If, like me, you've been actively seeking a job recently, you will likely be aware of the impact Ai has had on the job market.
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If, like me, you've been actively seeking a job recently, you will likely be aware of the impact Ai has had on the job market. Virtually every other day is a msm news story about qualified and/or experienced people making hundreds of applications without getting anywhere.
Personally, although I've had a few interviews that didn't quite land (one I didn't really have enough experience, the others were pulled or lost funding), I've now applied for over 300 jobs over the past year. At this stage I'm quite philosophical about it and recognise it's not a reflection of my value.
Along with all the other current crises, there is now a looming employment and skills crisis. This is being framed as a benefits culture led by overdiagnosis of neurodivergence. Which makes me so very very cross it's difficult to put into words. I know that's not true. You know that's not true. *They* know that's not true. It's just a convenient demographic to throw under the bus to detract from the catastrophic damage being wrought by this new gold rush.
Urgh.
I've started typing this out a few times recently and always deleted. It's not something I feel very comfortable talking about. But I am really struggling with this and I figure that if I am there might be others. And I believe in visibility and not suffering in silence - been there and it was awful.
I know things will change at some point. And I know I've spoken to some of you separately irl about this (and thank you so much for your support), but just wanted to fire a beam out across Fedi to anyone else in this shitty situation. You are not alone. Always happy to chat offline if this is kicking your ass as much as it is mine! X
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R relay@relay.mycrowd.ca shared this topicR relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
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If, like me, you've been actively seeking a job recently, you will likely be aware of the impact Ai has had on the job market. Virtually every other day is a msm news story about qualified and/or experienced people making hundreds of applications without getting anywhere.
Personally, although I've had a few interviews that didn't quite land (one I didn't really have enough experience, the others were pulled or lost funding), I've now applied for over 300 jobs over the past year. At this stage I'm quite philosophical about it and recognise it's not a reflection of my value.
Along with all the other current crises, there is now a looming employment and skills crisis. This is being framed as a benefits culture led by overdiagnosis of neurodivergence. Which makes me so very very cross it's difficult to put into words. I know that's not true. You know that's not true. *They* know that's not true. It's just a convenient demographic to throw under the bus to detract from the catastrophic damage being wrought by this new gold rush.
Urgh.
I've started typing this out a few times recently and always deleted. It's not something I feel very comfortable talking about. But I am really struggling with this and I figure that if I am there might be others. And I believe in visibility and not suffering in silence - been there and it was awful.
I know things will change at some point. And I know I've spoken to some of you separately irl about this (and thank you so much for your support), but just wanted to fire a beam out across Fedi to anyone else in this shitty situation. You are not alone. Always happy to chat offline if this is kicking your ass as much as it is mine! X
@TheBreadmonkey Curious what you mean when you say it’s “framed as a benefits culture led by overdiagnosis of neurodivergence.”
Do neurodivergent people actually get *benefits* where you live?! Like, monetary benefits sizable enough they can decide not to work?!
I am an autistic guy in the U.S. And I’m in a benefits-heavy region of my country (New York State). I can assure you that neurodivergent people do not get one measly freaking dime in pay-outs, not in this neck of the woods.
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If, like me, you've been actively seeking a job recently, you will likely be aware of the impact Ai has had on the job market. Virtually every other day is a msm news story about qualified and/or experienced people making hundreds of applications without getting anywhere.
Personally, although I've had a few interviews that didn't quite land (one I didn't really have enough experience, the others were pulled or lost funding), I've now applied for over 300 jobs over the past year. At this stage I'm quite philosophical about it and recognise it's not a reflection of my value.
Along with all the other current crises, there is now a looming employment and skills crisis. This is being framed as a benefits culture led by overdiagnosis of neurodivergence. Which makes me so very very cross it's difficult to put into words. I know that's not true. You know that's not true. *They* know that's not true. It's just a convenient demographic to throw under the bus to detract from the catastrophic damage being wrought by this new gold rush.
Urgh.
I've started typing this out a few times recently and always deleted. It's not something I feel very comfortable talking about. But I am really struggling with this and I figure that if I am there might be others. And I believe in visibility and not suffering in silence - been there and it was awful.
