JOBLESS: Outside eagerly looking in

I was laid off a little over three months ago — a first for me in 29 years. I have submitted more than 70 applications to various businesses. In many cases, I have applied for work well below my level of training and experience.

I have an issue with the online versions as they are first, impersonal and tend to weed out people and submit them to personality tests without even seeing the real product. Whatever happened to first impressions when you walked in and asked for the application? How many good people are dumped in this highly impersonal automated system?

Second and most irritating, even when you do see a prospective employer, or by some stroke of luck make the first round of automated cuts, you never get a return response. I’m sure I am not the only one who sits and wonders if he/she got the job or if they did not. What happened to a return call or a postcard correspondence?

Third, when I initiate the call-back to inquire, I am told things like “We haven’t decided yet” or “I’m in a meeting; can I call you right back?” You guessed it… the call never comes.

A word of warning to all of you who don’t call back. One day you may find yourself unemployed and experiencing the same thing. We are all human beings and have a natural need to know regardless if yes or no. It is an act of kindness and respect. You should try it.

RAY URBANO

Hauser