So is a plague of laziness responsible for the unemployment numbers?

[rocketpig]

HappySqurriel said:

rocketpig said:

Chairman-Mao said:

richardhutnik said:

Chairman-Mao said:

These people aren't lazy. They're just holding out for management positions.

If you have been management, and then try to apply for something not management, it is hard to get into.  Go too far down, and you get "overqualified".  In my case, I have a Masters degree.  Sure, I might be able to land seasonal employment, where you are gone in January.  But for more permanent things?  Well, it is a real challenge.

I'm only 19 and in my undergrad program so I can't speak at all about job hunting or whatever, but I can't see it as being too hard to find a job with a masters degree. Now I understand the whole "overqualified" issue but it can't be that big of a drawback can it?

Yeah, it is. I don't have a Master's but I couldn't find even crap work because I was overqualified for any of it. I couldn't even get an entry-level or junior position in my own field because they knew I'd be gone in a month or two once something better came around.

One of the more successful approaches to finding an unadvertised job in a tough market is to seek out informational interviews with companies in your area.

Start by making a list of all of the companies that do work related to your field and order them based on your desire to work for the company. Starting with the bottom of the list, try to contact HR and get a 10 to 15 minute informational interview where you can find out information about the company; stick to this 10 to 15 minutes (you are in charge of the interview) and after you get the information you desire about the company try to get the HR person to get you in contact with someone within the company who might be able to give you advice on how to break into the industry. If they get you in contact with someone, try to get an informational interview from them by offering them something like a coffee; and if successful, try to get them to get you in contact with someone else who can give you information about breaking into the industry.

If you follow up appropriately, and have done well with your interview, it is likely that when an opening appears in one of these companies you will be considered before the job is advertised. On a side note, since so few people have the "bawls" to do this, you will have very little competition with this approach.

I tried that several times. The thing is that virtually no one was leaving their job, companies were not expanding, and when they did, they were hiring from within and when you're applying for a senior position, it's almost impossible to break through during those hiring conditions.

2009 was a brutal year on the job market. Before I finally landed a job, I was down to the final four applicants five or six times but couldn't pull it through. It was rough.