VentureFizz welcomes Chewy.com to its fake job site

I've previously mentioned Boston's premiere fake job portal, VentureFizz, where Boston start-ups post non-existent jobs whilst boasting of hammocks (Formlabs has been advertising the same dumb design job since December 2014), ping-pong tables, and "open" work spaces, all "perks" that are better geared for kindergarteners. For some strange reason, Chewy decided it's a good idea to jump on the "let's advertise fake jobs" bandwagon. They advertised for a graphic designer in the Boston area back in March 2017. Here it is courtesy of LinkedIn's aggregator:

Three months later, here's the same job on VentureFizz:

Seriously, if anyone out there is dumb enough to still fall for this nonsense, then they deserve what they get.

Fake job alert: American Tower

Like so many unethical companies in Stinkassachusetts, American Tower is always advertising for a senior designer. Here's the latest, posted on April 19, 2017:

I first applied back in July 2015, and was met with dead silence. Five months later, in December, they advertised it yet again. Instead of applying, I sent them a little email (addressed to recruiting@americantower.com which, like American Well's, is probably not administered by a human being). Note the part where I mentioned that a recruiter actually reached out to me about this job:

Last July I applied for the position of senior designer via your website (confirmation forwarded below). I am a designer with 17 years of experience in the field, and I met every qualification in the job description. Yet, I was not even worthy of a telephone screening from your HR department. I was also contacted by a recruiter “about an awesome design opportunity in Woburn,” and I told them that if it’s American Tower, don’t bother because they rejected me (the recruiter was shocked by this).

I see now, five months later, that this exact same job is being advertised yet again on your website as well as on LinkedIn. I find this quite strange.

I have begun collecting unemployment and, as a requirement, had to meet with a career counselor at the local job center. I laughed when he demonstrated the job search results on their website’s job search tool which included the above-referenced position in the listings. I pointed at it and told him that I applied and received zero response from you. He suggested I call your HR department and ask why. Of course, I laughed at this archaic advice. But, in this age of quick communication via social media, I have decided to take his advice and reach out to you and ask you specifically why you so quickly and easily rejected my application.

I told the career counselor that you most likely rejected me due to my advanced old age ("between 4-6 years of experience required" means nobody over the age of 30 need apply), but I will give you the chance to tell me otherwise. I await your response which I am going to share with him when we meet again in a few weeks. I’d also love to hear why it’s taking HALF A YEAR to fill a simple design role, especially where there is no shortage of designers looking for work.

Needless to say, I received no response. [This waltz down memory lane also triggers lovely memories of my experience dealing with the state of Rhode Island's dismal and dated unemployment office. I keep attempting to write about it in a separate post, but my shock/anger/disbelief at the level of cluelessness and incompetence in that place continues to cloud my ability to coherently put my memories into words (and it doesn't do my blood pressure any good). Maybe one day I'll summon the strength to document what I experienced and observed there (along with the equally useless/inept "One Stop Career Center" in neighboring Stinkassachusetts).]

Fake job alert: (Fake) Jobs for the Future

This company advertised for a senior graphic designer back in August 2016. I applied, and received a prompt rejection from their "HR generalist." Four months later, in December, they advertised it again. Today (June 5, 2017), I see it has returned to their "Careers" page. Here it is courtesy of StinkedIn's aggregator (as no doubt the one on their "Careers" page will disappear as quickly as it reappears). 

The dippy-looking girl shown as their contact is the same one who sent me the rejection email last year.  I don't know why, but I feel rather dirty knowing that some clown like this was looking at and passing judgement on my background/qualifications.

Fake job alert: American Well

I first applied for a presentations/print designer job at this company back in June 2015. Never heard from them.

One year later (July 2016), they advertised the identical job with the exception being the title which was changed to "Director of Visual Design, Presentations & Business Graphics." Since it was the exact same job (and I was still fully qualified), I foolishly applied. Again, heard nothing. When I saw this dumb job was still unfilled a few months later, I sent them a nice little email asking what kind of game they are playing. I addressed it to jobs@americanwell.com which is given on their website and which, I'm guessing, is probably not administered by a human being as I received no reply (and not even an anonymous snoop on my StinkedIn profile).

