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Subject:The Job Market: What's the Real Story? From:Maurice King <benadam -at- CYBERDUDE -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 9 Jul 1998 17:05:13 -0400
>Thank you for your interest in the technical writer >position at X Inc. We will be reviewing resumes over >the next two weeks and will be in contact with >possible interview information soon after.
>
>Thank you for your interest in X Inc.
How many times have you seen a variation on the text of this letter in response to submitting a resume for a job? As professional writers, certainly you notice the specific time reference "over the next two weeks" for reviewing resumes -- which you can take with a grain of salt -- and the "possible interview information soon after," a statement whose meaning is likely to vary depending on your interest and need for the position in question.
In the past, I've criticized the tardiness of companies in their responses, and I received many, many replies to my criticism. It's worth noting that all but one person said, "Amen" to my allegations. When I wrote my earlier submission on this subject, my personal situation was much more severe than it is now, so my perspective was very different. However, my experience has made me ever so wary of job openings in far-off locations; even a handsome relocation package cannot necessarily lure me if I do not have considerable hard information in hand.
I have also had some sour experiences with contracting firms that have left me disillusioned about the way they often work. Most recently, I was lured into a position based upon descriptions provided by the contracting firm, only to arrive on the job and to realize that any similarity between the position described to me and the position I was actually assuming was coincidental at best. That's bad enough, but I've also been told that it's commonplace. I'm still new to the American scene, and this bit of information is extremely discouraging for me as I hoped to work as a consultant for quite some time; if being a consultant means being exploited any worse than the case of a salaried employee, I have reason to worry.
I'd like some of your experiences, just to compare notes. If you feel that this thread isn't worthy of online discussion, please post me offline. I'm just trying to gather information so as to know where I'm living these days. Maybe I'll start taking Prozac again if what I've discovered in the past five months is indication of anything!
- Maury King
m_alsacien -at- yahoo -dot- com
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