Welcome to Scott Campbell, the new operations manager at CentralValleyJobs. This week we’ll be working together so Scott can learn the fine details of the online recruitment advertising business and also become familiar with our fantabulous customers. Let’s give him a big welcome!
For the past few days, I’ve had lots of feeling about the imminent closure of the Oakdale Hershey plant, all variations of anger, including sadness, outrage, disappointment, betrayal. 575 people will be out of work.
Hershey’s restructuring the global supply chain, corporate-speak for “opening a new plant in Mexico”, where labor is cheap and regulations nought to be seen. It’s bad enough that so many will be out of well-paying jobs. The repercussions to our local economy will be staggering, as Modesto Bee reporter J.N. Sbranti writes in yesterday’s article, “Loss slams pocketbooks countywide.” Think about dairies that supply Hershey’s with milk. Think about other jobs that support the plant, like truck drivers, janitors, and more. Think about businesses that provide services to the workers there. They are likely to take a hit.
In light of this trend of companies flying the coop for greener manufacturing pastures, I have this crazy thought: do corporations really need to create so much profit for shareholders? After all, 9o% of U.S. stocks are owned by the wealthiest 10% of Americans. In fact, in 2003 the top 1 percent of households owned 57.5 percent of corporate wealth, up from 53.4 percent the year before.
So tell me why. Why should the rest of us suffer (towns crippled, people laid off, etc.) for the dividends & stock porfolio of a minority of Americans? Why? So a CEO can make 7 million dollars a year plus bonuses, etc.? Does this seem unfair? I’m just saying, is all.
Are you there God? It’s me, Stella.
I beg of you: don’t let this entire post consist of my kvetching and griping about people who are submitting resumes for an opening we have for Website Operations Manager.
I beseech you: don’t let me go on and on, complaining about the lack of basic jobseeker etiquette.
God, what is up with the people who are neglecting the cover letter? Or the folks who fail to mention their familiarity with our website, or that they know what we do?
I find this strange. If you were applying for my job, wouldn’t you say something like, “I’ve used CentralValleyJobs.com for x number of years, and I have seen how your company is an important resource for jobseekers and employers in this region.” Or something like that.
It’s not that we want to be flattered. Instead, we want to see that candidates are aware of our role in this industry, or who understand how the site works. We’re not expecting someone to present us with a detailed business plan (although that would certainly be impressive.) We’re not expecting video resumes (although that might be fun). We’re not expecting perfection (that would just be strange).
But we are expecting candidates who can follow instructions. Who can show a little initiative, a little spice, a little something extra beyond straight-from-the-template, “To-Whom-It-May-Concern” communications.
We are expecting someone whose cover letter and resume tells us a story about themselves. Who can construct a narrative of sorts that shows us they’d be the right candidate for this job.
Is that too much to ask? I didn’t think so before now.
(Anyone out there want to prove me wrong?)