I was recently chatting online with another disillusioned Boston job seeker, and he shared with me a comment he made on some local tech site about the dismal Boston job market:
   

I would argue that it's more than a "trickle" of problem-child companies like American Well (note how many "fake job alerts" I share here). The design job I mentioned above has finally been removed from their website. As for the remaining "jobs" shown there, anyone who hands over their personal data aka resume to this fraudulent company is truly a fool.

PureTechHealth: Boston companies like 'em stupid

I recently came across this job posted on Indeed by some company called PureTechHealth.

Based on the skills/experience listed, it's evident they want an *experienced* designer here, someone who knows what the hell they're doing. Yet, take a look at that first bullet under "Desired Skills and Experience:"

One to three years. Wow. So, anyone perfectly qualified with a serious track record of experience in design (that's more than 3 years) get disqualified. Let's call this out for what it is here: Age discrimination. One year of experience = we want a 22-year-old kid for the job. Yeah, good luck with that, guys.

Finally, upon hitting the "Apply now" button and submitting my resume, I get a screen asking me the following question:

Gee, it was manually posted on Indeed, and it is through Indeed that I'm submitting my resume now, so...where the fuck do you think I heard about it? Seriously, are people in Boston really this stupid? (Yeah, rhetorical question.)

Fake job alert: MFS Investment Management

MFS Investment Management has been advertising the same Senior Designer job since at least December 2016. I applied for it and was promptly ignored. Here is one of the ads for this job when it was listed under MAR02184 at that time (they changed ATSs and my application from that time is now gone).

They advertised it again in March 2017, playing the standard game of "just change the job number and perhaps nobody will notice." Too bad I noticed that MAR02184 had turned into MFS-000160004. This is a good time for me to demonstrate how useless their Workday ATS is in this exercise. Here's what I get when I click on the "My Applications" page:

Note the redundant usage of the word "Welcome." Clearly, the first line is meant to include the applicant's first name. Also, that "Status: Under consideration" bit is complete nonsense; anyone who believes that they could possibly be "under consideration" for a job for which they applied three months ago is a nincompoop. 

Finally, when I click on the job number in hopes of obtaining the job description, here's what I get:

????

I'm forced to conclude these people either don't know how to set up their own ATS, or they're just lazy (probably a bit of both).

Fast forward to today, Here we are in June 2017, with the exact same job "newly" posted with a different number, MFS-170079 (full screenshot provided for future reference, i.e., when they advertise the same job again in three months).

Simply further evidence that Boston continues to suck big time.

Re-education camps for 21st century America

It’s been quite a few years since the Great Recession supposedly ended, and various "workshops" “for discouraged workers continue to appear on my radar. I came across several this week, one in Stinkassachusetts (Operation Able) and the other in RI (Tech Force RI). They both triggered a flood of warm ‘n’ fuzzy memories of my investigation into similar "back to work" programs a few years back.

One was called Platform to Employment. I remember scrutinizing their website trying to understand exactly how they help someone like myself (BS degree, decades of experience) find a job in my field.

Platform to Employment empowers individuals, fosters self-sufficiency and focuses on performance improvements with measurable outcomes. We help participants discover their true potential while providing employers flexible and highly trained workers who can think critically, act independently and work in teams!

What a bunch of gibberish. And, oh, those poor employers who, until now, just couldn’t find workers capable of thinking critically, acting independently, and working in teams! (Quite frankly, I’ve concluded no employer wants a worker who does any of those things, as that would make them a threat to the corporate hierarchy.)

My curiosity still piqued, I decided to send them the following message via their Facebook page:

You state on your website, "Upon completion, P2E helps participants find open positions at local companies and offers an eight-week, paid work experience." It is my observation that there simply are no opportunities for a senior-level graphic designer in the state of Rhode Island (or Massachusetts, for that matter). I realized not long after becoming unemployed in 2013 that I had to leave this area if I wanted to work again, but every out-of-state application I've submitted has been ignored.

I'm just curious as to how you would be able to "help find open positions at local companies" when, based on my own experience, there simply are no open positions in my field in the New England area...?

