On Sun, 27 Jul 2025, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:
Having just gone through this process (on the opposite side of the desk) let me tell you how it worked from the employers POV.
Well before the use of various types of AI job seekers and employers faced frustrations and stress. An observation about non-IT job seeking. About 20 years ago I was driving back from a client meeting in Boise on I-84 and decided to stop at Hood River for a break and cup of coffee at the motel restaurant at the river by the bridge to Washington. It was about 2:30 p.m. and I was the only one in the restaurant. Shortly after I arrived a young man came in and sat in a booth along the wall in front of my booth. He wore a t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers and looked rather scruffy to me. Then the restaurant manager walked to that booth, sat down and interviewed the young man. I overheard the whole conversation because of the short distance between us and the lack of any other conversation or noise in the room. After the young man left the manager came to my table to refill my cup and I commented on the interview, because the way I was brought up one dressed well and strove to make a strong positive impression on the interviewer regardless of the job. The manager told me that young man would not be hired (I think it was for a wait staff position) because of his poor attitude. He said it was very difficult to staff the restaurant because too many young folks did not take word seriously. He had to reach out to other cities along the highway to get employees who consistently showed up, performed well, and had a positive attitude. Ted's advice to reach out to the specific person seeking to fill a position is worth taking. Many years ago when I was seeking a university faculty position I saw many job openings with requirements so specific it was obvious that it applied to only a single person but the job was advertised to fulfill EOO and other requirements. (I don't do politics well and academic politics are absolutely vicious so I dropped that effort for work in the private sector.) Good luck to all seeking a new job. Rich
