Having been active in job searches for months, here are some of my general comments on job searches:
• Skills seem to be more impotent than where you worked in the past.
• However, if you are looking for a new job, you generally will need to have experience in the business to be considered. This makes career changes difficult, when people want to go a new way.
• There is a disturbing trend of pay by commission,without inclusion of a base salary. Even the best salesman doesn't sell to everyone and it can mess up a budget.
• In an effort to sound impressive, many job titles have been upscaled. This makes it difficult to find about the job responsibilities.
• Equally frustrating are companies that list 10-20 requirements and then add something like "other tasks as requested." It seems in this down-sizing mentality, companies want employees that can do everything in a company and be willing to work for minimum wage.
• There are so many applications that are time consuming - time wasting if you aren't hired.
• Government requires the W4-, I-9, and other forms, and many ask the same information. Isn't there a way these can be standardized and simplified?
• It's harder to keep the SS# private, since so many companies require it. One can only assume the reader of every application and form is legit and honest.
• For on-line applications, applicants generally have to impress the computer instead of the HR at the company with matching words in the job description. One can only guess some of those skilled at doing this that really aren't cut out for the work assigned, but have matched computer selected words.