Unemployable because you are unemployed?...what happened to us?

[link to www.cnn.com]



(sry for the book, but needed to say this)

I am currently unemployed. I have an B.B.A. in Information Systems and over 11 yrs exp. in the industry. I was laid off from a non-profit organization that provides emergency relief/support for the families of deployed U.S. soldiers. The reason?...simple...donations were down and the organization was forced to restructure...nearly half of the employees were laid off and replaced with volunteers where possible.

The remarkable contrast in the job market from 1999/2000 to the current 2009/2010 can only be fully appreciated by persons, like me, who have experienced both.

Here is some of what I have recently experienced/learned while seeking employment:

I was turned down for a position for being "too perfect"

I was told by a recruiter that I had was "out of the enterprise for too long"...I worked a contract for the U.S. Army supporting U.S. Army medical facilities around the world in early 2009...if that isn't "enterprise"...then I don't know what is...I also worked at Microsoft in Redmond, WA (52 bldg. campus with over 30,000 end users) and for Siemens Business Services providing support to numerous large business partners (i.e. The Hartford, Raytheon, various military installations)

I was offered a position as a network administrator at Time Warner Cable...for $14.52/hr (now you know why their support sucks so bad)...I made more than this mowing lawns in the 8th grade

I am constantly asked about any of a dozen private, non-accredited programs that provide professional certifications (i.e. CCNA, MCP/MCSE, Security+, CISSP, etc.)...I hold several of the certs. (MCSE, Security+, A+)...not surprisingly, I learned very little from obtaining these certs. that wasn't covered in college...also, I witnessed the rampant use of cheating materials for the non-accredited certs such as "Pass for Sure" for the MS exams...essentially rendering these certs. without merit

After being laid off, I researched salary information for the region I live in. Taking into account education, experience and area of expertise, and found that the average salary was around $60-63k/yr. Taking the current state of the U.S. economy into consideration, I reduced my salary expectation to $50-55k/yr...still nothing.

I found out later, from a friend of mine who works there, that the hiring manager at Time Warner Cable was fired because it was discovered she was taking stacks of resume's forwarded to her from HR and SHREDDING THEM in an effort to reduce the number of interviews she would have to conduct.

More often than not, I have found that the person(s) interviewing me HAVE NO IDEA what they are talking about...how are these people supposed to select the best candidate if they don't even know what the best candidate should be?

In summary, it is becoming apparent to me that employers are hiring dangerously under-qualified personnel simply to reduce costs and increase profits. This practice is irresponsible at best and could be dangerous. In many instances, the individuals responsible for interviewing and selecting the best candidate for a given position are incompetent or outright negligent.

I have spoken with a few friends about this and I was informed that they have witnessed similar practices in their fields (medical and legal) which is...scary. I am forced to ask myself what kind of quality/fairness the average citizen can expect across industry with these practices in place.

Soon, I will begin to look for work outside the U.S. (which saddens me) and I just wonder how many others are in same/similar situations.

What happened to the USA I love??? What happened to my home...

~Screwby

(again sry for the long post)