Employment

4 Job Seekers’ Requests that Won’t Be Granted in 2013

job seeker request
Written by Faizan Patankar

When I was a job seeker, I used to dream that maybe I could buy a lottery ticket and win! Then I realised that the chances of winning a lottery were lower than those of me being stuck by lightning! So I sort of knew that would never happen. But I had some job seekers’ requests at the start of every year…unfortunately they never came true.

At the start of 2013, here are 4 job seekers’ requests that we all wish came true, but unfortunately, they won’t. But hey, all the same, maybe there is a writer’s curse and they might come true? All the same, here is the list.

1. Job Seekers Request More Job Opportunities

Oi oi oi, how cool would it be if the US, the UK and the EU suddenly went boom! and came out of the recession. People are out spending money and companies are struggling to meet the demand. Companies go on a hiring spree and more jobs are created. Sadly, that’s not happening. Not in 2013. Hiring will be only slightly higher than the 2012 figures.

2013 is still going to be a year where a humongous number of applicants will apply for every vacancy. Good luck to HR managers. Job seekers will need to be on their toes and constantly up their skills.

2. Reduction in or Change in the Use of Applicant Tracking Systems

You know, applicant tracking systems are like weapons of mass rejections. They simply accept or reject a candidate based on words and criteria. I hate that system and think nothing more makes me feel more like a douchebag than applicant tracking systems. They are boring, cumbersome (take up to 2 hours to complete) and quite frankly, flawed!

I am sure job seekers around the world hope this thing suddenly disappears from the world! Like completely! C’mon people, give graduates a chance, stop spending money on these systems and then going ‘uh, not a single good graduate to hire’.

3. Job Seekers’ Request for Paid Internships

Honestly, how in this day and age can someone take on an intern and not pay him! Shameless <insert abuse>. OK, now there will be some tie wearing, Armani ladden, horrendous perfume sprayed person who will say ‘well, we give them experience’. To them people, stop lying! You just want a slave to work for you for free and graduates, beaten to demotivated fate, work for you, thinking it will work. It does in some cases, but it doesn’t in others.

Stop slaving people. If it is for 2-3 weeks near to their house or charities, fair enough. But if you make a million or two or three or hundreds! and still don’t pay an intern, it’s something to be ashamed of! Again, even though job seekers request some pay for their hard work, I can’t see a definite end to unpaid internships in 2013.

4. Less Job/Vacancy Emails (Spam) from Job Sites

These job sites, do they not think at times? Every day a job seeker has his or her email flooded with rubbish vacancies with jobs that do not even closely match the original requirement. Job sites need better algorithms to suggest or email jobs to job seekers.

Job seekers are more likely to open an email if they know it’s not another rubbish vacancy suggestion but job sites don’t seem to have learnt that in the last 5 years, so there is little chance they will mend their algorithms in 2013!

These are my 4 common job seekers’ requests that I would love to see come true, but alas, 2013 is too early for it maybe. But hey, if something does change, remember we thought of it here first 🙂

photo credit: Louish Pixel via photopin cc

About the author

Faizan Patankar

I started Career Geek Blog in 2011 to share my experience in job-hunting. I now focus on careers industry and blogging is just a tool to share that info. Love hacking careers. During the day I focus on my hobby - Engineering.