Why are employers so picky?

Question

Employers are picky as hell. They only want to hire people who like being bent over and without saying a word. I read in a magazine once that hiring managers are now being trained to noticed people with defensive personalities during the interview by asking questions that bother these type of people. One being "I don't understand why you want this job?"

Like I said employers don't like people who are "hard" and know how to defend themselves from abuse whether physical or mental.

One last thought are you single and childless? The reason is that employers don't like to hire people who don't have responsibilities outside themselves. The reason is that they know that if the going gets tough, regardless of the reason, they are more likely to jump ship.

What do you guys think?

Answer 1

thats interesting. i hate taking those assessment surveys they make u take when u fill out an application online. its usually 10 pgs of nonsense and your answers can only b most definately, definately, not sure, probably not, definately would not.

Answer 2

I think for the most part, you are on to something. Whats a bummer for these employers (and the people they don't hire) is that often times they totally overlook people that could be the most loyal and hard working employees but they don't hire them because they may have had a problem in the past, or made a mistake, or even because they get nervous in the interview and cannot think clearly enough to answer those "psychological profile" questions!!! When I hire someone, I will always look past that stuff, when I can clearly see that this person really wants the job and seems to have character. Besides, most of these managers out there these days are so ill-educated on how to handle people its scary!! And how many of them do you know that use their positions to have that power over others???

Answer 3

I am a manager and I hire AND fire people. A few reasons for MY pickiness:

#1 Employer has NO legal right to ask about children or your marriage status. It could be considered discrimination.

#2 Employees need to be easy going so they don't go "postal" on customers and possibly involve the employer in a lawsuit.

#3 The "I don't understand why..." part is to get you to open up and tell a little about yourself. Are you lazy? Will my company be investing in you and then you quit because you don't want to work anymore? Are you dependable and can be counted on to show up? I actually had a guy tell me he only wanted to work until he got his 1st paycheck and then he would quit!

#4 Absolutely no abuse should be tolerated for any reason, another possible lawsuit. Plus if an employee is stressed because someone at work is harrassing them why would they want to hang around instead of quitting?

#5 The defensive personality thing is done to try to weed out the bad apples before they are hired and cause trouble on the job.

#6 Stubborn (tough) can be an asset. Stubborn people are less likely to stress out and need personal days. It means you can hang in there when the going gets tough.

Most of this is a matter of vocabulary and the words you apply to yourself, people don't need to judge you, you've already done it for them.

Lighten up sweetie!

Answer 4

There is a Saying that "if you think hiring an educated employee is expensive, try hiring incompetence or ignorance."

Just think about if you ran your own business and invested SOOO much of your Time, Money and Credibility.... Your reputation and lively hood is on the line. I know I wouldn't want to risk loosing everything because of someone deceiving me, cheating me, lying to me, stealing from me, or just cost me so much money that I had to close the business or went bankrupt because I hired the wrong person. Whether they were not educated enough or were just incompetent.

Turn-over rate in a business can cost an employer alot of money to re-train and supply new employee's. Also the risk of one of those employee's learning your business and becoming one of your competetors.

An Employer wants to find a competent, loyal, trustworthy and dependable worker. Personality compatibility is very important when working with others. Employer's do not want arogant co-workers to be a constant distraction and disruption in the workplace. Once you hire an employee, you are taken a risk financially and it is not as easy to fire that person as you might think. You need just cause and have to think about paying unemployment to that person, plus hiring another to take their place. They want someone that will fit into the "role" or "job discription" that they are hiring for and not be argumentative about their duties. You are the "Employee" not the "Employer".

Answer 5

Wow. Where do you live? I am single and found it to be the complete opposite. You know if there is overtime the boss always gives it to the person who doesn't have child care issues or gives the Christmas vacay to the mom....aside from that employers are only as good as their employees so of course they want to hire good people. And most importantly an employer would rather have a so so employee who doesn't cause trouble or bad mouths everyone to a highly skilled employee who is a complete bastard. I know, I have seen it over and over and over again. Trust me. Word hard. Keep your opinions to yourself.

Answer 6

If employers pick their employees like that, that just means that they don't take their buisness seriously or whatver they work at. The less they judge you, the more serious they are about their jobs, because a good employer will want the person with the most experience and the person who works the hardest, not the person who is single and can't speak up for themselves.

Answer 7

I agree with you. Every company wants its employees to be easily controlled. Every organization with power wants this. The employer wants this from its employees, the government wants this from its citizens and on and on. I also agree that they want people with "no strings attached" and that is so they can work them longer and harder and not have to worry about the employee having other commitments.

However, I have a hard personality and I know a lot of other people who are like me and there are some places out there where this type of personality is appreciated. There are certain fields where you have to be hard, police officer, things of that nature. I work in a law office and have to be able to explain to clients (sometimes firmly) that just because they think things should be a certain way doesn't mean that they are going to be that way. This sometimes requires a strong personality.

Answer 8

Employers are picky because unemployment is so low. The people hunting jobs right now are either
1. overqualified
2. undertrained
3. underexperienced
4. asking for compensation levels that the employer can't justify

My last job laid off mostly married folks and people with lots of experience. They wanted to keep the "singletons" and lower paid folks.

Answer 9

Another reason is because they have to go through so many stupid lazy people before finding one that will do the job well. They make their interviews hard to see if you are like that so they won't waste time putting up with crap. People are really bad nowadays, with no work ethic to benefit the companies they work for. Why? Did you just get turned down by someone you wanted to work for? I know exactly how it is...

Answer 10

IMAGINE ONE DAY YOU BECOME AN EMPLOYER AND RECRUITING FEW DOZEN EMPLOYEES FOR YOUR OWN DIGITAL APPARATUS EXPORTING COMPANY!!

Then, how will be your approch towards the people?

What all the parameters you will apply for selecting good candidates for your company, which is intended only for growth?

YOU PLEASE IMAGINE NOW, SITTING IN A CHAIR COMFORTABLY AND FEEL THE COMMITTMENT AND PRESSURE OF AN EMPLOYER!

Will you select a rude personality, unwilling for any committments, easy-going type, argumentative guy, blaming character etc., to induce the other employee also " like a spoiled apple in the basket"?

THE WORK PLACE IS NOT YOUR HOME AND THE BOSSES ARE NOT YOUR PARENTS EITHER!!

The "inter-view" is nothing but your "Inner-view", territorial map,mentality of your Mind and its psychology Sir!

They see through and through your words and finding out your Inner-mind by all kind of related questions, pertinent to their company's growth!!

YOU PLEASE, ATLEAST PRETEND TO BE SUBMISSIVE AND POLITE IN ANSWERING / IN BODY LANGUAGE FOR THE TIME BEING TO GET SELECTED!!

Answer 11

I think you ought to have some empathy for employers. Imagine hiring someone who is overtly denfensive, argumentative, and gnerally uncooperative. Would you want someone like that working in your place of busineess? These people are hard to get along with, resent being told to anything, are difficult to train, they usually do not work well with others and cause undue stress among other workers. You bet they are picky, who wants to hire a PITA!