Desperation often sinks high-income job seekers
Fri May 8, 2009 3:32am EDT
By Rebekah Kebede
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Job seekers looking for six-figure salaries during the recession are often so worried about their prospects that they ruin their chances with silly mistakes, according to a new survey.
"Particularly in a downturn, people lose their bearings and can get very anxious and as a result can make rookie mistakes," said Marc Cenedella, chief executive of TheLadders.com, which caters to the job market for those earning $100,000 or more a year and more.
The top mistake candidates for higher-income jobs made was inadequately preparing for an interview, with 44 percent of recruiters naming it as the biggest interview error, the survey of 500 executive recruiters found.
It was conducted from April 8 to April 23.
Weak resumes, being too desperate and willing to take any job offered were close behind, with 43 percent of recruiters naming them as the biggest mistake.
"People can get very frustrated and very anxious and very upset about it and as a result behave in ways that make them look desperate," Cenedella said.
He added that some fearful job seekers adopted a false machismo that cast their candidacies in a poor light. Thirty-five percent of recruiters found that candidates being overly aggressive was also a mistake, the survey found.
Other mistakes included failure to follow up after the initial contact or interview, selling oneself short on salary, conducting an unfocused job search, and not sending a thank you note after an interview.
The anxiety that many job applicants feel is warranted by the difficult job market in the recession, Cenedella said.
The number of open jobs paying upward of $100,000 per year will fall 20 percent in 2009, to 3.2 million openings from about 4 million openings, TheLadders.com estimates.
And the average job hunt during the downturn is likely to take about eight to nine months rather than the five to six months it would take otherwise, Cenedella said.
To land a job in the tougher environment, candidates can take several steps: have their resume professionally written; apply for fewer but more appropriate jobs; and be persistent, calling the potential employer once a week for five weeks after the interview to express interest, he added.
(Reporting by Rebekah Kebede; editing by Paul Simao)
source: http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USTRE5468D920090508
sink: 使人失去信心、希望，或陷入困境
prospect: （职业）前景
lose their bearings: 本意指失去方位感，文中指在经济低迷期感到困惑、不知所措
close behind: 紧随其后的，指招聘者将低质量的求职信列为仅次于面试准备不充分的第二大错误
machismo: 盛气凌人的男子气概（贬义），此处指求职面试者故意装出的进取姿态会使面试官对其产生负面印象(cast...in a poor light)
sell oneself short on salary: sell short意为低估，此句指求职者对薪水要求过低（是求职面试中的错误之一）
the anxiety that many job applicants...in the recession: 许多求职者所感受到的焦虑也说明了萧条时期人才市场的低迷
guiding questions:
1. what tips are given by the article to land a job in the tougher environment?
2. according to the survey, what are the most obvious made by the job seekers in a downturn?
3. what are some other mistakes during job seeking made by job hunters?
4. how many months on average would it take to make a successful job hunt in the normal time?