Here’s their response:

Sorry to learn about your employment challenges. The foundation of P2E is a 5 week program which helps people focus and improve their job search. While many look to re-enter prior occupation that is not always possible. For others it may be a matter of identifying and leveraging transferable skills to enter new employment.

In other words, they don’t help you find a job in your field. Instead, they assist you with dumbing down your resume, lowering your expectations and thoroughly breaking your spirit to prepare you in your transition to an exciting new career in one of the only two worlds left for unemployables, (1) minimum wage retail, or (2) customer service with a 1992 salary (~$12/hr).

I see some striking parallels to the re-education camps of post-war Vietnam, where members of the non-peasant class were rounded up and placed in these camps to “learn about the ways of the new government." Just replace “new government” with “new economy” and forced labor with networking techniques, i.e., make a pest of yourself to anyone who still has a job.  

I came to the same conclusion with another group, Job Club RI. I sent an email to the guy in charge and we spoke on the phone; he exhibited little sympathy for my situation and couldn't offer much advice other than to sternly lecture me about my 1,000+ rejections that “when you get a rejection forget it and move on” (yeah, really helpful, dude). He also did not share the details of what sort of magic wand this workshop will give me to wave at companies and compel them to view my online application.

Here are a few entries in the list of topics the workshop covers, along with my respective commentary:

• Resume Development

My resume doesn’t need any further “development,” as I’ve already consulted with and paid two top consultants for this, resulting in a resume that routinely scores over 90% in the keyword game according to Jobscan.

• Elevator Speech

You can’t give an elevator speed through Taleo, BrassRing, Jobvite, etc.

• Interview Questions

What good does this do when you can’t get an interview (because the company doesn’t look at your application – which is, of course, because the job they’re advertising isn’t a real job to begin with)?

• Best Job Search Websites

There’s no such thing as a “best job search website,” as the majority of jobs advertised on them are completely fake. The only way to get a job in America today is through good old fashioned cronyism, i.e. “know the right person.”

• Networking Skills

One harsh lesson I’ve learned is that if you don’t already have a “strong network” when you become unemployed, you’re screwed. So, any advice on “networking skills” for the unemployed is pretty much useless.

• LinkedIn Review

Anyone who still thinks StinkedIn can help get you a job is truly out of touch.

Again, I concluded that this yet another “embrace your shiny new future as a member of America’s low wage peasant class and you’d better be grateful for such an opportunity” camp.

Perhaps I’m being too harsh, maybe we could all use a little spirit-breaking re-educating…

BlackBerry: It's full of pits

Last week, I received a rejection email from BlackBerry. At first, I couldn’t recall having applied there, but, after digging through my email folders, I eventually discovered that the rejection was for a job for which I applied way back in 2015.

The tardiness of this email combined with its piss-poor composition compelled me to have a little fun at their expense...

_______

BlackBerry Corporation
ATTN: CEO / Executive Team
6700 Koll Center Parkway, #200
Pleasanton, CA 94566

Ladies/Gentlemen:

I am writing in regards to the rejection email I received on May 11, 2017 to an application I submitted in July 2015 (see attached printout).

The grammatical errors and poor choice of words in this email are not only shameful but, quite frankly, disturbing. These include the following:

“Thank you for your recent application in regards to the Creative Services Designer position.”

I find your definition of “recent” to be bizarre. I applied for this position in July 2015. I do not consider two years ago as "recent."

“Your application has been reviewed by our Recruitment team, and although your talent is valued...”

The comma belongs after “and,” as in "Your application has been reviewed by our Recruitment team and, although your talent is valued, it has been decided..."

“and although your talent is valued…”

This is another strange choice of words as you clearly saw nothing of “value” in my professional background.

“…it has been decided not to proceed with your application.”

Here, you omitted the subject of the infinitive + verb “to proceed.” The correct wording would be, “it has been decided that we will not be proceeding with your application.” A better phrasing would be to completely eliminate the past participle and simply state, “we have decided not to proceed with your application.”

“We hope that you will remain interested in working at BlackBerry and consider other suitable opportunities that arise in the future.”

It is quite presumptuous of you to assume I would still be interested in your corporation after two years.


