So many job openings, but so hard to get hired

The Labor Department just released statistics that show that job openings in June are at a 13-year high. But while hiring is also up, it’s not nearly at the levels that the job openings are. For job-hunters, the disconnect can be frustrating and painful.

What’s going on, and how can you get around this?

Not all jobs posted will be filled. Sometimes businesses post jobs with no intention of actually filling them. They’re looking for applicants to put in their files so that they have a supply of candidates when a job does open up. Sometimes, positions are posted, but then internal changes remove the need to fill them. Sometimes, job openings are real, but a company promotes someone internally, and then post that vacancy. That can make it look like two jobs are open, but the company is really hiring only one person.

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9 thoughts on “So many job openings, but so hard to get hired

  1. Dear Hr Managers,
    Please remember this mantra when dealing with the unemployed:
    1 We don’t want to be unemployed most of us lost our jobs through no fault of our own.
    2 Yes we know we are overqualified (sometimes by a lot) we would still like the entry level position you are offering because hey it offers benefits and we don’t like starving to death.
    3. We are trying desperately to remember that you too are human but when you look down upon us or throw away our resume without a second glance we begin to doubt your humanity – lots.
    4. Our situation can happen to you in a heartbeat, a stroke of a pen or (in some state – at will anyone?) by wearing the wrong color shirt on the wrong day. Remember and show some compassion and may give us a chance.

  2. By any chance, is there some tax benefit received by soliciting employees? I have long suspected this was part of the reason why employers are willing to pay for job postings with no real job attached to it.

    1. Not to my knowledge, but sometimes I think that is the only thing that makes sense as well.

      1. There are visa requirements that the job be posted in the US before requesting a visa for a foreign worker

  3. The last time I applied for a job, it took them six months to hire me. This despite my thirty years of experience in a wide variety of jobs within the field (I’m an RN) and despite the fact that the hospital had over 120 jobs posted, most of which I could do.
    I finally applied to ten different jobs, and apparently crashed their site. This was the only way I ever got someone to actually call me. She then told me I needed to pick one of the jobs I’d applied for, not apply to all ten. How am I supposed to know which job I want until I get to the interview? I asked. Especially since the job descriptions were all completely generic.
    I applied to another hospital recently that has an actual RN recruiter. Again, over 100 jobs posted and I have relevant experience, training and great references. They sent me a form letter saying I didn’t meet qualifications for the job I applied for. Hello?! “Nurse Recruiter?! ” How about a phone call regarding the 118 OTHER jobs you have open? If I did my job that way, people would die…

    1. This is insane. I am not quite sure when the heads of recruiting departments will realize that this is insane. I can’t figure out why they can’t see it.

  4. I’ve found that self-employment is a great way around HR ineptitude.

    While employers may not see blindingly obviously qualified candidates (due to lack of sector knowledge, computerized Applicant Trashing Systems (ATSs) and the endless checklist /purple squirrel syndrome, there are ways around these absolutely useless HR departments.

    Trying to meet infinite checklists for employers is just as futile as trying to meet the Prince Charming checklist in your love life. It never ends, and it’s not the real goal line. Next time you hear the phrase “Where are all the qualified workers?” replace it with “Where have all the good men gone?” The searchers are blindfolded and fooling themselves.

    Be your own person, and better yourself constantly. Upgrade your skills for your own progress – not to impress some blind, fickle, or indecisive potential employer.

    I’ve picked up indefinite contracts, stayed in touch with sector people I’ve always known, regularly run into new short term opportunities, and just stopped caring about the psychobabble, huge checklists, and bogus and mean-spirited stereotypes that HR drags around with them. I would rather spend my time bettering myself and learning with skilled professionals in my field.

    Traditional hiring processes are dysfunctional and paralyzed.

    “Human Resources” has become way too much like Soylent Green -a dehumanizing department that grinds us all up and tries to force feed us the crappy output of this.

    Self-employment is not easy, but it is the best way to preserve self-respect in the face of the awful, awful treatment by most employers’ HR departments.

  5. Well we have a lot of job postings but they are the type of “when we make above $XXX for a certain amount of time we will need that person” type jobs. So we finally hit $XXX but in this economy you really don’t know how long you can keep revenue at or above that level. If it was the 1990s, you’d assume revenue would only be going up, not anymore.

    So my boss and other Mgrs are getting really picky with who, if anyone, they are even interviewing. Because if you hire someone and revenue goes down, you need someone who can 1) find ways to bring in more money, or 2) be an all-round good business person and create opportunities for upselling and prevent everything that can go wrong with a customer so we never lose one. So those who want to wear earphones will working and “just” spend their days doing reports and processing stuff (only) need not apply.

  6. according my point of view, companies often look for a perfect fit but that does not exist. with unemployment being high many employer expect that perfect will just show up to their door.the problem is its rare to find a person who’s exactly right with all the relevant skills.
    one possiblity is that there is a mismatch between the work and employees skill.
    a second explation s that employer are offering jobs at wages that are too low to attract good applicants

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