A reporter was given the assignment of using her resume to apply for a hypothetical job in a totally different industry. Ground rules were issued: she could not accept any job offers and could not apply for jobs requiring professional qualifications. She has an Honours degree in English Literature, as I have. As a result, graduates like us have problems applying for jobs with specific qualifications, because we have a general degree. At the same time, it enables us to work only in the Arts sector, if we want to make complete use of it.
She applied for almost every job in the market. She found out in the process that good communication skills, which our degree equips us with, is a skill that is sought after. She made up for her lack of work experience in the stipulated areas with a willing attitude to learn the ropes of the jobs. I remember that this same attitude helped me land a job completely unrelated to my degree. My reason for changing industries was to take a break from the one I was in.
She also learnt that the job offers she had received were mostly on sales of insurance policies and real estate. Perhaps her communication skills stood her in good stead. She had to do profiling tests as part of the selection process. I remember having to do one too, when I was applying for a job to do with managerial duties. Of course, I later discovered that it was an insurance company I was applying to. Insurance companies are the majority of potential employers who peruse my online resume. What is it with their fascination with someone who holds a Literature degree and has been teaching for most of her working life? Perhaps it is also my communication skills that attract them. Unfortunately for them, I am not someone who enjoys working in the sales industry. It was while I was doing the test, that I realised that my calling was to go back to teaching. Every answer I put pointed the way to that.
She had applied to a company that sells lavatory products and the comment she received over her status as a mother seems rather discriminatory. She had been told that maternity leave represented "a disturbance in the workplace". Employers nowadays are supposed to be more pro-family. This company seems to be the exception. Productivity and work efficiency are what matters to it.
The result of her venture was that she had received only four offers out of a hundred applications. It is also a cold, hard truth for me to learn. :S
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