I have concluded that, based on the terrible composition of this email combined with the fact that nobody from your organization even reviewed my application (my portfolio did not receive a single visitor from any BlackBerry IP address), BlackBerry only seeks to hire the most uneducated and inept of applicants. This could possibly explain why BlackBerry has been rendered irrelevant and obsolete in the tech world.

________

 

I included a printout of the offending rejection email, onto which I scribbled a note saying that I do NOT want to receive any further correspondence or apology from their recruitment team as this letter is NOT addressed to their recruitment team. If BlackBerry's Executive Team doesn't think it's their job to care about what's going on in their company, then their problems go even further than what I've heard in tech news. It will be interesting to see whether they'll honor my request to NOT just drop my letter into an interoffice envelope addressed to "Recruiting." 

IBM: This dinosaur truly deserves to go extinct

In October 2016 I applied for job #65867BR (senior designer) with this dinosaur company who probably should have gone extinct a long time ago. On November 9, I had a telephone "interview" with one of their internal recruiters who sounded half asleep during the call. In addition to having fully met all the standard design skills/experience requirements listed in the ad, I felt I was a perfect candidate due to two additional aspects of this job. Number one, it was remote, to which I am no stranger (and I am fully equipped to do so). Number two, the job required traveling 75% of the time; this seemed like a pretty astonishingly high number but I'm single with no kids (and, at age 49, that will never change) so I can easily perform that aspect of the job with no issues. I attempted to sell both of these points to her, but in her semi-catatonic state she didn't react or seem impressed. She also couldn't answer a single question I had about the finer details of the job, such as what versions (PC or Mac) of the required software is the team using. At the end of the brief call she said she'd pass along my information to the hiring manager and that I should hear something in about a month. Of course, I sent her the standard groveling "thank you" email, to which she did not reply.

The next few weeks went by with no further communication from her. In December I saw the job reappear on the job boards, this time with a different job number (#72177BR), so I logged in to my IBM profile which revealed that my application was “no longer under consideration.” 

I remember the day when recruiters and HR departments would give you feedback from the hiring manager and tell you why you weren't chosen for the job. This actually helps both the applicant as well as the hiring company. For example, I recall one HR rep telling me the team decided to go with another applicant because I came across as being "too serious" during the interview; so, okay, now I know that company only wants plastic people who smile all the time, and that's definitely not me, I'll avoid applying at that company again in the future and they won't have to worry about wasting their time with this non-plastic "too serious" applicant ever again. See? Both sides benefit from the feedback process.

I sent a brief and to-the-point email to the twat, saying, “It would have been nice to have received some sort of communication in follow-up to our phone call as to why I was deemed ‘unqualified’ for this role. I don't think I'll bother looking for employment with IBM again.” I received no reply. So, I sent off a letter to the CEO accusing them of age discrimination, which resulted in my getting a cold and, quite frankly, poorly written email from their "Lead for Talent Acquisition in North America." 

Your note to Ginni was forwarded to my attention in that I am the leader for Talent Acquisition for NA. I am sorry to hear about your experience as you should have received a communication to indicate our decision. I have addressed this matter with the individual as necessary. Please know that IBM makes hiring decisions without regard to age, sex, minority status or other inappropriate factors. I know this is not the response you are looking for, however, the fact of the matter is that IBM jobs are quite competitive -- many have large numbers of qualified candidates applying. As a result, many qualified candidates are turned away. I invite you to continue to apply for positions that match your qualifications and wish you the best in that endeavor.

What a piss-poor excuse for an apology. I particularly love how her excuse for my disqualification was to whine about how each job they advertise receives "large numbers of qualified candidates applying. As a result, many qualified candidates are turned away..." Well, gee, if that job for which I applied received sooooooooooo many applicants, why the need to re-advertise the same damned job month after month (this job was still being advertised in January 2017)? And, just what criteria are they using to disqualify so many candidates? Why was I even "qualified" for the telephone screening to begin with? Good grief.

[I'd like to point out that I did not write to IBM’s talent(less) acquisition department, I wrote to the CEO. How very sad that this CEO doesn’t think it’s her job to care about what’s going on in her own company. A sign of the times, I suppose.] 

