Getting a Good Job takes Two

By Guest Contributor
Amy Hess

I’ve interviewed candidates for the past 8 years for my company. Usually we have a strong batch of entry-level candidates that handle themselves professionally. The resumes used to be good and for the most part, so were the candidates. In the last two years, I’ve seen a switch. It’s not unnoticed by my collegues and others I’ve spoken with. The resumes aren’t as good and many even contain simple spelling mistakes such as listing “America University” for American University or saying that a resume is “attacked” instead of attached. But more than that, it’s the attitude that comes along with these resumes. The attitude seems to be that we owe the candidates something and that they’ve already paid their dues. They expect big salaries, no administrative work at all (which we all do to some degree) and a host of benefits. It seems to be all about them and not what they can contribute to a company. Their attitudes seem to be that they’ll test a job out for a few months and then leave if they feel like trying something else out. When did it become acceptable to only have a first job on your resume that you stayed at for only a few months? I receive more and more resumes from candidates who just got out of college and have been at their positions for only a month or two.

The attitude is also less formal. Written thank you notes are a thing of the past. I can accept that. But I can’t accept the laxness in the emails. Emails that are misspelled or way too informal for someone who doesn’t even know me and is applying for a job. I’ve seen “hah hah” written in an email when I pointed out a mistake in an email. (the girl who wrote that her resume was attacked. I asked if she meant “attached). My supervisor and I have been stalked by candidates who won’t let up, even when their resumes are inadequate for the position. And we’ve also seen the opposite—candidates who appear interested and enthusiastic and then disappear. We’ve taken our time to interview them. If they aren’t interested, a simple email will do. Thanks for your time, etc. What happened to not burning bridges? Why say you are excited for the possibility after a 2nd interview and then fall off the face of the earth? It’s disrespectful.

There’s been a lot of write-up lately about so called helicopter parents. Parents who hover around their kids and make every tiny decision for them. Maybe this has something to do with it. Without the parents, they just don’t know what to do. Or maybe parents are teaching their kids that the world is only about them. The days of text messages and IMs have had to influenced the language I see. I’m not sure what it is exactly but I know that it doesn’t bode well for any industry—or for our very fragile world.