CAREER ADVISOR

In this issue, “Your Career Advisor” is responding to the following question: “What is wrong ? I always get turned down when I apply for jobs advertised on skill-link.com. Is it my age or what !?”. All reasonable questions related to careers, skill development or employment related issues – sent to advisor@skill-link.com - would be addressed in this section every week.

Q: What is wrong ? I always get turned down when I apply for jobs advertised on skill-link.com?
 
It was a dream that came true when your web site Skill-Link was established. Since I joined and registered I have been logging on the site almost every day for the last 9 months. For every advertised job vacancy I submitted my interest to, I was always rejected ( mostly because I am not a "Female Only" or I am not below 35 Years of age )

If that is the case-then why don't you try to add a section on the site for people that are above 40 years of age.
I tried so hard to join some chances offered but was always turned down on the Spot. Believe me I am not a criminal outlaw or anything of that type, and I sincerely apologize for writing such a letter but can you explain to me what is wrong other than " it is a bad time and there is no jobs on the market ”

Also concerning the IT side. It is hard for me to understand .. almost every country in the world is trying to find IT people to work in the sector and the Egyptian Ministry of Communications & Information as well as other places are setting the age barrier for individuals trying to be involved?? any explanations.. and by the way 43 years old people are not disabled yet and I think we still deserve a chance to keep a descant way of living ( in other words we don't deserve to die Yet).
Thank you.

S.E. Cairo

Replying:
 
Dear Mr. S. 

Thank you for your message; we understand any thing we could say will not reduce your frustration, however we will try. You raised a number of issues that are relevant to many of our registered job seekers (and professionals in general).
Let us start with a few facts:

1. There is no bias for “Female Only” jobs, specially on skill-link.com ; the opposite really can be true where in a large number of cases the employer is looking for males. So with the exception of ‘Secretaries’ and ‘Office Managers’ where usually a female is required, a lot of employers could be described as male biased.

2. Age is another issue; as you know organizations are staffed like a pyramid (with regards to age and seniority - they are two different things but in a way related). Therefore staff numbers are higher the lower the age bracket. This is the reason why a large percentage of recruitment happens for the relatively younger age brackets. In many cases employers tend to recruit from within, therefore reducing the number of outsiders recruited for more senior positions. Another key reason is since the forties and fifties age groups usually correlates with professionals in middle or senior management positions, employers would rely more on personal contacts or on head hunters (such as SKILLRATE Advisors) to recruit them. 

3. Having said the above; we would also like to add that for every single advertised job vacancy on skill-link.com (the Job Corner) there are ten vacancies where the employer opts to search for him/herself our large database (without displaying a job vacancy announcement) and contact the job seekers that match the required criteria.

4. One cannot hide the fact that the country you are currently residing in (Egypt) is witnessing a slowdown in its economy; which understandably reduces the number of available job vacancies due to companies not growing or in some cases downsizing.

Another matter which you raised is the Egyptian Ministry of Communication’s IT development programs and training initiatives; it is understandable that they are only targeting recent graduates. Since these young men and women are yet to enter the job market and would benefit more from newly acquired skills to enhance their employability chances. Speaking of the various IT initiatives taking place in Egypt right now; have you considered approaching them from a different angle? Since several thousand Egyptians are being trained every year, we see opportunity in operating such a large undertaking: admittance, monitoring training center, verifying quality & results, following up on the employment prospects of graduates etc.

Having looked at your CV/resume; we believe your military background and the following ‘civil’ experience will be valuable in roles requiring leading people, logistics and general administrative responsibilities. If we could make an advice on a side - with regards to skill-link.com - we recommend you review your CV and add more information in the ‘brief self description’ about yourself. This is the section that first grabs the attention of an employer searching our database. It is customary for job seekers to write 4 or 5 lines presenting themselves and what they can do. Just a few words (with a spelling mistake in them), may not make the employer click to open it, if his/her search results bring up a dozen CVs with ‘juicier’ introductions. We would also recommend you break up your 1979 - 1990 job experience (you entered as one block) in two or three different jobs, allowing you to describe in more details what you did in each of them. This will allow a potential employer to have a better feel for your experience.

Unfortunately, we did not come up with the ‘golden’ answer, however we hope some of the above tips are useful and we wish you the best of luck.

Note from the editor: 
Employer names and inquiry sender names were withheld for confidentiality

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