I shared this experience in the comments section of this article on Wolfstreet.com about IBM in January 2017. Some of the replies I received were quite insightful…

This is straight out of the “How to game H-1B” playbook. You have a position or positions to fill but you are adamant about not hiring any over-priced Americans. What do you do? 1. Advertise the position(s) in the local paper of record. Describe the requirements in such arcane and wholly unrealistic terms in which no human being could possibly meet the criteria. 2. Maybe interview a few patsys just to keep up appearances. 3. After a couple of months with the advertised position still unfilled, you have a legitimate “resource problem”. Dagnabit! there are just no qualified Americans to fill the position. You are now free to look abroad. 4. Miracle of miracles, you have an application from an H-1B candidate which matches the job requirements to a T. Not only will the candidate work for 1/2 or 1/3 of an American, they are indentured to your company and cannot leave. 5. Profit! The reality of course is that the actual process occurs in reverse. You have a skills need so you contact WiPro or Infosys and identify a candidate. You go through the motions of attempting to hire locally, only to hire the H-1B as initially intended. 

But no, the system isn’t broken.

Here's confirmation of the fake jobs phenomenon:

I had an older friend from my last true employer who worked in the HR field of a large transnational. As he got older, he claims he was basically “put out to pasture” until he retired in 2014. He let it slip once that a number of job postings they advertise for don’t actually exist and essentially used to send a message to white collar employees that they are replaceable. The postings were sent internally and to recruitment websites simultaneously, which was actually against established company policy as postings are to go internal first.

Finally, there was this comment that should make us all grin like Cheshire cats:

Those HR ladies are on their way to getting outsourced as well, from what I’ve read. Many companies already do their HR in India. Now they’ll get to feel some of the pain they help cause.

Since then, I’ve come across numerous reports about massive layoffs at Big Blue BS, and today I see this gem: IBM to remote workers: Head back to the office or leave. Recall that this job was remote. If this job was real, then I can only imagine how pissed off the person they hired is right now after being promised a remote job…

Talent Response is looking for an elite YOUNG designer

Aw, isn't that sweet of them, being so honest in their job description?

UPDATE: Looks like someone informed them that this is illegal as the offensive term has since been replaced with "junior designer."

CBT Architects: The stupid, it burns…

After seeing this company advertise the same graphic design manager job over and over these past ten months, I decided to take pen—er, keyboard in hand and send a little note to the email address given on their careers page. In my message, I referenced the numerous links to the previous job ads and then asked point blank just what kind of game they are playing here. I posed three scenarios, that either their hiring team is grossly incompetent, that they are disqualifying all applicants for superficial reasons like age (I saw very few people over the age of 35 in their Facebook photos), or that this job is simply FAKE.

Here’s the incredibly entertaining response I received (complete with typos and misuse of commas): 

First, thank you for your interest in CBT and for a different perspective in how our hiring process may be perceived by some applicants. CBT’s hiring philosophy is centralized around our commitment to diversity and to make long term hiring decisions. This sometimes translates into, a longer hiring process. We encountered several challenges with this position when we started recruiting. The first was, we were not looking for a graphic designer but we were looking for a graphic design manager. Someone with 2-5 years of experience managing projects and more importantly, a team. Someone who is sensitive to design but wants to be a manager. The second challenge was, many of the graphic candidates went off the market quickly and we needed to refresh the posting. Our graphic design manager position has closed. Indeed automatically sources jobs from other job boards that may still have this positon [sic] active but I do not utilize the job board. I have called and it will be taken off in their next update cycle.   The group has made several additions to the growing team and I just posted to add a mid-level designer to the group.

After reviewing your submitted application materials again, we have decided to not move forward for an interview for our new graphic design position. Best wishes for a successful job search. Thank you, again.

Let me now pick apart this ludicrous response.

First, thank you for your interest in CBT and for a different perspective in how our hiring process may be perceived by some applicants.

“Different perspective?” What the hell does perspective have to do with anything? Do you mean how it may be perceived by someone with a brain?

CBT’s hiring philosophy is centralized around our commitment to diversity and to make long term hiring decisions. This sometimes translates into, a longer hiring process.

This is just gibberish. And, no amount of gibberish can hide the fact that ten months to hire someone = absurd. 