I know things will change at some point. And I know I've spoken to some of you separately irl about this (and thank you so much for your support), but just wanted to fire a beam out across Fedi to anyone else in this shitty situation. You are not alone. Always happy to chat offline if this is kicking your ass as much as it is mine! X
@TheBreadmonkey you are talking with the truth. I already had have 2 job interviews with -literally- an AI that talked to me ans asked me questions and interacted with me. It's been creepy and also so strange. Unfortunately in both appliances I didn't advance to the next stage. But.. it made me decide I'll never have another job interview with an AI. Keep on, mate... this world is getting harder and harder and we must make us stronger ans stronger.
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@TheBreadmonkey Curious what you mean when you say it’s “framed as a benefits culture led by overdiagnosis of neurodivergence.”
Do neurodivergent people actually get *benefits* where you live?! Like, monetary benefits sizable enough they can decide not to work?!
I am an autistic guy in the U.S. And I’m in a benefits-heavy region of my country (New York State). I can assure you that neurodivergent people do not get one measly freaking dime in pay-outs, not in this neck of the woods.
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@TheBreadmonkey I see… but wouldn’t removing people from the labor pool (via job-replacing benefits) actually *increase* available jobs for those willing to work?
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@TheBreadmonkey I see… but wouldn’t removing people from the labor pool (via job-replacing benefits) actually *increase* available jobs for those willing to work?
There's a perfect storm in the UK at the moment with Brexit removing opportunities for economic migrants who have historically met the needs of some markets, then Covid interrupting the pipeline, initiatives to replace 'low-skilled' workers with visa/sponsorship-driven workers (expensive for employers and, who upon moving to the UK then quit/move and/or get lost in the system), successive governments cutting funding from public services, significant employer cost rises, and then a huge push on Ai which has had a deleterious effect at every level. So there are stark employment shortages (care, for example), record numbers of people unemployed, *and* a benefits crisis. Because there's been a spike in Dx for ND, this has been attributed as the main cause (by the Health Secretary).
In short, we're being told neurodivergent people are workshy benefit cheats. And I have to read that on a regular basis despite having applied for more than 300 jobs in 12 months. I think I've had interviews for 6 jobs in that time. It's quite frustrating.
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There's a perfect storm in the UK at the moment with Brexit removing opportunities for economic migrants who have historically met the needs of some markets, then Covid interrupting the pipeline, initiatives to replace 'low-skilled' workers with visa/sponsorship-driven workers (expensive for employers and, who upon moving to the UK then quit/move and/or get lost in the system), successive governments cutting funding from public services, significant employer cost rises, and then a huge push on Ai which has had a deleterious effect at every level. So there are stark employment shortages (care, for example), record numbers of people unemployed, *and* a benefits crisis. Because there's been a spike in Dx for ND, this has been attributed as the main cause (by the Health Secretary).
In short, we're being told neurodivergent people are workshy benefit cheats. And I have to read that on a regular basis despite having applied for more than 300 jobs in 12 months. I think I've had interviews for 6 jobs in that time. It's quite frustrating.
Really well put. I think this covers it neatly and succinctly - better than any newspaper article.
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If, like me, you've been actively seeking a job recently, you will likely be aware of the impact Ai has had on the job market. Virtually every other day is a msm news story about qualified and/or experienced people making hundreds of applications without getting anywhere.
Personally, although I've had a few interviews that didn't quite land (one I didn't really have enough experience, the others were pulled or lost funding), I've now applied for over 300 jobs over the past year. At this stage I'm quite philosophical about it and recognise it's not a reflection of my value.
Along with all the other current crises, there is now a looming employment and skills crisis. This is being framed as a benefits culture led by overdiagnosis of neurodivergence. Which makes me so very very cross it's difficult to put into words. I know that's not true. You know that's not true. *They* know that's not true. It's just a convenient demographic to throw under the bus to detract from the catastrophic damage being wrought by this new gold rush.
Urgh.
I've started typing this out a few times recently and always deleted. It's not something I feel very comfortable talking about. But I am really struggling with this and I figure that if I am there might be others. And I believe in visibility and not suffering in silence - been there and it was awful.
