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windandwaterI think I'll cut this because I might get mean or ranty or long and this is mostly just something I've been thinking about for a few days now.
So on Wednesday and Thursday I hit two job fairs, which went pretty well. I got a lot of prospects that I need to follow up on (whoo for all applications being done online >_>). The Thursday fair I had been planning to go to for months, as it was held by Women For Hire, so lots of the employeers were purposefully seeking out female employees for diversity and stuff. There were a lot of recruiters and lots of free stuff (more on this later), so I was happy. The Wednesday one I learned about last minute, but went to because it was nearby in Ontario and was a combination job fair/college fair so there were more people.
It was the Wednesday one where I got all boggled/pissed.
I was standing in line to sign in/register when I noticed that some guy came out of the job fair room (it was all set up in a ballroom of a hotel) and wanted to talk to one of the fair-workers/managers. She had to step away so the line stopped for the moment as another check-in person had to take over, so I got a nice front-row view of the dude.
He talked to the lady and I didn't catch all of it, but basically he was saying that he was "disappointed" in the job fair, that he "knows how these work", and blah blah blah. Pretty much I think he was pissed recruiters weren't jumping for him and offering him jobs up the wazoo. And then I got pissed because, DUDE, DID YOU EVEN LOOK IN A MIRROR BEFORE YOU LEFT HOME?!
Here I am, standing in one of my good suits and pearls, wearing nylons and heels, all made up because I want to make the best impression possible. I've got my professional bag with me (leather and professional and not the normal denim tote bag I usually carry), and a folder with multiple copies of resume. I look around and everyone IS DRESSED LIKE ME. We're all in suits (or business casual, which still means a dress shirt, tie, and slacks for guys), trying to put our best foot forward to get jobs.
You, dude?
You're wearing a wrinkled tee-shirt and jeans, and I didn't get to see your shoes. You're not carrying a folder with resumes, like most of the guys are doing (no purses for them though some had briefcases). It DOESN'T EVEN LOOK LIKE YOU COMBED YOUR HAIR or SHAVED. So you're here, complaining about not getting a job, when everyone else around you is:
A) Dressed professionally
B) Prepared
C) Not WHINING LIKE A BITCH.
GEE I WONDER WHY. Ugh.
I mean, really? Really? They were trying to hire business people. Professionals. Accountants, sales, marketing, financial, well... the Border Patrol and LAPD were there too, but it was mainly white collar work. You come in looking like a bum off the street, and you wondered why people are not taking you seriously?
It's one of the pet peeves I have about job fairs. I take very careful notice of my appearance, because I tend to look younger than I am. When I dress professionally, I have to put out the aura that I know what I'm doing and have a J.D., not "just graduated high school". But when I see people stroll in wearing tee-shirts and jeans (usually guys), or otherwise inappropriately (I once saw a woman pretty much wearing a cocktail dress, all sparkles and shiny and woo hoo; she looked very nice, but not when surrounded by suits), it annoys me. Maybe it makes me a snob or whatever, especially since the trend in the workplace seems to be sliding towards business-casual, but business-casual does not mean jeans and a tee-shirt!
Oh, and he guy also complained about there being colleges in the room. I wanted to applaud when the manager lady told him specifically, "Well, sir, this was advertised as both a career fair AND a college fair."
WORDS. LEARN TO READ THEM, DUDE.
In less snarky but semi-related news, I like it when recruiters give out free things at their booths. I know it's a total trap to lure people in to check out the company (WHAT I HUGE BOWL OF CANDY YES PLZ), but it's effective. You can also tell when the company has money to burn for recruiting by what they offer. Usually there's just the normal bowl of candy. Sometimes pencils or pens with the company logo. Or little logo keychains.
The Navy had tee-shirts, frisbees, mugs, rulers, pens (good ones not cheap ones), pencils, those squishy drink kooshies, etc., etc., etc.I got a shirt, mug, pen and ruler. One company I saw once (it was an oil company) was giving out USB flash card readers, along with little calculators and other electronic things. Yesterday's hot ticket recruiting trend seemed to be tote bags! Company logo tote bags. Whoo.
