Sorry if this a little ranty, I'm trying to impart information that you may find relevant, but this a rather emotional subject for me.
Who does it help to send out 1 line letters or emails saying 'application received' though? If the job advert clearly says you'll only be contacted if successful then everyone knows where they stand..
I missed an interview because HR had a technical error with their computer system. Since the advert stated you'd only be contacted within x weeks if successful, I assumed I was not. As an internal candidate they at least called to ask why I hadn't gone for interview. They did actually interview me after, but it seemed very stitched up, and if I hadn't already worked there, or HR hadn't spotted their error..
At least if you e-mail everyone, the candidates know where they stand, and know if there is a problem.
As for the young people being hired, I think part of the problem is it is hard to sort the wheat from the chaff. Middle age people are likely to have experience, unless they have been on benefits all their life(some may have).
Younger people, don't. A degree or college use to be a way to show you turned up on time, put in more than you had to, developed yourself etc, but targets means uni now bend over backwards to accommodate people who don't turn up. It used to be volunteering, but now there in short supply, and particularly difficult to get if your unemployed, as the organizations are worried people will leave after getting a job. Difficult to use tutors if looking for a job outside of term time.
When claiming JSA I went to a training course 5 days 9-3, most of the skills were covered in college(could be useful for school leavers and one or two things were helpful) ,uni careers services anyway. There weren't enough computers for job searching,I kept thinking the
reference at the end will solve my problem.
Out of 20 people on the course only 2 showed up every day all day. One guy went to the pub across the road at lunch on the 1st day and never came back until the afternoon of the last day! I wonder if that is representative sample of JSA claimants as a whole?
Great the other guy and I thought, our references from this course will set us apart from the crowd. Ah but the course organizers are paid for each successful outcome aren't they? At the end of the week, we were all given identical references, (6 months later when I was changing job the email and phone no longer worked!, So I had to get an additional reference! Luckily I was changing jobs just before the xmas school hols.) printed from the computer with the name changed. No wonder that guy had come back, he had been on one before and knew how to get the same out of it as me.
Every day I was 5 min early, I wore a suit, I worked hard, I was always back from lunch on time, eager to learn, to please. Yet I got nothing to distinguish me from someone who could only be ars** to turn up twice in a week!
How will the employer know which to pick? No wonder they go for older people