I know things will change at some point. And I know I've spoken to some of you separately irl about this (and thank you so much for your support), but just wanted to fire a beam out across Fedi to anyone else in this shitty situation. You are not alone. Always happy to chat offline if this is kicking your ass as much as it is mine! X
@TheBreadmonkey it isn't too late to do something else. Skills are all that matter in this life, capitalists literally can't take that from us. You are very capable of learning new ones (or finding new uses for your old ones)
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If, like me, you've been actively seeking a job recently, you will likely be aware of the impact Ai has had on the job market. Virtually every other day is a msm news story about qualified and/or experienced people making hundreds of applications without getting anywhere.
Personally, although I've had a few interviews that didn't quite land (one I didn't really have enough experience, the others were pulled or lost funding), I've now applied for over 300 jobs over the past year. At this stage I'm quite philosophical about it and recognise it's not a reflection of my value.
Along with all the other current crises, there is now a looming employment and skills crisis. This is being framed as a benefits culture led by overdiagnosis of neurodivergence. Which makes me so very very cross it's difficult to put into words. I know that's not true. You know that's not true. *They* know that's not true. It's just a convenient demographic to throw under the bus to detract from the catastrophic damage being wrought by this new gold rush.
Urgh.
I've started typing this out a few times recently and always deleted. It's not something I feel very comfortable talking about. But I am really struggling with this and I figure that if I am there might be others. And I believe in visibility and not suffering in silence - been there and it was awful.
I know things will change at some point. And I know I've spoken to some of you separately irl about this (and thank you so much for your support), but just wanted to fire a beam out across Fedi to anyone else in this shitty situation. You are not alone. Always happy to chat offline if this is kicking your ass as much as it is mine! X
As a hiring manager for an engineering firm I struggle with the “I’ve applied to a hundred firms and gotten no where” being a product of AI. AI may be compounding the problem but simply applying and not hearing back has been a problem for decades. There are layers there that create this problem. Some is AI. Some is volumes of online job postings that are not real, already filled, or solely exist as evergreen recruitment tools. Some is the volume of applications. Some is just bad luck or timing.
For me AI is compounding the problem but is not the full problem. The real issue, from the job seeker side, is the assumption that completing an online application equals applying for a job. For me, I don’t think anyone has really applied until they have physically connected with a person at the target firm. Making a human connection is the best way to beat AI and get past the pile of hundreds of applications that a job seeker’s resume gets buried in. When I post an engineering role for hire I’ll get hundreds of applications but will likely interview and hire the candidate that used their network to bring their application to the top of the pile.
Best of luck in your job hunt. It’s a crappy system out there but you can find workarounds.
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R relay@relay.publicsquare.global shared this topic
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@TheBreadmonkey it isn't too late to do something else. Skills are all that matter in this life, capitalists literally can't take that from us. You are very capable of learning new ones (or finding new uses for your old ones)
I've applied for jobs that cover the entire range and breadth of my skills and have to continue to earn a baseline to feed the kids etc. I am looking at a 12-month salaried training course, but I have to wait until July to have the introduction, then undergo a 2-day residential competitive assessment centre with 50 or 60 other people where only the top scoring candidates go through, then if I pass, wait until the end of the year to start, and get paid roughly a third of my salary for the next 12 months. However at the end of it..... golden. If I manage to get through all those hoops and tell the family we're going through a seventh consecutive year of belt tightening. 🫠
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As a hiring manager for an engineering firm I struggle with the “I’ve applied to a hundred firms and gotten no where” being a product of AI. AI may be compounding the problem but simply applying and not hearing back has been a problem for decades. There are layers there that create this problem. Some is AI. Some is volumes of online job postings that are not real, already filled, or solely exist as evergreen recruitment tools. Some is the volume of applications. Some is just bad luck or timing.
For me AI is compounding the problem but is not the full problem. The real issue, from the job seeker side, is the assumption that completing an online application equals applying for a job. For me, I don’t think anyone has really applied until they have physically connected with a person at the target firm. Making a human connection is the best way to beat AI and get past the pile of hundreds of applications that a job seeker’s resume gets buried in. When I post an engineering role for hire I’ll get hundreds of applications but will likely interview and hire the candidate that used their network to bring their application to the top of the pile.
Best of luck in your job hunt. It’s a crappy system out there but you can find workarounds.
You’re absolutely right that some of these issues aren’t new... volume, timing, access etc. You're fortunate to only see a piece of the puzzle. But from what I see (both as an applicant/talking to others about their experiences, but also having built and run businesses in this space for 30 years), Ai hasn’t just added to the problem, it’s fundamentally changed the scale of things.
