You are not getting an accurate picture of the job market. With the best intentions, family, friends, colleagues, and overall public discourse offer advice about the economy, interviewing, and the job market. Usually, they parrot back platitudes or repeat what they have heard from someone who knows someone who really knows what’s going on. Here are some ways job seekers are misinformed about the job market.
Recruiters have been aware of the proliferation of phantom jobs posted online. One of the biggest things that depress job hunters is when they see job listings that fit their background, excitedly apply to the role and never hear back. This keeps happening. Over time, you start feeling dejected. You question why companies aren’t inviting you to interviews. Self-doubt creeps in, and you start questioning yourself. Thoughts race through your mind, “Did I offend anyone? Could it be that my boss or co-workers said bad things about me, and it’s been getting around?”
Don’t blame yourself; it’s not you. The system is corrupted. For years, companies have placed fake jobs online. The job description is real, and so is the company, and this doesn’t mean it’s a scam. Firms list jobs that they have no intention of filling.
It’s been widely reported that more than 11 million jobs are available. With 6 million people unemployed, people assume that there are roughly two roles for every person out of work. However on-target the math may be, the often-touted slogan is very misleading, as it fails to give you the complete picture.
A large percentage of the roles are not attractive. That is one of the big reasons why the jobs continuously remain open. Many are in sectors that people want out of, such as restaurants, bars, warehouse and fulfillment centers, and dead-end gigs or contracts. There is a lot of churn. A person may hop from waiting at one restaurant to jumping to another for a slight pay increase and then pivot to another industry, hoping for a chance to progress and build a future.
Just because there are millions of jobs open, that doesn’t mean that any of the roles fit you. Searching through thousands of frontline jobs isn’t helpful, productive, or compatible if you are an out-of-work attorney, accountant, or marketing professional.
The overused phrase “hot job market” doesn’t consider that every job, profession, and industry is unique in its current needs.
Although things have cooled down a little, Americans have heard that it’s been a hot job market for the past year and a half. This blanket statement is inaccurate, as not every sector or industry is hot at the same time.
Within specific areas, there may be some strong demand or not. For instance, a software engineer candidate may be in high order at Apple, but at the same time, 100 contract recruiters were let go because the tech giant is sanguine about future growth.
Also published on Teamblind’s blog