Phyllis Kokki is a N.Y. Times writer who contributes to that newspaper’s Job’s section. She is knowledgeable, a model of clarity and really understand’s the challenges job seekers face in the marketplace. In an article published October 10, 2009, she details how career professionals can work through and around the many hurdles put up by human resource personnel.
“It’s an employer’s market right now, and that means employers can be fussy. They can include a long list of requirements in their job descriptions — demanding, perhaps, a certain number of years’ experience in one corner of an industry, knowledge of an obscure programming language and fluency in, say, Latvian…That’s frustrating for those who may not fit the job description to a T as it appears on a posting, but who know that they could succeed at the job.
“Other job seekers are facing a different kind of frustration. Accepting the realities of the marketplace, they are willing to take a step down from their previous work. But that immediately raises suspicions that they will be out the door as soon as the market improves.”
So what do you do if you are under or overqualified in this era of the Great Recession?
Korkki notes that if your only link with the employer is online, your prospects are not good. As I have mentioned numerous times, the job campaign is ultimately all about people and relationships. She goes on to say “But if you can establish personal contact with someone on the inside, you may be able to make your case. It’s tiresome to have to repeat this, and a lot of people don’t like to hear it, but it comes down to networking. In my next post, we’ll look at suggestions by various employment professions on how to counteract the challenges of dealing with human resource departments.