10 Things HR Won't Tell You About Your Resume

http://www.depressedandunemployed.com/

This is outrageous! What you've done by choosing to quote such subhumans is criminal. Criminal because you chose individuals who you pretend are representative, and they most likely are not! Or you've found one or two big-city ******** whose lives are failing and are just cynical to the max. I was stopped in my tracks when that one subhuman said that if someone is unemployed for more than 6 months, they're unemployable. That another subhuman hasn't read a cover letter in 11 years! All the conventional wisdom job searches have been operating on turns out to be wrong? Perhaps they've just been convinced that their last year or two of searching has been a terrible waste of their and their family's time. There are people who have given up because of this list....perhaps even have committed suicide because of it. I was depressed for days after I read this, then I realized that this was just sensational puke written by a lazy hack. Karma is coming for the author.

I am offended as we all should be by the companies that request our age, sex, race, etc. They say it doesn't harm our chances of getting that job if we don't respond to those questions, but you we know that it does. Most likely if we chose the "prefer not to answer" button we are immediately deamed uncooperative, not a team player, or they assume we are hiding something. Discrimination is illegal, period. They legally should not be asking these questions. Demographics and ressearch is not a vialid excuse.

In my line of work HR doesn't have a clue what I or other co-workers do or the abilities that they need to have. I don't care how good of an administrator you are, if you don't understand the job that you are filling you don't have any business making hiring or resume weed-out decisions. Without having experienced my type of work or being close to someone who does this work there is no way an HR person would know what abilities, skills and personalities are necessary even if they received a list from their employer. Most HR people hibernate in their office behind closed doors and don't even attempt to get to know the people and the industry that they work for. Many of them I find to be on power trips. I realize these comments are generalizations but they are accurate.

Many of these companies and their hiring processes are out of control. They have no respect for the human beings that are applying for their positions. They have reduced all applicants to hoop-jumping monkeys and have no regard for us as human beings what-so-ever. It has been my experience that If they treat you like garbage during the review process then they are going to treat you like garbage once they've hired you regardless of how much money you make for them.

They need to realize that they can't make money, they can't accomplish their goals without us. We are the ones that make them successful, put roofs over their heads, clothes on their backs, and food on their tables. We are a product that they cannot live without.

But we've sold ourselves out to the big boss man. We've helped to create this problem. We can help to reverse it if we would all get some self respect and stand up for ourselves. Sometimes all it take is a well placed comment to plant a seed. It deosn't necessarily take a revolt or harmful, unwanted behavior. We've sold our self respect to the big man. And currently they have us "over a barrel" because of this economy.

Item #6- For every resume, there is usually an online or some kind of application to fill out.
This is where you can't hide age, dates, etc etc. They ask you required fields of information that won't let you proceed until answered. Then comes other forms- they are going to find out one way or another

OK if 6 months out of work is considered "unemployable", then how did some people that were retired after 5 years, get a job part time or whatever ????

The two biggest negatives that they won't tell you about:

1) White male.
2) Over age 45.
If you are cursed with those two negatives, you will not get a job in the land that your ancestors built.

Unfortunately, as much as we disagree with the comments made in this article, we have to face the fact that these practices are taking place in many companies across the country. Yes, we should be upset with what is being said and done, but we also need to find ways to positively address what is taking place.

Ms. Shapiro and her fellow HR professionals who think like her, should reconsider the six-month rule of unemployment given these times of economic hardship. Many of us really have lost our jobs through no fault of of our own and some of us had careers in niche industries that have been devastated by the building crisis. We are now faced with having skills that we can successfully apply to other industries, but other industries are less likely to give us an opportunity when so many qualified people with previous experience are applying for them. This doesn't make us unemployable. Also, instead of looking at whether or not a person has been receiving a steady paycheck for longer than six months, they really should be looking at what the person has been doing with their time during the lay-off. I know I have stayed busy with consulting work, returning to school full-time, and volunteering. All things that will keep my skills sharp and give me new skills that will be valuable to my future employer.