We encountered several challenges with this position when we started recruiting. The first was, we were not looking for a graphic designer but we were looking for a graphic design manager. Someone with 2-5 years of experience managing projects and more importantly, a team. Someone who is sensitive to design but wants to be a manager.

So, let me see if I understand this. You put out a job advertisement where the qualifications include:

• Bachelor’s degree in graphic design 
• Proficiency in Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop 
• Working knowledge of MS Word and Powerpoint 
• 3D modeling/rendering, motion, interactive and web design skills a plus 
• Strong typography, layout and conceptual skills
• Strong portfolio of work including finished designs; concept drawings/process books a plus 

You wanna know who’s gonna have these qualifications? A graphic designer. And, in a logical world, one would certainly want a manager who is well-versed in what they are managing (alas, we no longer live in a logical world).

The second challenge was, many of the graphic candidates went off the market quickly and we needed to refresh the posting.

This doesn’t explain anything. Since the “graphic candidates” weren’t the right candidates in the first place, why did it matter if they went “off the market quickly?” The bigger question is, if you failed to garner the right applicants after that first ad ran back in August 2016, shouldn’t the next step have been to rewrite the ad, change the qualifications, etc.?

After all, the definition of stupid is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  

Our graphic design manager position has closed.

Well, *finally* after ten months, that I won’t see this dumb job show up in my daily alerts is good news indeed!

Indeed automatically sources jobs from other job boards that may still have this positon active but I do not utilize the job board.

Liar, liar, pants on fire. Anyone can directly advertise a job on Indeed, which is clearly what they did on April 28.

The group has made several additions to the growing team and I just posted to add a mid-level designer to the group. After reviewing your submitted application materials again, we have decided to not move forward for an interview for our new graphic design position.

I’m not certain why this nasty little jab was necessary, as nowhere in my message did I state I wanted to be considered for any open positions with this company. In fact, I wouldn’t trust them to design a garbage dumpster for my condominium complex.

Best wishes for a successful job search. Thank you, again.

Screw you, too.

Just another example of how Boston continues to be a cesspool for anyone (a) over the age of 30, and (b) with a brain.

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."

_______

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:

_______

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.

_______

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?

_______

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?)

_______

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

_______

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...

_______

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.

Fake job alert: Tocci Building Companies

This poor company just can’t find a single qualified graphic designer to fill this job they've been advertising since January 2016: 

It remains advertised as of March 2017:

This is truly baffling, especially considering that the state of Stinkassachusetts is saturated with designers as evidenced by the massive number of applicants each local job advertised on StinkedIn consistently receives (over one hundred). For example, this one received 335...this one, 238...this one, 180...this one, 176...this one, 133...this one, 129...115 for this one...136 for this one...even this dinky job received 234. Maybe Tocci can contact the recruiters shown for these positions and ask them to send some candidates over their way...? 

EDIT, 7/5/17: StinkedIn has removed the # of applicants stat from all the above jobs (gee, wonder why...could it be they know we aren't wasting our time applying when we know there are 100+ other applicants?). Here are a few early screenshots I did manage to snag with the stat intact:

I was one of the 102 suckers--er, applicants to apply for this fake job when it first appeared on StinkedIn back in January 2016... 

My application was ignored, although one of their employees did snoop on my StinkedIn profile; I guess she wasn’t impressed with the recommendations written by my clients but instead was turned off by my profile picture which reveals I am clearly over the age of 30.


I mentioned this "fake job" in the comments section of an ATH blog entry which prompted a few responses:

Needless to say, nobody from Tocci ever replied to Nick.

They advertised it again on StinkedIn on March 14, 2017, where it amassed another 135 suckers--er, applicants.

I’m not sure what’s more pathetic, a company that is so incompetent that it can’t find a single qualified applicant in a job market completely saturated with qualified candidates, or some kid who actually gets excited about seeing the job still being advertised after several months, per the “Comments” section of the company webpage:

Sheesh, get a clue, Cassie G. This job ain’t real!

EDIT, 05/02/17: Here we go again...

EDIT, 08/03/17: It's back, but in a slightly modified form. This time it's a three-month temp-to-perm gig...