Fake job alert: CBT Architects

I previously wrote about the time this place advertised for an experienced designer with zero years of experience...Fast forward to August 2016 when they advertised for a graphic design manager on LinkedIn. I applied, along with 73 other people (unfortunately, I failed to take a screenshot and LinkedIn has since removed the applicant stat from job postings); of course, I didn't even earn a telephone screening.  

Four months later, in December, they advertised the same job again on LinkedIn, where they received 104 applicants.

On December 29, they advertised it on Indeed. 

On April 28, 2017, they advertised again it on Indeed...*sigh*

Rejected Round-Up, Vol. II

Here are the latest thumb-twittling "gee, isn't it a shame" stories that I've stumbled across during this era of "full employment."

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55, unemployed and faking normal: One woman’s story of barely scraping by

I shared this one in my previous "round-up" entry, but it's been reappearing regularly across social media over the past few months prompted by a recent online interview she gave to PBS News Hour Making Sen$e with Paul Solman. Because her situation is so far from unique -- note the multiple advanced degrees (no, not in Basket Weaving or Modern Dance) -- and so frightening AND infuriating, I think it's worth sharing again for those who missed it the first time. Seems to me that if someone like her can't make anything happen in this screwy new economy (other than write a book about it), what hope is there for any of us?

I must also call out the excellent observation in the comments section about how "trickle down" really works:

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San Francisco 2.0

This documentary by Alexandra Pelosi is currently being shown on HBO , but you can find other ways to view it via a Google search.

Most share-worthy for me was at the 35:30 mark, "How did you go from a securities broker to homeless?"

Well, there was a recession, no one was hiring. I went through my unemployment benefits, cashed out my 401K, then I started working temp jobs. I know other people that are in my position that are college educated, that have lost everything...I'm 61, I've got two college degrees, I've got about 30 years' experience, working in the corporate world, and nobody wants somebody like me...I don't live in your world anymore. Things are completely different. What you take for granted doesn't exist in my world anymore. I think we're rapidly becoming something like Venezuela where there's very small ultra rich class and everybody else is poor and the middle class is shrinking. I think the American Dream is a load of crap. There is no American dream. It's a nightmare for most people.

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J.C. POCALYPSE

We are about to confront something that it is clear American politics is not capable of confronting: the possibility that we now have an economy of staggering size and wealth that cannot produce enough full-time jobs for the number of people in this country. We can't all make a living getting paid to Uber one another around, and there are only so many menial service industry jobs – making coffee, flipping burgers, etc. – to keep a limited number of people afloat. Structural changes to the economy that our political system refuses to do anything but encourage are going to force us to confront this unprecedented reality sooner rather than later. For years the standard palabrum for economic transition has been to tell the newly unemployed to learn some other skill and transfer to another section of the economy. What happens when there isn't one?

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There's something rather unsettling about people who seem quite content to be homeless...

There's No Place Like Home
...its race to the bottom with all of those 'free' to be their own boss in the "gig economy." (That is what their calling this return to the Industrial Revolution, yes?)

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I've met plenty of folks who have done what they had to do to survive in this strange new world...

Disabled or just desperate? Rural Americans turn to disability as jobs dry up

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I’m unemployed and ashamed. The idea that people don’t want to work is a ridiculous myth.

Wow, 28 years old and she's been looking for six whopping months...boo fuckin' hoo, come back for sympathy when you've been out five years and are considered way past shelf life, kid...

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Meanwhile, the future remains bright 'n' shiny for rich fucks (doesn't look like there will be any "steerage class" tickets offered for that trip)...

Faux jobs at Faux Designs of Newton, MA

I've been observing this giftware company advertise the same job on Indeed since Christmas 2015 which is when I first applied for this art production role...

Note the offensive "Be sure to include your salary requirement" line followed by "Note that we will ONLY consider applicants who supply the information requested." Really? Sorry, but I don't discuss salary in my cover letters, plus making such a demand is incredibly tacky. 

Now, it just so happens that I make and sell Christmas ornaments online (had my own URL for a while). One year I even managed to attract the attention of an ornament kit manufacturer who distributes through an online craft catalog; they commissioned me to create some designs for said catalog. 

I included this bit of information on my cover letter to these people, foolishly thinking this would lead to some interest: "In addition to my professional design background, I design and create my own line of holiday ornaments [I attached pictures of a few along with my resume]; I have sold a number of these designs to the Mary Maxim catalog who sells them as kits [I included the link here]. I believe this would make me an excellent candidate for a position working in giftware."

Of course, I heard nothing from this place; according to my tracking stats, they didn't even look at my portfolio. As of July 2016 they continue to advertise this same position ad nauseam on Indeed along with an almost identical senior graphic design position. Maybe they're standing firm and disqualifying every applicant who had more class than to bring up salary requirements...maybe this job is just fake (a "job" that is still unfilled after six months is not a real job). Whatever the case, how very sad, but also, how typical for a company located in Stinkassachusetts.

EDIT: Here it is again as of June 27, 2016. Note the extra inclusion now required, "A simple one-page writing sample describing your opinion about the latest innovation in social media along with links to 1-2 social networking profiles that you have worked on and/or developed. Please state your role." YES, if you're struggling to fill a role, add more requirements to shrink your pool of qualified applicants! Good grief. 

EDIT, 08/19/16: Here they are again, newly posted on Indeed, senior graphic designer, art production assistant...

EDIT, 10/10/16: And, here they are again, senior graphic designer, art production assistant...

EDIT, 10/28/16: And, again...

EDIT, 04/26/17: And, again...

EDIT, 08/08/17: And, again...

EDIT, 08/28/17: And, again...

EDIT, 10/02/17: And, again...

EDIT, 10/20/17: And, again...

EDIT, 12/29/17: And, again... 

Another check-in on that "full employment" claim...

I previously shared what I'm observing during this time of "full employment." Let's see if things have gotten even better since then. Here's a job that was posted on 04/19/17:

I continue to question the thought process of someone who would submit their resume knowing there have been 323 prior applicants (this job eventually surpassed 500 applicants, but I failed to grab a screenshot, and StinkedIn has now removed the # of applicants stat).

Fake job alert: Benchmark Senior Living

Benchmark Senior Living advertised for a Graphic Designer / Visual Storyteller several times from November to December 2016 -- I was unable to find the ad from that time, but a Google search shows the Indeed link dated 11/30/16:

I applied and received a standard confirmation email which I could only assume was from them, as there was no company name in the body of the email and it was addressed from noreply@company.com -- apparently, they just couldn't be bothered to customize their email template.

Looks like they couldn't have been bothered to actually hire anybody at that time, either, as it has reappeared as of 04/17/17...

Fake job alert: Custom Learning Designs

Custom Learning Designs advertised this interactive graphic designer position on both LinkedIn and Indeed back on 09/30/16, for which I applied. 

They viewed my website several times over the following weeks, and then LinkedIn notified me that their "director of creative services" viewed my profile. But, I heard nothing further, i.e., no invitation to interview (*surprise!*). They advertised a freelance version of it a few months later...and, here's the original full-time version advertised again today (04/18/17). The one edit to the Indeed ad is that it now absolutely requires the applicant to submit their salary requirement in order to be considered. So, in addition to wanting the youngest/prettiest candidate (hence the LinkedIn profile snooping -- seriously, what other reason is there to do this?), they also want the cheapest candidate.

EDIT, 05/11/17: Only three weeks after posting the 04/18/17 ad, they have posted it yet again. The only difference is in the title, where they've changed "Interactive Graphic Designer" to "Graphic Designer - Interactive." Apparently, it's the placement of the adjective in the title that most effectively attracts the right candidates.