You are here: Home > Features > Top 5 jobseeker annoyancesTop 5 jobseeker annoyancesPosted by Eleni Cashell on Nov 28, 2013 | 17 comments top 5 jobseeker annoyances Whether you’re unemployed or sitting in your current job wanting to move on, job hunting can be a stressful thing to do. Over the past few months lots of you have been in contact with us over Facebook, Twitter and on this very blog to express what’s been really bugging you about job hunting. From bad contracts to age discrimination, you’ve been telling how us how upset, frustrated or incredibly annoyed you’re feeling when you’re trying to find work. Over at Totaljobs we don’t ignore you, so we’ve compiled a list of the top 5 jobseeker annoyances. 1. Zero hour contractsWhen we recently ran a piece about 3 jobseekers and their experiences with zero hour contracts, we were inundated with comments from jobseekers, and most of them weren’t very happy. Although we had a few people contact us to say that zero hours contracts were okay if you were in the right circumstances, needed flexible hours or had a good employer, the overwhelming majority of comments expressed outrage that they even existed. Most of you feel that they exploit workers, only benefit employers and lots of you even called for them to be completely banned. We also heard stories of jobseekers being treated badly on such contracts, including inconsistent hours, being fired for not picking up shifts and being given unreasonable targets to hit. One of the main complaints we had was how unclear zero hour contracts can be. Do you get paid sick pay? Are you entitled to annual leave? Do you have any rights? Seems like everyone had different information, which was only making you more (understandably) angry. What do you think of zero hour contracts? Let us know in the comment box at the bottom of the page! 2. Age discriminationOne of the things we hear most about is the age discrimination that a lot of you seem to face from employers on a regular basis. In particular, jobseekers aged between 50-60 years old have been the most vocal about being discriminated against, and we receive comments from them on an almost daily basis. These older jobseekers have been telling us they’re struggling to find work because of their age, despite having over 10 years’ worth of experience in their desired industry they’re seen as too experienced or too close to retirement to do the job. This has led to many of you leaving off your age on CVs or applying for jobs which you’re over skilled to do. We’ve heard about their nightmare job interviews too, including instances where the employer made it clear they were too old to do the job. It hasn’t just been the older jobseekers getting in touch; we’ve also had younger jobseekers contacting us to say they feel discriminated against because of their age too. They feel they’ve lost out on job offers purely because employers don’t think they’ve got enough experience and they aren’t willing to give them a chance. And we haven’t been ignoring what you’ve been saying about such a serious issue. Check out this blog next week when we’ll have some surprising results from our latest survey on age discrimination and a younger and older jobseeker debate who has it harder on the job hunt. Have you been discriminated against on your job hunt? Let us know in the comments box at the bottom of the page! 3. Not enough jobsJob hunts are becoming increasingly difficult at the moment, with many people going for a single job and applications needing to instantly stand out in order to avoid the employer’s bin. So understandably another frustration you’re telling us about is the fact you feel there aren’t enough jobs around to cope with the demand. Whether you live in a big city where there’s too many people going for the same job, or a little town where jobs are few and far between, the jobs shortage has been really annoying you. Are you struggling to find work because there isn’t enough jobs? Let us know! 4. Employers not replying to youYou’ve spent hours filling out the job application, made sure your CV is perfect and tailored your cover letter, then sent it off and waited patiently, and waited some more, and more again until you conclude you didn’t get the job and no one has bothered to tell you. How rude. That’s right, unsurprisingly one of the major annoyances you’ve been telling us about is the fact that employers aren’t replying to your applications. Even when you’ve got down to the final few in a job interview, employers are giving some of you the silent treatment. Most of you understand they’re inundated with applications and don’t have time to tailor a response to everyone, but you aren’t asking for much. Many of you have told us you’d be happy with just a simple email or quick phone call saying “sorry, but you aren’t the person we were looking after”, and if you’ve had an actual interview, maybe some constructive feedback so you know where you’re going wrong. Instead you’re met with more silence when you ask for an answer. Want to know how to deal with employers not responding and why you might not be hearing from them? Check out this feature. Do you find employers aren’t replying to you? How does it make you feel? Let us know in the comments box! 5. Bad attitudes towards jobseekersIt can be hard being a jobseeker, and lots of you have been telling us how upset you’re getting at the bad attitudes and stereotypes that jobseekers are getting constantly labelled with from employers, companies and the media. Being unfairly portrayed as benefit scroungers, lazy or not trying hard enough has started to get really draining on jobseekers. Especially as often it’s not your choice to be unemployed and you’ve been the victim of some pretty unfortunate circumstances such as redundancy or ill health. Many of you have been in touch with some horrible stories of employers with bad attitudes who unfairly confront you about CV gaps or job centres which aren’t helping you enough. Have you experienced bad attitudes towards jobseekers on your job hunt? Let us know! Judging by this problematic list, jobseekers aren’t having it easy at the moment. Here at Totaljobs we’re always here to help, from CV and interview advice to getting through your first day at work. Have we missed anything off the list? What really annoys you when you’re job hunting? Let us know in the comments box below! About the author: Eleni CashellEleni is the online editorial assistant for Totaljobs. She studied magazine journalism at Cardiff Journalism School, and writes career advice for the site. She also does freelance writing and opinion pieces for online magazines. View Eleni Cashells other posts View Eleni Cashells web page
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 12:27:30 +0000
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