You Have To Be A Fool Not To…

If people’s comments on this blog are any indication (and they are), it’s really rough out there. Really, really rough.

Educated, bright, hard-working, do-everything-right-their-whole-life types are finding themselves out of work. Some for different reasons than others.

Some might be “too smart.”

Some might not have experience (employers love that word, don’t they?).

Some might be overqualified or have “too much” experience.

Others might live in areas that are even more economically depressed than other areas of the country and job prospects are nill.

Regardless, you are still making purchases.

You still have to replace things that broke in your home from Lowe’s or The Home Depot.

You still have to buy dress pants or a suit (because your current suit pants that you have split when you sat down for your job interview).

You still try and buy people birthday gifts, baby shower gifts, etc. from Target, the Home Shopping Network, QVC, Babies R US, Nordstrom, etc.

If you’re lucky, you might even book a vacation through Orbitz, Hotels.com, The Holiday Inn, etc.

During tough times, it makes sense to SAVE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, right?

Well, I have GREAT news.

There is a way to save money by making purchases at your favorite online stores.

Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, Sears, Disney, Avon, Walmart, Pro Flowers, Sony, Netflix, or whatever store you fancy — you can save money!

How? Through Ebates! All you do is create a FREE and SIMPLE account through Ebates and viola, you’re done!

You find your favorite store on the Ebates site, click a link, and you appear right on your favorite store’s website.

The best part? You can earn from 2-20% back on each purchase for simply doing nothing! You get money back just for clicking a link through Ebates and going to your favorite store’s website.

Don’t be stupid. Save where you can. You have to check this out.

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED SAVING TODAY!

P.S. Between my fiance and I, we got checks back for well over $300 in less than a year for simply using Ebates for everyday online orders. That’s $300 more in your pocket for NOTHING!

The Online Black Hole

I came across an article from New Jersey’s Star Ledger that detailed the realities of modern day job searching. The article talks about Becky Cole, who lost her job two years ago due to the recession, and has steadily been looking for work since. Like most, she began attending every job fair she came across and didn’t like what she saw. Several recruiters refused to take her resume or give her a business card while others had plenty of brochures but no jobs to offer. Everybody told Cole to apply online instead, regardless of whether or not they had any openings. Cole didn’t get quick, in-person job fair interviews or have the opportunity to further discuss her resume. Rather, she received smug directions to the company’s career website.

The article suggests such practices are very common these days and are defended by HR managers as a means to process the plethora of resumes they now receive for a job opening. However, there are many job seekers frustrated and demoralized by the online process, as they have spent countless hours applying to jobs online only to never hear anything back. The article noted job seekers are actually happy if they receive a rejection letter because at least it’s something and proves that maybe someone actually looked over their resume. A recruiting firm noted that they posted a job for a front desk receptionist and received 500 applications in 4 days and larger corporations usually receive even more. HR managers are often overwhelmed and defend the online submittal process by noting they simply do not have the staff to look over all applications.

I’ve been there and done that. I went to a few job fairs only to vow never to return again. Not only wasn’t I impressed with the quality of the jobs being offered, but everybody directed me to their company’s career website oftentimes handing me a pre-printed card with the website link on it. There was simply no benefit to attending. Why bother traveling to a location only to be directed to a website that you already knew about? The online application process is garbage anyway because it’s essentially like submitting your resume and personal data into an online black hole, never to be seen or heard from again. I’ve submitted countless applications online and have only received a grand total of 2 responses, both of which were laughable. The only way I’ve gotten better responses was from having contacts inside a company.