As well, HR professionals should be very careful with advertising practices that refer to ageism, sexism, and racism. While many may go about their days believing this is okay, it isn't. Discrimination of this sort is illegal and it may just be a matter of time before it catches up with them and the companies they work for. It is possible that if unemployment continues to remain at higher levels for certain groups of people as the economy rebounds, investigations might be initiated into the reasons why.

My advice to all HR professionals, practice your profession with a high-level of morals and ethics while always following the laws that govern employment in this country. Abandon the practice of superficial stereotyping, but continue to use common-sense when assessing a potential employee. Once you abandon preconceived notions about the unemployed, you may just find the superstar that is going to be a great asset to your company and in return make you a stand-out employee to your company as well.

Unfortunately, as much as we disagree with the comments made in this article, we have to face the fact that these practices are taking place in many companies across the country. Yes, we should be upset with what is being said and done, but we also need to find ways to positively address what is taking place.

Ms. Shapiro and her fellow HR professionals who think like her, should reconsider the six-month rule of unemployment given these times of economic hardship. Many of us really have lost our jobs through no fault of of our own and some of us had careers in niche industries that have been devastated by the building crisis. We are now faced with having skills that we can successfully apply to other industries, but other industries are less likely to give us an opportunity when so many qualified people with previous experience are applying for them. This doesn't make us unemployable. Also, instead of looking at whether or not a person has been receiving a steady paycheck for longer than six months, they really should be looking at what the person has been doing with their time during the lay-off. I know I have stayed busy with consulting work, returning to school full-time, and volunteering. All things that will keep my skills sharp and give me new skills that will be valuable to my future employer.

As well, HR professionals should be very careful with advertising practices that refer to ageism, sexism, and racism. While many may go about their days believing this is okay, it isn't. Discrimination of this sort is illegal and it may just be a matter of time before it catches up with them and the companies they work for. It is possible that if unemployment continues to remain at higher levels for certain groups of people as the economy rebounds, investigations might be initiated into the reasons why.

My advice to all HR professionals, practice your profession with a high-level of morals and ethics while always following the laws that govern employment in this country. Abandon the practice of superficial stereotyping, but continue to use common-sense when assessing a potential employee. Once you abandon preconceived notions about the unemployed, you may just find the superstar that is going to be a great asset to your company and in return make you a stand-out employee to your company as well.

Reference equity in home ownership. Housing, as we know it, is market driven. If we have a set mortgage payment, amount the equity increases with each payment and increases further by virtue of market indicators. We can't do anything other than rely on the market place in hopes that it will continue upwards. When the housing market declines, so does the value of the property. Unfortunately, the mortgage balance remains as is and does not adjust to any declines in market value. We know this going in. The amount borrowed is investor's equity. They will not settle for less than they invested unless the interest rates fall and if individual(s) refianance. Regardless of the facts, if we fail to repay the debt, the bank has a right to reclaim the property for the debt, we lose our equity and the bank has to make an effort to resell the property - often at a loss less than the loan value. Many people, as they lose their homes, will wrongly trash the property, remove the attachments and making the resale value even less than the mortgage balance. Everyone loses. If we buy an automoblie, the value declines as soon as we drive it off the lot. If we fail to pay and the vehicle is repossed, the buyer has no right to the amount of his or her investment in the vehicle. The last thing that banks want is to have a property come back to them because they have to sell all of that inventory - usually at a loss. If we fall prey to the loss of our property, the poor credit rating will follow us for a very long period. On the other hand, If we have no alternative but to return the property because of market indicators or causes beyond our control is a different matter. This will cast us back into the rental market where rents are subject to the same market indicators and taxing authorities as swas our home ownership. There, at times, are no easy solutions for anyone. Last, when the bank sells the home at a price more than the loan amount, which is rare, the prior owner does not have a right to those proceeds in excess of the loan amount. I am the owner up until the bank purchases the home at a sheriff's sale. If an individual(s) or investor purchase the property at a sheriff's sale and resell for a profit, I have no right or can make a claim upon those positive proceeds.