Monday, April 29, 2013

A kindred spirit!

Remember this pretty frustrating article of advice from hiring managers to job seekers? Well, someone else found it frustrating as well:
I suppose that the panelists in the Employment Outlook article thought they were offering helpful advice to those seeking employment in the chemical industry (C&EN, Feb. 18, page 63). However, behind the comments phrased as advice are some clear messages: 
From Aegis Sciences’ Kara Allen: If you don’t have all of the background and skills our listing calls for, don’t bother applying. And it doesn’t matter whether any of the requirements are totally arbitrary or whether you are someone who has shown an ability to learn and adapt quickly. If you can’t start at full speed, we don’t want you. And we don’t care what other experience you have that shows you can adapt. 
And from Genentech’s Bruce Roth: If you didn’t receive your Ph.D. from Stanford or Berkeley, don’t bother applying for a job at Genentech. We don’t want to waste our time looking at your résumé. 
In a nutshell, that’s the problem with trying to find employment today: Employers believe that they are in the driver’s seat, able to get exactly what and whom they want—and they won’t compromise. 
Joel Ackerman
Richmond, Calif.
I don't think I have anything to add to that.

8 comments:

  1. Definition of shortage: "Top five institutions are not producing enough PhDs that studied our projects in grad school".

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  2. If you don’t have all of the background and skills our listing calls for, don’t bother applying. And it doesn’t matter whether any of the requirements are totally arbitrary or whether you are someone who has shown an ability to learn and adapt quickly. If you can’t start at full speed, we don’t want you. And we don’t care what other experience you have that shows you can adapt.

    During my unemployment stint, I found this to be pretty much true. It also serves as an interesting side-note to CJ's thread of a couple of days ago discussing how a person with a PhD has 'critical thinking skills' that employers will simply love, even if the degree isn't in that particular field of study....

    (http://chemjobber.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-best-paragraphs-that-i-disagree.html)

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  3. "Employers believe that they are in the driver’s seat, able to get exactly what and whom they want—and they won’t compromise."

    It is a bit more than a belief, is it a simple statement of reality.

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    Replies
    1. Agree with this. Unfortunate for job seekers, but is the reality whether we want to believe it or not.

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  4. ..Genentech’s Bruce Roth..do not waste your time if you are not from Stanford or Berkeley..to which I say, Amen! The man himself was a PhD from Iowa...and riding on Lipitor, that was a team effort at P&D. How cruel of him.

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    1. Yes, I find that frustrating. The individuals with the jobs conducting the interviews are from 2nd or 3rd tier schools, weak publication records, and who had no idea what they wanted to do with their lives get a job 30 or 40 years ago, and then expect you to be from a first tier school and say that your life's meaning can only be found by taking the job you are being interviewed for.

      I just want to give up and be a plumber.

      If only I had been born a boomer....

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    2. Wow, what an asshat. I swear that I've met more mediocre Ivy League chemists that I can count, and some of the best I've met are from no-name schools.

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    3. Iowa PhD who wouldn't hire himself, impressive!

      Sounds like the type of male I think of when I see a yellow Ferrari or Lambo, compensating for a tiny head.....

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looks like Blogger doesn't work with anonymous comments from Chrome browsers at the moment - works in Microsoft Edge, or from Chrome with a Blogger account - sorry! CJ 3/21/20