My weekday morning routine is to get up, go for a 5K run, get home, take the dogs for a walk, get home, take a shower, then something to eat before starting work. I then feel setup for the day.
At the weekend, on one day we usually combine our run and dog walk (which has gone from a total disaster at first, to quite successful now). This is through fields, along country footpaths and through the woods. The other day we do a longer run which is usually approximately 10K. We vary the route when we get to a certain point and this can make quite a difference to its length. This weeks run turned out to be just a fraction short of 11K once we worked it out, the longest we have knowingly run.
Our evening routine after finishing work consists of a dog walk, cooking, eating, and TV or a book before bed.
This last week, I have started to go for a walk lunch time to get away from what has turned out to be the most frustrating task I have ever been given. Sifting through CVs and arranging preliminary phone or Zoom calls with potential new employees.
If employment agencies are using AI to filter prospective employees before sending us their CVs, it doesn't work! As far as I can tell, a CV can get passed through based on a single word it contains.
Added to that, there are numerous web sites giving access to advice and CV templates. The extent to which people adapt these templates is a bit concerning. A few have obviously entered their educational and work history but missed vital changes like their date of birth unless they started school in their mid 30's. Others have been less enthusiastic about sharing those details and have left the ones that appear on the sample template. The only changes they made was to the name and address.
Of the Zoom interviews I have conducted so far, some did not seem to be aware of their own work history, and others had clearly no idea on how to conduct themselves in an interview. One girl was still in bed and it would appear that I woke he up. She answered the phone and when I introduced myself she replied "oh f**k". I did offer to reschedule but she refused as she wanted to get it over with!
With unemployment at 1 1/2 million I would have thought finding a few suitable people would be easy!
I normally sit at my desk and eat lunch, maybe reading a book or depress myself looking at the news. The frustration of my current task is driving me insane. I have been going out for a walk, but really want to run. i think my morning runs are all that is keeping me going at the moment.
Sorry for the rant, but some people!!! 😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫
Written by
Lizzie_NewStart
60minGraduate
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I feel for you (and actually for the applicants too). I think jobseekers are under enormous pressure to apply for as many jobs as possible and quantity is prioritised over quality. You are on the receiving end of this wisdom unfortunately.
Wish I had some words of advice for how to improve the filtering of the CVs you get, but in the absence of that a lunchtime walk sounds just the job. Even better you could do a really short run. There are some on the Nike Running Club app - 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 2 minutes, even 1 minute. As long as you're not someone who hates guided run these short blasts will lift you from your surroundings and give you a quick shot of endorphins to get you through a tedious afternoon.
Better still, for a 1 or 2 minute run you can do them in ordinary trainers carrying shopping bags (I speak from experience )
Chin up, hope you find someone to fill the post soon!
"She answered the phone and when I introduced myself she replied "oh f**k". I did offer to reschedule but she refused as she wanted to get it over with!"
Why waste your time with someone who's so rude and unprofessional? Same with the CVs, there's no point in reading any that are clearly unsuitable, whether sent via agencies or direct.
Most of my recruitment and interviewing experience was from the mid 1980s - when we'd get a couple of hundred applications for a single secretarial and admin post - to the mid 2000s. A job spec and a person spec, with a checklist of essential and desirable qualifications, competences, knowledge, skills and attitudes, were obligatory. Makes it much easier and quicker to sift the applications - any that fail to meet the "essential" criteria are instantly rejected.
Not that any of this is remotely related to running, of course...
I think that much of todays filtering is done by computer. If the CV contains a few key words it gets passed through. I could see that when I was looking for work. I received job specs for positions that had similar job titles to my previous position, but the actual job requirements had nothing in common with my experience. Had anyone actually read my CV in conjunction with the job spec they would have spotted that.
I have also heard that when claiming unemployment benefit there is a need to prove that you actively looking for work and can demonstrate that a number of applications have been made. Maybe I am a bit cynical, but I find it hard to believe that some of these CVs have been submitted by someone who actually wants to find a job.
The company I work for have an unusual but interesting approach to recruiting in that they not only look for a match to the advertised position, but also how they would progress within the company. They pride themselves on the fact that they have a very low turnover of staff and that nearly all positions are promotions from within. I was asked within a few months of joining if I would consider applying for a position that could make better use of my skills. Most of my colleagues started at the bottom and worked their way up. We get plenty of training opportunities (in some ways too many!!).
Yes, I fear that DWP targets waste everyone's time (and I feel your pain as someone who has been involved in recruiting people). It's not that people don't want to find *a* job, more that they are forced into applying for multiple unworkable jobs.
A young woman I know (very recently diagnosed with a life-threatening and life-changing disorder, and one which killed a close relative of hers... she currently can't go anywhere on her own) is certainly looking for work but was required to confirm that she is spending 35hours a week job hunting.
I am sorry to hear about that young woman, life is so cruel sometimes.
Unfortunately, in order to make a benefits system accessible by those who need it, it is also going to be abused by others who don't. Our doctors surgery has one GP who has a reputation for being an easy touch. He will write sick certificates for anyone that asks. When I sprained my ankle, he wrote me out a certificate for two weeks without me even asking. I told him I did not need it as I was working from home and my ankle would not prevent me working. His response was, "Take it anyway, you may feel you want a break". The thing was, I could either work, or sit and read or watch TV. Daytime TV would have driven me made so working was probably better for me.
don’t worry about ranting, sometimes we all need to vent!! I think for any of us who are working from home or on video calls all day, running is a wonderful way to get out and shake out the frustration of staring at a screen for hours. Plus there is something v stressful about back to back online meetings anyway, let alone having to do professional interviews. I agree with the other poster who said young people prize quantity of applications over quality which only makes your job harder.
I’ve found the best way is to actually block out time in my calendar during the day to go for short (20-30min) runs so no one can schedule a meeting and it breaks my day into manageable chunks. (Although I’m ignoring my own advice today as I have so much work on! But the intention is there!!)
Good luck with the running and the rest of the interviews!
Running is such good stress relief-even if it happens before the source of stress!! Running (or any exercise really) helps keep me on am even keel. These forums really help too-talking about running sometimes is as good as an actual run when it comes to my mood. Let’s not lose what’s special about there boards-we’re primarily for run chat here and that includes the benefits outside the actual runs too! ❤️
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