Employers Shun Long-Term Unemployed

Oct 22, 2010 Candice Arnold | In Suite101

People who have been unemployed for more than six months are often rejected by unemployers. Why?

Despite reports that unemployment claims have dropped, an exorbitant number of Americans remain unemployed. Some have been out of work for more than a year. One reason stems from employers' unwillingness to hire anyone who has been out of the workforce for longer than six months.

The Stigma of Unemployment

In an article for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dan Chapman reported that some employers state openly in their job descriptions that people who've been unemployed for longer than six months need not apply to the positions.

The consensus of professionals recently interviewed via e-mail seems to understand employers' rationale behind refusing to hire the unemployed in general and the long-term unemployed in particular.

"The stigma of unemployment is related to what I call 'Wedding Band Syndrome,'" explained psychologist Elizabeth Lombardo. "Wedding Band Syndrome refers to the notion that 'If he has on a wedding band, someone else wants him, so he must be worthy of being wanted.' No wedding band [means] he is not worthy of being wanted. Regarding unemployment, there is the notion that 'If they (the last company) got rid of him, then he must not be worth keeping.'"

"When someone is working already and going on interviews, the employer feels like she is getting a ‘catch’ by taking him away from his previous company," explained job search advisor, Lavie Margolin. "When someone is not working, it does not hold the same allure."

"Companies may talk about risk-taking, but individuals aren't yet buying it," said leadership and workplace coach, Darcy Eikenberg. "It's easier to do something exactly the way someone else did, and that means hiring the person who's doing it at your competitor. It's also human nature to want something someone else has, and stealing a prize asset away can be thought of as an accomplishment."

If being unemployed in general is unattractive, then being unemployed for more than six months makes a candidate borderline grotesque as a potential employee. Their characters come into question, particularly if they got laid off during the height of the recession.

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Elizabeth Lions, author of Recession Proof Yourself (Aardvark Publishing, 2009), offered this anecdote as an explanation for why employers don't like to hire the long-term unemployed: "Before I was an author, I was a headhunter for ten years. Each day I spoke to hiring managers, CEOs, and CFOs and asked them questions in regards to hiring. Many times I had candidates who had been unemployed for six months or longer and the managers refused to consider them, although they were well qualified. When I asked why, each time I got the same response. I was told that organizations during recession will cut out the first 10-15 % of their staff that has been underperforming and let them go. If the candidate was in the first round of layoffs, he is deemed an underperformer."

"As we've talked with employers who shy away from hiring someone who's been unemployed for more than 6-months, their concern – a real concern – is that the person is flawed and there was a good reason she was involved in a layoff," said Richard S. Deems, PhD and co-author of Make Job Loss Work for You (JIST Publishing, 2010). Sometimes they are correct."

While many can appreciate the employers' point of view, Gwendolyn Ward, principal at professional development company, Fish Out Of Water, LLC, has compassion for the job seekers. "It’s unfortunate when a company decides to use a broad brush to label long-term unemployed people because some may have legitimate reasons for it (i.e. lack of networking connection, geographic restrictions, lack of current job searching skills, etc)." Ward and others offer their advice on how job seekers, whether unemployed for a short time or a long one, can improve their chances of getting hired the next time they go on interviews.

Solutions to the Problem

Employers likely won't change their opinions of the unemployed so the unemployed will have to do what they can to make themselves more desirable. A good place to start is the way they present themselves during interviews. Long-term unemployment often leads to discouragement or desperation. No one wants to hire someone who either walks in the door with a defeatist attitude or with an I-really-need-this-job attitude. If the candidate doesn't exude confidence in himself, he can't engender confidence in an employer. Another way candidates can make themselves more attractive to employers is by finding ways to stay busy in between their job searches.

"It's all about being proactive," said writer and illustrator, David Metcalfe. "Unemployed means you aren't doing anything. If you find yourself without legitimate employment in the paid sense, you've got to get out and volunteer or start something up on your own to keep those resume gaps filled."

Deems agreed that keeping busy through volunteering, taking a class or becoming active in a professional association could help job seekers make themselves desirable. He also recommended that they not limit their job searches to the Internet, something that volunteering, taking a class or becoming active in a professional association could facilitate because it would open a candidate up to numerous networking opportunities.

"Sometimes the unemployed person needs to bring a bigger perspective than being unemployed," Ward suggested, "like volunteering or even being under employed to look like she is open to new opportunities."

Conclusion

The recession may be over and unemployment compensation claims may have fallen, but plenty of Americans remain out of work because many employers don't want to hire unemployed job seekers. Fortunately, candidates can improve their chances of getting hired. Staying busy while they continue to look for work shows employers that candidates are ready, willing and able to rejoin the workforce.