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As a hiring manager for an engineering firm I struggle with the “I’ve applied to a hundred firms and gotten no where” being a product of AI. AI may be compounding the problem but simply applying and not hearing back has been a problem for decades. There are layers there that create this problem. Some is AI. Some is volumes of online job postings that are not real, already filled, or solely exist as evergreen recruitment tools. Some is the volume of applications. Some is just bad luck or timing.
For me AI is compounding the problem but is not the full problem. The real issue, from the job seeker side, is the assumption that completing an online application equals applying for a job. For me, I don’t think anyone has really applied until they have physically connected with a person at the target firm. Making a human connection is the best way to beat AI and get past the pile of hundreds of applications that a job seeker’s resume gets buried in. When I post an engineering role for hire I’ll get hundreds of applications but will likely interview and hire the candidate that used their network to bring their application to the top of the pile.
Best of luck in your job hunt. It’s a crappy system out there but you can find workarounds.
@NJWookie @TheBreadmonkey
That’s how I was approaching it. But my connections within the companies were told I ought to use the „regular“ application portal, and then it got lost in the pile with everyone else, which is „fair“ on one hand but also means all my extended network is not really helping that much. But agreed, it is still a better chance than randomly firing applications into the abyss.
And it’s one reason why I am hoping freelance will be different somehow. Maybe naive on my end. -
I've applied for jobs that cover the entire range and breadth of my skills and have to continue to earn a baseline to feed the kids etc. I am looking at a 12-month salaried training course, but I have to wait until July to have the introduction, then undergo a 2-day residential competitive assessment centre with 50 or 60 other people where only the top scoring candidates go through, then if I pass, wait until the end of the year to start, and get paid roughly a third of my salary for the next 12 months. However at the end of it..... golden. If I manage to get through all those hoops and tell the family we're going through a seventh consecutive year of belt tightening. 🫠
@TheBreadmonkey ha sounds like my journey to become a paramedic. School is competitive entry, then you have to score over 80% on everything, then you have to survive your field practicum, all for the payout of like $4 over minimum wage. It was worth it tho.
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If, like me, you've been actively seeking a job recently, you will likely be aware of the impact Ai has had on the job market. Virtually every other day is a msm news story about qualified and/or experienced people making hundreds of applications without getting anywhere.
Personally, although I've had a few interviews that didn't quite land (one I didn't really have enough experience, the others were pulled or lost funding), I've now applied for over 300 jobs over the past year. At this stage I'm quite philosophical about it and recognise it's not a reflection of my value.
Along with all the other current crises, there is now a looming employment and skills crisis. This is being framed as a benefits culture led by overdiagnosis of neurodivergence. Which makes me so very very cross it's difficult to put into words. I know that's not true. You know that's not true. *They* know that's not true. It's just a convenient demographic to throw under the bus to detract from the catastrophic damage being wrought by this new gold rush.
Urgh.
I've started typing this out a few times recently and always deleted. It's not something I feel very comfortable talking about. But I am really struggling with this and I figure that if I am there might be others. And I believe in visibility and not suffering in silence - been there and it was awful.
I know things will change at some point. And I know I've spoken to some of you separately irl about this (and thank you so much for your support), but just wanted to fire a beam out across Fedi to anyone else in this shitty situation. You are not alone. Always happy to chat offline if this is kicking your ass as much as it is mine! X
@TheBreadmonkey I got so burned out on American capitalism, startup/tech "culture", and the broke-ass systems politicians pretend make up for the first two, that I get physically sick thinking about going back to being an executive (or any other "human resource" for a corporation).
I'm so lucky that I have the support of my partner and donations from Fedi, otherwise I'd probably just die. (I don't mean that in a downer sort of way, but I just don't have that fight in me anymore)
When I got laid off last, I applied for hundreds of jobs, and got only a few interviews—none of which panned out.
I refuse to compromise on ethics, so the pool of places I'd agree to work for has been steadily shrinking (and quickly so during the Trump administration). For instance, any company that took Trump as an opportunity to roll back DEI programs can get fucked; as can any company who decided to go balls-deep into AI at the cost of retaining human workers, or any company who contributed to Republican campaigns in support of this administration.
There's not much left now.
