At a recent employment panel, one speaker offered the following perspective on the black hole: He stated that his company receives anywhere upwards of 1,000 resumes per position posted. As a result, this firm cannot review such a number of applicants and is screening to find the job seekers that match close to 99% of the requirements, which turns out to be about 10 people. The firm doesn’t have the computer programming people or personnel to respond “no thanks” to the 990 other individuals. This speaker stated that most firms cannot spend the time reviewing candidates that may be 85% of a match as the firm doesn’t have enough financial latitude to train a new hire in the remaining 15% of the job specifications. In short, they simply want to find a candidate with the closest matching skill set that can immediately hit the ground running and contribute to the firm’s well-being. So of the 1,000 applicants, 10 folks will not fall into this firm’s black hole.

And at a networking event, one person I met mentioned that this year his company deliberately did not hold its annual job fair given an inability to manage responses to job seekers. Their previous job fair yielded more than 500 applications, which they were hard-pressed to process, so with the current job climate, they had concerns about handling the masses and tarnishing their reputation. In essence, this firm does not believe in creating black holes. Instead, the company is doing very specific, targeted, community-based job events to much smaller audiences and is happily managing responses to applicants. In fact, I have received 2 very nice emails, following up my application to this very company. In both cases, neither individual really needed to circle back with me but took the time and trouble to do so. Now this is a firm I am even more than motivated to work for!

Is the black hole still expanding in scope in your job search, or has it begun to shrink in size?

 

Check out this advice for managing the black hole in your job search.

 

 

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