Finger Dexterity?

well, I've given up on the government job search, by the time I get one of those it'll be time to retire and collect social security anyway, not that those checks would be substantial considering I would have spent my entire adult life working to find a job instead of actually working and contributing to the system...

So I decided to expand my prospects a bit and start looking for something in Arizona where I'm kind of stuck living with my parents instead of just focusing exclusively on DC, because I lost count after 20 some applications, I'm sure it's close to 30...When I was filling out an online app for a job here in AZ I realized that I'm totally exasperated by the process because I almost had a mental blow out when I had to submit a resume as well as fill out a "work and education history" form, which to me is like the dumbest thing ever...THAT'S THE POINT OF THE RESUME!!! Have one or the other..but both?? I'd rather one be left out so that the review process goes faster and then that's all the faster I get my rejection email or just no response at all. I'm convinced some companies make their online application system extra hard for whatever reason...this particular one made you fill in the information in those little boxes that you can type in, but with every time that I tried to move on, a message would pop up in those ominous red letters "there are illegal characters in the text" ILLEGAL characters?!? So basically I had a dash and a semi colon...punctuation other than the basic period and comma was apparently against the law, but I removed the incriminating evidence and still couldn't move on, I kept clicking the submit button and that menace of a message kept coming up...like seriously?? As if the process isn't painful enough, I have to be worried about being arrested for using punctuation? I was taring my hair out...then my computer lost it's Internet connection and lost everything that I did get done anyway, that set the tone for a pretty foul mood that I simmered in all damn day. I almost had a melt down over some basic administrative assistant job for a company that I barely knew anything about.

That was the moment when I realized that it wasn't just that particular incident that made me lose it, but the idea that I'm actually still engaged in this process...over and over and over and over again, painstakingly craft the cover letter that no one reads, tweak the resume at some attempt to catch someone's eye..which is just a total crap shoot anyway, then email it either to get an auto response or nothing at all...that's usually all I have to do, but then there are those with the online system with the separate application form aside from the resume so I'm forced to regurgitate or if I'm particularly into it, find a way to say the same damn thing about my job experience in a slightly different way in order to play the game...you know the game...the "I didn't just copy the information from my resume, I went above and beyond to show that I'm driven to set myself apart from the 700 other applicants" game. I shouldn't have to set off fireworks and laser beams to get someone to spend more than 2 seconds looking at my application...all of these employers are saying the same thing in their auto responses to applications..."we have an enormous amount of applicants, we can't do this, we can't do that, no phone calls, don't bother us because we're the only ones in the world that are busy." Well for crap's sake then lessen the time to submit applications, there is no reason that a job needs to be open for applications for 2 months...that's ridiculous, even a month is too long. It's a known fact that many employers barely look at the cover letter, more like skim it to find something dazzling...like 45 years experience or a more mildly interesting font than Times New Roman.

I think if we go back to basics like a good old resume, shorter application listing times, and less emphasis on the cover letter than the exasperation factor of this process just might come down a notch or 12. Employers need to stop skimming 432 applications for one position and spend a little more quality time on the fewer applications they would get with shortening the time to submit. They could use the time to call in a few more applicants for an interview, I mean if the basics are on the resume than it might actually be more productive to meet the person face to face rather than just throwing out their cover letter because it didn't catch the eye within 1.3 seconds, or at the very least craft an email that lets us know the status of our applications and the opening itself. Some do that with their online systems, and I just got a lovely reject email the other day, but I've found this to be the exception, not the norm.

Oh and Finger Dexterity is an actual attribute and requirement listed in some job descriptions for clerical and office positions, but for the more demanding administrative support jobs simple finger dexterity won't cut it because as the crafter of that job announcement demands, you must posses the ability to "grip and lift various items within the office." So the stiff-fingered and gripping impaired need not apply.