December Wind

A December wind

let me go to sleep

in your arms

Tis the Season

Is this the worst time to find a job? I've given up on looking in the month of December. There are the temporary options of course - seasonal positions - 99% of which pay less than the unemployment check that I'm getting each week. Everyone is busy trying to balance holiday obligations with their work-load. And if you are in the health insurance industry - its the last minute renewal rush making you frantic. Even HR people are pretty busy making benefit changes, etc that are going to be effective January 1st. What to do..

-Keep looking and applying. Even if no hiring will be happening in the month of December, it may look brighter after January 1st.

-Look for volunteer opportunities to keep networking opportunities alive.

-Enjoy the holidays. Relax and appreciate some of the most wonderful gifts of all - family and friends.

God

Who is God

A burning bush - autumn red

Old Testament flashback

Unemployed as a protected class

Someone mentioned to me that its possible that the unemployed could soon be considered in a protected class similar to minorities and women.

Apparently employers are found discriminating against the unemployed. Many employers see the stigma of unemployment as proof that there is something inherently wrong with the applicant - he's lazy, incompetent and so forth based on the belief that companies don't lay off top producers in the company. They would rather take their chances with people who are currently employed but are dissatisfied with their current employer. Which goes to show that the old adage- its easier to get a job while you are working, may be true. In fact, in interviews, many employers have asked an unemployed candidate - "What have you been doing since you've been unemployed". Preferably, we would like them to just consider our skills on the resume that we've provided, rather than assume that we've been testing memory foam on the living room sofa.

To this point - its important to show, on your resume, that you've been doing something productive during your unemployment. Yes, we know that we've been looking for work and all of that rather than plumbing the depths of the Netflix movies archives, but they don't. Put volunteer work on your resume, any educational pursuits, etc to "fill in the gap" between your last employer and now. It's important to try and stay current as well in your chosen field.

I'm told that its the ACLU that is considering classifying the unemployed in a protected class. Ideally, they would like to be able to approach employers and ask to see, for example, a 6 months backlog of applications, and then determine how many of the unemployed of the applicants were actually hired by the company. If it falls below a certain percentage, I imagine some sort of fine would be levied against the company. I can imagine, though, that employers would fight this sort of action with their heavyweight lawyers and well paid lobbyists in Washington before any kind of trickle down would affect smaller companies..

It remains to be seen. I'd sure appreciate anyone commenting on this and correcting/educating me with any current news.. Have a good day!