Friday, September 5, 2008

How to answer "are you hiring"

So, in my quest to find employment, I have come across many different phrases used by companies now when, back in the day, the real answer would have been NO! No, we are not hiring right now, it would be a waste of time for you to fill out that application and take a 30 minute questionnaire online. This apparently is a thing of the past and you are now given a slew of responses, some that give you false hope. I have decided to keep a running log of all the different responses I have come across.

“We are currently accepting applications”- we are currently allowing people to fill out paper work that will collect dust.

“We will be hiring in September”- that would actually be a decent response if I had not called on the 30th of August. Does that mean on Monday you will have a job opening for me or do you mean at the end of the month?

“We will be hiring around the holiday season”- well, in retail land, when DOES the holiday season begin? I see decorations go up in JULY in some stores. Hallmark already HAS all their ornaments. And the store I was calling was a party store which also sells a lot of costumes, meaning Halloween would be included in holidays. Again, a better time frame is in order.

“We may or may not be hiring”- That answer almost wiped the polite smile off my face. I am going to be optimistic on this one and pretend the person they were thinking of firing was nearby and they were trying to be slick.

“I believe we are hiring, come in and fill out an application”- this one does sound very promising, so I go there right away and wait an hour for the manger. I am then told the printer is broken and I should have gone to the “mother store” instead. That was not explained to me on the phone. I go to the same business, different location and I am told they are hiring, but to fill out an application at the “mother store”. I call the mother store and am informed neither location are hiring. That is made of win!

“Um, I am really not sure”- well, I am unemployed; I have time to wait for you to go find out from someone who does know.

That is all I got for now. Hopefully I will not add to that number, employment would be nice.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Legally, a business is not allowed to tell you that you that you cant fill out an application. And when you fill out the application it has to be kept on file for a certain amount of time, in case someone is fired or quits (its 3 months at Kirklands). The economy is in a literal crapper right now. I know people with full time desk jobs who are having to get 2nd jobs because they cant pay rising bills (like my mother). And there are others whos employers cant afford to pay them (like your momma).

The problem doesnt lie in the fact that no one will tell you they arent hiring. The problem is that all businesses are being overwhelmed with applicants and there are NO positions available. At Kirklands, we get at least 5 or 6 applications a day. So you're not the only one out there who is running into this wall. Everyone is.

Anonymous said...

That was awesome! I was cracking up the whole time. It's so true though.

Anonymous said...

Tenchi should come work for me :(

Christina said...

tennyou82- i hope you are telling those 5-6 people a day not to wait by the phone because you are not hiring. however...knowing your boss....

jennifer- i will find more humor in the situation once i have a job :P until then, it makes me wanna throw some cellphones (which, if you fill out applications, NEVER ADMIT TO!!)

matt-i do not think you can legal hirer me as a "housekeeper" after seeing how large the place you live in. :P

Anonymous said...

At my job we're made to use the line "We're always accepting applications" and we literally have a 300+ stack of them in the back...

Christina said...

Crazy_Lil_Kitty- I am glad you actually take the application and not throw them in the trash like some companies do. But do any of those 300 people get considered for a job or it is always newer applications?

chiisai_kitty said...

On the off chance that someone does get hired, it's usually someone from the stack (but from where idk), and most likely helpful if you know someone who already works there. The last new person we got was actually an application that two of my co-workers pulled out of the middle and stuck on top...

Christina said...

luck of the draw hiring :)

that is so many applications to have just sitting around. :O i had a job once that would circle the spelling mistakes of the applicant and hang them up for other employees to see....