Many posters on AAM may not be aware of the reality of life for unemployed building professionals and other skilled people and the difficulties they face in trying becoming gainfully employed.
Here are some excerpts from an article from the Journal on the problems facing those who actually want to become employed again.
I am quite able to type a thousand words before lunch, but the writer of this article, Róisín Nic Dhonnacha, did it better.
From:
http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/column-here%E2%80%99s-how-the-unemployment-trap-works/
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"...AS FINANCIAL PRESSURE increases on everyone, a troubling and increasing amount of vitriol is being directed at those who find themselves unemployed. Some consider unemployment a ‘lifestyle option’ in agreement with [broken link removed], others a ‘soul-destroying existence’ as expressed in [broken link removed].....
...Training needs to support career development, not be quick drastic change to chase a job, any job...
Overqualified, AKA too expensive
...This then brings up the issue of hiring someone with a huge amount of experience, education and training into a position reporting to someone who has a significantly lesser profile. No one is going to do that...
...no manager is going to hire someone who can run rings around them and ultimately show up their lack of capability....
...The rationale employers give is that ‘overqualified’ candidates will move to another job – which is short sighted considering how few roles are actually out there...
If no one else has hired you…
...There is a real argument that companies who engage interns should pay them at least a basic stipend in line with their qualifications and that there should be real potential for a real job at the end of the internship.
...Such companies’ rhetoric is that they are doing their bit to help the unemployed and Ireland as a country, part of their ‘corporate social responsibility plan’. No it isn’t, and no they are not. They are making profit off the backs of free educated, experienced, trained and able workers without having to pay them....
How safe is your job?
This is endorsed by the government and frankly only just falls short of forced labour. Which is illegal....
...‘The system’ has not adequately adapted to the huge shift from unskilled, uneducated unemployed people to a majority of skilled, trained, educated and experienced unemployed people..."
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The article is worth reading for the overview it gives of its central theme -
The dole queues are no longer populated by poorly educated people with no interest in working.
The entire social demographic of this country is well represented from unemployed professionals to ex-millionaires.
About the only sub-group you won't see clustering around a hatch in their pin striped suits are the bankers who got us into this mess.
This is the reality seasoned and highly skilled professionals face today.
In 2010, I met an architect of twenty years standing who applied for a position.
The job description required someone with experience at designing healthcare facilities.
My colleague was refused the job.
Despite him having previously done award winning work on airports.
Because it didn't say "airport designer acceptable" on the job descriptor.
Any architect with formal training is competent to formulate the brief and design ANY building.
Talent like that was thrown on the scrapheap because a middle manager writes a job descriptor about a profession he knows nothing about.
During the Fetac Level 6 major award course in management I completed recently one of our lecturers addressed us and said - "..you guys don't realize what you bring to the table..."
He was used to trying to bring on groups with mixed ability and he was facing ten people, most of whom had third level education to professional level.
The problem with finding employment in this country is that most potential employers don't know what we bring to the table either.
And we have a social welfare system and an educational system that hasn't a clue how to deal with us.
Here are some excerpts from an article from the Journal on the problems facing those who actually want to become employed again.
I am quite able to type a thousand words before lunch, but the writer of this article, Róisín Nic Dhonnacha, did it better.
From:
http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/column-here%E2%80%99s-how-the-unemployment-trap-works/
=======================================================
"...AS FINANCIAL PRESSURE increases on everyone, a troubling and increasing amount of vitriol is being directed at those who find themselves unemployed. Some consider unemployment a ‘lifestyle option’ in agreement with [broken link removed], others a ‘soul-destroying existence’ as expressed in [broken link removed].....
...Training needs to support career development, not be quick drastic change to chase a job, any job...
Overqualified, AKA too expensive
...This then brings up the issue of hiring someone with a huge amount of experience, education and training into a position reporting to someone who has a significantly lesser profile. No one is going to do that...
...no manager is going to hire someone who can run rings around them and ultimately show up their lack of capability....
...The rationale employers give is that ‘overqualified’ candidates will move to another job – which is short sighted considering how few roles are actually out there...
If no one else has hired you…
...There is a real argument that companies who engage interns should pay them at least a basic stipend in line with their qualifications and that there should be real potential for a real job at the end of the internship.
...Such companies’ rhetoric is that they are doing their bit to help the unemployed and Ireland as a country, part of their ‘corporate social responsibility plan’. No it isn’t, and no they are not. They are making profit off the backs of free educated, experienced, trained and able workers without having to pay them....
How safe is your job?
This is endorsed by the government and frankly only just falls short of forced labour. Which is illegal....
...‘The system’ has not adequately adapted to the huge shift from unskilled, uneducated unemployed people to a majority of skilled, trained, educated and experienced unemployed people..."
=======================================================
The article is worth reading for the overview it gives of its central theme -
The dole queues are no longer populated by poorly educated people with no interest in working.
The entire social demographic of this country is well represented from unemployed professionals to ex-millionaires.
About the only sub-group you won't see clustering around a hatch in their pin striped suits are the bankers who got us into this mess.
This is the reality seasoned and highly skilled professionals face today.
In 2010, I met an architect of twenty years standing who applied for a position.
The job description required someone with experience at designing healthcare facilities.
My colleague was refused the job.
Despite him having previously done award winning work on airports.
Because it didn't say "airport designer acceptable" on the job descriptor.
Any architect with formal training is competent to formulate the brief and design ANY building.
Talent like that was thrown on the scrapheap because a middle manager writes a job descriptor about a profession he knows nothing about.
During the Fetac Level 6 major award course in management I completed recently one of our lecturers addressed us and said - "..you guys don't realize what you bring to the table..."
He was used to trying to bring on groups with mixed ability and he was facing ten people, most of whom had third level education to professional level.
The problem with finding employment in this country is that most potential employers don't know what we bring to the table either.
And we have a social welfare system and an educational system that hasn't a clue how to deal with us.