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As a hiring manager for an engineering firm I struggle with the “I’ve applied to a hundred firms and gotten no where” being a product of AI. AI may be compounding the problem but simply applying and not hearing back has been a problem for decades. There are layers there that create this problem. Some is AI. Some is volumes of online job postings that are not real, already filled, or solely exist as evergreen recruitment tools. Some is the volume of applications. Some is just bad luck or timing.
For me AI is compounding the problem but is not the full problem. The real issue, from the job seeker side, is the assumption that completing an online application equals applying for a job. For me, I don’t think anyone has really applied until they have physically connected with a person at the target firm. Making a human connection is the best way to beat AI and get past the pile of hundreds of applications that a job seeker’s resume gets buried in. When I post an engineering role for hire I’ll get hundreds of applications but will likely interview and hire the candidate that used their network to bring their application to the top of the pile.
Best of luck in your job hunt. It’s a crappy system out there but you can find workarounds.
At age 77 I don't plan on more job-hunting. But if I was looking, I would physically drag my body into the workplace of interest and somehow or other make contact with a human or two or three. We've had a family business since 1991. A fair number of employees have worked for us (they tend to stay for many years)--and in the end an employer is hiring a person, not a piece of paper. So 'physically connecting with a person at the target firm' is spot on advice.
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At age 77 I don't plan on more job-hunting. But if I was looking, I would physically drag my body into the workplace of interest and somehow or other make contact with a human or two or three. We've had a family business since 1991. A fair number of employees have worked for us (they tend to stay for many years)--and in the end an employer is hiring a person, not a piece of paper. So 'physically connecting with a person at the target firm' is spot on advice.
If you're looking at family run business work this is solid advice. However if you're dealing with any business that has a dedicated HR function (which is almost all), they mostly separate the process from the hiring manager to avoid any unfair advantages. In the UK now for example, all applications for local authority (government) work have to have all personal information stripped from the application or be disqualified. There is also usually a skills-based test. And often 10 questions drilling down why you think you are specifically qualified for the essential criteria in the job description. It's only stage 3 or 4 you even get to a human being. And likely not a hiring manager.
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If you're looking at family run business work this is solid advice. However if you're dealing with any business that has a dedicated HR function (which is almost all), they mostly separate the process from the hiring manager to avoid any unfair advantages. In the UK now for example, all applications for local authority (government) work have to have all personal information stripped from the application or be disqualified. There is also usually a skills-based test. And often 10 questions drilling down why you think you are specifically qualified for the essential criteria in the job description. It's only stage 3 or 4 you even get to a human being. And likely not a hiring manager.
I see things differently in my industry. While there are plenty examples where your statements are true there are just as many examples where making human contact is key. I work for a 37,000 person private sector global engineering firm with a robust dedicated HR/recruitment machine but even with that machine around 80% of our new hires enter the firm through some personal connection made outside simply completing an application. We’ve studied this internally and recognize that it is such a key to our hiring success that we invest as much in referral bonuses as we do in automated/AI tools to encourage our staff to bring top candidates to the attention of hiring managers. Do those candidates still need to go through the application process? YES … but they are usually fast tracked around AI/filtering tools.
Anecdotally all of my team’s summer interns for this year came in through a personal connection. One intern actually walked into our office, resume in hand, and asked if we were hiring. All of the hires I’ve made for senior roles this year were either referrals or they approached someone in the company through LinkedIn after seeing a posting.
The old business adage of “It’s not what you know but who you know” still holds up a lot of the time.
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You’re absolutely right that some of these issues aren’t new... volume, timing, access etc. You're fortunate to only see a piece of the puzzle. But from what I see (both as an applicant/talking to others about their experiences, but also having built and run businesses in this space for 30 years), Ai hasn’t just added to the problem, it’s fundamentally changed the scale of things.
Just out of curiosity what do you do and where on our big blue marble do it? Genuinely curious to see if it’s something that overlaps with my business universe and to better understand your perspective. It’s interesting to hear how the job hunting/recruitment process is experienced from other points in the process.
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@NJWookie @TheBreadmonkey
That’s how I was approaching it. But my connections within the companies were told I ought to use the „regular“ application portal, and then it got lost in the pile with everyone else, which is „fair“ on one hand but also means all my extended network is not really helping that much. But agreed, it is still a better chance than randomly firing applications into the abyss.
And it’s one reason why I am hoping freelance will be different somehow. Maybe naive on my end.
