Ask anyone looking for work what they hate about the process and they are sure to give you a healthy list.  Most are quick to grumble about hiring assessments, extensive & redundant online applications, essay components, transcript requests for degrees obtained decades ago, etc. Employers are definitely having applicants jump through hoops these days.

There can be a lot of hassles involved in landing a job. Wouldn’t it be nice to take a pass on all of that? You know you can, right? Despite what it might feel like at times, there are still plenty of companies with less involved hiring processes.  They are typically smaller organizations without the infrastructure and resources to support the more labor intensive and costly practices. They are also companies more likely to be circulating their positions in less visible ways so they don’t have to sort through hundreds of applicants.  If the only jobs you are applying for are the ones you find on expensive job boards where thousands of candidates could feasibly be submitting applications, your going to be in the land of hoops and hurdles.

There may be times when you have to jump through these hoops in order to be considered for a position you really want. The key is to diversify your search to the point you have enough balls in the air to pick and choose which positions are worth going through all of the extra effort for. I suspect much of the frustration job seekers experience stems from going to these extreme lengths for positions they don’t really want and are reasonably sure they won’t qualify for anyway. They know they are wasting precious time.

Just say no to wasting time. Don’t get mad at employers for doing what they feel they need to do to weed through the masses. How they want to go about the business of finding employees is their decision. Be more strategic in your efforts to find companies with opportunities in your area of interest with less extensive hiring practices. Subject yourself to more involved application processes for the positions you know interest you. Get mad at yourself for filling out your umpteenth online application of the week for a job you don’t really want.

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