ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

5 Biggest Job Hunt Time Wasters

Updated on August 20, 2015
Job hunting is incredibly time-consuming.
Job hunting is incredibly time-consuming. | Source

Professional Job Hunter?

I carry the dubious title of Professional Job Hunter. I've been told I'm diligent, intelligent, and skilled – but these qualities aren't always a guarantee of getting a job you like or decent pay.

I've been employed in capacities ranging from retail cashier to trade professional earning excellent pay. At my peak I was flown all over the Lower 48 for training (and even an interview). Now my industry has dried up and I'm in a precarious situation. I've learned the hard way what to do and what to avoid when job hunting, and I'd like to share my findings with you.

Instead of trying to address every pitfall in one Hub, I will focus on the biggest time wasters. Because those bills aren't going to pay themselves, are they?

'Screening'

If you've been looking for a job for any length of time, you're no doubt aware that not every employment ad is legitimate. Even when an ad IS legitimate, some companies send applicants into a bloated maze of "screening" that quite often rejects good candidates along with less-than-ideal ones. Look out for these major time wasters:

Job hunt woes.
Job hunt woes. | Source

The Time Wasters

1. Job Fairs. Not to say there aren't plenty of legitimate job fairs going on, but the legit ones are usually held at the hirer's place of business or have a well-known corporate sponsor. Job fairs to stay away from are those typically held in hotel meeting rooms. If you see more recruiters from "Universities" than actual job offerings, RUN.

If you give any information to these recruiters, they could hound you with phone calls and mailings for years; it has happened to me. And take the actual job applications with a grain of salt too. I spoke with an insurance sales agency that allegedly needed an 'office administrator', only to receive solicitations by mail regarding my home and auto insurance. These shameless bait and switch tactics can keep devouring your time long after the 'Fair' is over.

2. Placement Agencies. In all fairness, the recruiting agencies haven't always been the sucking black holes that many of them are today. Once upon a time, in a better economy, a person could walk into an agency and be placed in a tolerable job. Now, if you have a rare skill set and/or are completely up to date in all the software you will use in your profession, you might stand a chance. Otherwise the odds are not in your favor.

I sat in one agency for more than two hours filling out an application (after filling out basically the same one online). The recruiter – I'll call her Nancy – said she'd call me one way or another in two days about the position for which I'd applied. On the second day 'Jenn' called and asked me to come back in, so I did, and Jenn asked me to fill out the SAME APPLICATION I'd just filled out two days before. I couldn't believe it! When I asked where my original application went, she said, "Nancy isn't here today." So does Nancy take her files home every night? And you can't access my online files? Another nine hours wasted.

3 Entry Level Position. This used to mean: 'You have no experience, but we'll pay you a low salary in return for on-the-job training.' Unfortunately, all too often these words now mean SCAM, as in 'give us your DOB and SSN or your application cannot be processed'.

4. Use Your Own Equipment / Train on Your Own Time. I'm seeing an uptick in ads that are asking the applicant to use his/her own equipment to do the job, which is fine (Work at Home! Woot!) until the employer tells you that you MUST have certain equipment, and if you don't you must buy it (non-reimbursed, of course). Training on your own time isn't inherently a bad thing, especially if you have time on your hands and the training is free.
But now comes the reality: The investment in equipment and time are for a part time, temporary, or on-call job. And the pay is usually dismally low.

5. LONG Online Applications. These are common - especially in retail - and it seems that the more menial the job, the longer the application. It isn't unusual to go through page after page of form-filling, only to get to the last page and find that you cannot submit without revealing your SSN.

Optimize your job search!
Optimize your job search! | Source

The Good News

It looks like more employers are hiring in 2015. If you want to stop spinning your wheels and get hired fast, take a look at how much time you're spending on time wasters and use that time in more productive ways. Keep trying, and may you find a rewarding job soon!

© 2012 trilobyte

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)