So on Wednesday and Thursday I hit two job fairs, which went pretty well. I got a lot of prospects that I need to follow up on (whoo for all applications being done online >_>). The Thursday fair I had been planning to go to for months, as it was held by Women For Hire, so lots of the employeers were purposefully seeking out female employees for diversity and stuff. There were a lot of recruiters and lots of free stuff (more on this later), so I was happy. The Wednesday one I learned about last minute, but went to because it was nearby in Ontario and was a combination job fair/college fair so there were more people.
It was the Wednesday one where I got all boggled/pissed.
I was standing in line to sign in/register when I noticed that some guy came out of the job fair room (it was all set up in a ballroom of a hotel) and wanted to talk to one of the fair-workers/managers. She had to step away so the line stopped for the moment as another check-in person had to take over, so I got a nice front-row view of the dude.
He talked to the lady and I didn't catch all of it, but basically he was saying that he was "disappointed" in the job fair, that he "knows how these work", and blah blah blah. Pretty much I think he was pissed recruiters weren't jumping for him and offering him jobs up the wazoo. And then I got pissed because, DUDE, DID YOU EVEN LOOK IN A MIRROR BEFORE YOU LEFT HOME?!
Here I am, standing in one of my good suits and pearls, wearing nylons and heels, all made up because I want to make the best impression possible. I've got my professional bag with me (leather and professional and not the normal denim tote bag I usually carry), and a folder with multiple copies of resume. I look around and everyone IS DRESSED LIKE ME. We're all in suits (or business casual, which still means a dress shirt, tie, and slacks for guys), trying to put our best foot forward to get jobs.
You, dude?
You're wearing a wrinkled tee-shirt and jeans, and I didn't get to see your shoes. You're not carrying a folder with resumes, like most of the guys are doing (no purses for them though some had briefcases). It DOESN'T EVEN LOOK LIKE YOU COMBED YOUR HAIR or SHAVED. So you're here, complaining about not getting a job, when everyone else around you is:
A) Dressed professionally
B) Prepared
C) Not WHINING LIKE A BITCH.
GEE I WONDER WHY. Ugh.
I mean, really? Really? They were trying to hire business people. Professionals. Accountants, sales, marketing, financial, well... the Border Patrol and LAPD were there too, but it was mainly white collar work. You come in looking like a bum off the street, and you wondered why people are not taking you seriously?
It's one of the pet peeves I have about job fairs. I take very careful notice of my appearance, because I tend to look younger than I am. When I dress professionally, I have to put out the aura that I know what I'm doing and have a J.D., not "just graduated high school". But when I see people stroll in wearing tee-shirts and jeans (usually guys), or otherwise inappropriately (I once saw a woman pretty much wearing a cocktail dress, all sparkles and shiny and woo hoo; she looked very nice, but not when surrounded by suits), it annoys me. Maybe it makes me a snob or whatever, especially since the trend in the workplace seems to be sliding towards business-casual, but business-casual does not mean jeans and a tee-shirt!
Oh, and he guy also complained about there being colleges in the room. I wanted to applaud when the manager lady told him specifically, "Well, sir, this was advertised as both a career fair AND a college fair."
WORDS. LEARN TO READ THEM, DUDE.
In less snarky but semi-related news, I like it when recruiters give out free things at their booths. I know it's a total trap to lure people in to check out the company (WHAT I HUGE BOWL OF CANDY YES PLZ), but it's effective. You can also tell when the company has money to burn for recruiting by what they offer. Usually there's just the normal bowl of candy. Sometimes pencils or pens with the company logo. Or little logo keychains.
The Navy had tee-shirts, frisbees, mugs, rulers, pens (good ones not cheap ones), pencils, those squishy drink kooshies, etc., etc., etc.
