Re: Unemployment compensation and self-employment (was Re: Laid Off)

[Lauren <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>]

Employers are picky about who they will hire in California.  Unless an 
applicant is in San Diego, Los Angeles, or the Silicon Valley, or is in 
the medical field, the job market is very bleak.  There are more 
applicants than jobs, so employers can be very choosy.  Incidentally, 
Mexicans have most of the labor jobs, like roofing.

There are also quite a few cases of "popped a sprocket and wound up on 
the news" types, so looking for people who can remain calm under 
pressure is important now.  Many online applications contain 
questionnaires that include screening for how people handle stressful 
situations.  As I see, it is best to avoid red flags, especially those 
that indicate a person may have stress from dealing with bureaucracy and 
administrative processes that do not work well.

As far as "prying squint" is concerned, I seriously doubt that there is 
*any* employer who will not search a person's name or email address in 
Google or on Facebook.  When an applicant reaches the point of being 
considered for a professional position, someone on the employer's behalf 
will search the name and email address. Employers know that their 
employees represent the company online and in public, so they will make 
certain that image is safe with new employees.

Also consider this, employees have to deal with state issues for various 
things, like filing unemployment, but companies must also deal with the 
state.  If a personal issue with the state raises stress, then how will 
the employee react when the employer has similar issues with a 
"dysfunctional state government agency"? What if the employer *was* the 
state?  What if the employer had significant dealings with the state?  
One thing in California that people cannot avoid is the state.


On 1/21/2013 8:00 PM, Keith Hood wrote: