Are we almost there?

The road to landing a job these days will mostly likely begin online.

As I sat in Starbucks today, a young man came in and asked a couple employees if they were hiring. Knocking on doors was a proven way of finding a job, particularly in retail or the service industry, in the not-so-distant past. I expected the Starbucks workers to give the young man an application, maybe sit down with him for a chat, but I was wrong.

I should have guessed it. They directed him to the company web site. Told him he can get information and apply online. He nodded sort of knowingly and departed. I know the look.

I have called human resource departments at universities and major companies a couple times to get information on hiring. I was quickly rerouted to their career web sites. I've also called top hiring managers at smaller firms. Same results.

Most help-wanted ads these days instruct job seekers not to call. Some are pretty darn hostile about it. And god forbid you show up in person with a resume in hand. You could find yourself escorted from the building by security guards.

It seems the web is the perfect method for employers to screen the many unemployed people looking for work in this recession. Just navigating through some company career sites serves as a way of making sure one has the technical skills needed in today's job market. If you can't do that you obviously won't be hired. Fortunately, I haven't had any difficulties creating PDFs of my resume or directing employees to web sites that feature my work or references. I am good at that stuff, but not so good at getting positive replies.

Most employers warn in their ads that they probably won't contact applicants unless they want to hire you. Just not feasible, I guess, with all the applications they receive. The lack of a human touch in this process is sometimes difficult to cope with. Some employers, I have found out after applying, withdrew the position for budgetary reasons.

I remember looking at Guitar Center's web site several months ago when I was considering finding a "fun" part-time job with a retailer just to get out of the house and bring in a few extra dollars. The music store went the extra mile on the Internet highway, actually having a mechanism for conducting the initial interview online. I didn't want to try selling myself to an electronic interviewer, so I passed.

No wonder it's so difficult to find work. Along with the high unemployment rate, the efficiency of web-based job applications is only efficient for employers who don't want to look beyond a few keywords that their computers identify in resumes. For employees, it's easy to get lost in all the traffic on the job-site expressway.

Yet, I offer a warning to those who seek back-road shortcuts or alternative routes. Proceed at your own risk. Most employers frown upon people trying to circumvent the process. You won't get any initiative points for not following the rules of the road in most cases. I've tried it and found myself right back on the Internet entrance ramp, trying to merge into oncoming traffic.

I suppose the best way to find a job is to know someone in a hiring position -- or at least it was a decade or two ago. I do know a few of those types of people in those types of positions. In fact, at one time, I hired some of them. In one or two cases I actually saved their jobs. Another story for another day. But now they tell me there just aren't any openings. No opportunity to return the favor, sort of speak. I believe them but still can't help feeling disappointed that we're now in an era where people who want to help can't. I am sure it's not a good feeling for them, and I know it's a rotten reality for those seeking work.

So it's back on the Internet freeway for me, trying to get noticed amongst all the other electronic applications and professional networking colleagues, hoping that one of these exits is the right one. Hoping the traffic subsides soon before my fuel gauge hits empty or the kids in the back seat ask yet again whether we're almost there.