Thursday, March 26, 2009
Proud of my chippie
Mick got written up in a fancy magazine. It was short, but great! He's already gotten a bunch of business from it. Their website has the text here.
Monday, March 23, 2009
People don't want jobs
Okay, so last week, I wrote a sappy post about how sad it was that people want jobs and can't get jobs, blah blah blah. Well, although I'm sure that there actually are people out there that want jobs that can't get jobs, it is now my opinion that most of those people don't want jobs. Here are some examples from my recent hiring experiences that illustrate this.
1) As I said, I got hundreds of email responses for the jobs I posted on craigslist. I really tried to be fair, and examined the emails in order of response and by qualifications. There was one email that had attachments in a format I couldn't open. Since she was one of the very first respondents, I emailed the applicant, asking her to resend with the attachments in a different format. SHE NEVER WROTE BACK.
2) I called one woman in for an interview. She was 15 minutes late, saying her boyfriend had hurt his foot and that she had to take him to the doctor. OK. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and scheduled her for a training shift. She called 15 minutes before the shift, saying she would be a few minutes late. Not good, but I was willing to give her a chance. She arrived 40 minutes late (not really a few minutes!), saying her boyfriend had hurt his foot and she needed to take him to the doctor. I let her go.
3) I called several people in for interviews who said they couldn't make it on the weekend because they were going to see bands.
4) One woman did a no show, no call to her interview.
5) I interviewed one woman. She seemed okay, so I called her in for a training shift. She said she didn't want the job because she could earn more on unemployment. WHAT? I posted the wage/hour on the add. I was up front about tips/tip sharing on the phone when I called her. She did not want a job. She wants to sit on the couch earning unemployment. I WANT TO SIT ON THE COUCH, too.
6) We have one training employee who is apparently needing money really badly. However, when asked if he could work a certain shift, he was going to see a band.
I am disillusioned and exasperated.
1) As I said, I got hundreds of email responses for the jobs I posted on craigslist. I really tried to be fair, and examined the emails in order of response and by qualifications. There was one email that had attachments in a format I couldn't open. Since she was one of the very first respondents, I emailed the applicant, asking her to resend with the attachments in a different format. SHE NEVER WROTE BACK.
2) I called one woman in for an interview. She was 15 minutes late, saying her boyfriend had hurt his foot and that she had to take him to the doctor. OK. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and scheduled her for a training shift. She called 15 minutes before the shift, saying she would be a few minutes late. Not good, but I was willing to give her a chance. She arrived 40 minutes late (not really a few minutes!), saying her boyfriend had hurt his foot and she needed to take him to the doctor. I let her go.
3) I called several people in for interviews who said they couldn't make it on the weekend because they were going to see bands.
4) One woman did a no show, no call to her interview.
5) I interviewed one woman. She seemed okay, so I called her in for a training shift. She said she didn't want the job because she could earn more on unemployment. WHAT? I posted the wage/hour on the add. I was up front about tips/tip sharing on the phone when I called her. She did not want a job. She wants to sit on the couch earning unemployment. I WANT TO SIT ON THE COUCH, too.
6) We have one training employee who is apparently needing money really badly. However, when asked if he could work a certain shift, he was going to see a band.
I am disillusioned and exasperated.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Sad times
The other day I posted a help-wanted add on craigslist for a couple of minimum wage jobs. I had heard that we would get a lot of responses, so I stated very clearly that applicants should only email and not stop in. I couldn't imagine how we would handle that many applicants while trying to run the restaurant.
Within a couple of hours, I had received about 100 emails from people looking for work. After 24 hours, I had over 400. I read/skimmed about 1/2 of the applications. Most of the people were very over-qualified for the jobs. They had worked in high-end restaurants, knew their wines and what forks to use. The people in our restaurant are lucky if they get forks (just kidding)! Many of the people were college degree holders with their most recent positions not in the restaurant industry, and were falling back on their previous restaurant experiences to get ANY job.
I was really touched by this. There are so many people looking for work; it's really sad. The unemployment rate in Oregon is 10.5% now. One in every 10 people wishes they had a job.
Within a couple of hours, I had received about 100 emails from people looking for work. After 24 hours, I had over 400. I read/skimmed about 1/2 of the applications. Most of the people were very over-qualified for the jobs. They had worked in high-end restaurants, knew their wines and what forks to use. The people in our restaurant are lucky if they get forks (just kidding)! Many of the people were college degree holders with their most recent positions not in the restaurant industry, and were falling back on their previous restaurant experiences to get ANY job.
I was really touched by this. There are so many people looking for work; it's really sad. The unemployment rate in Oregon is 10.5% now. One in every 10 people wishes they had a job.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
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