I'm more qualified for many jobs than my husband... yet...

[Fawke Em]

I never, EVER get called for jobs. Never. I have more education, more skills and a better work ethic. Still.. no interviews... ever.

My hubs can screw up and get a job interview in two seconds.

I'm in marketing/PR.

He's in sales.

We live in Tennessee.

Why?

(This is in a response to a thread that men are being persecuted)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I suspect your location might have something to do with it...

Maybe the folks there think that women shouldn't work outside the home...



I'm sorry.

A person's gender should not be considered when hiring someone.

[Major Nikon]

2. It's just my observation, but sales always seems to have pretty high turnover rates

Everyone I've known in any sort of sales position, male or female, didn't seem to have much problem getting a job. Keeping it is another story. Some companies manage to keep their sales people for a while where others go through them like bacon through a duck.

[hollysmom]

3. I had a better resume than my husband and was in the same field

and always got job offers and made more money. Maybe it is the field, or how you market yourself. In my field, men made more money, I just made sure I was over qualified for every job I applied for. Not that I got offers for every job, when I gained weight, I had a harder time getting a job, but as long as I was thin and wore great suits, I did not have a problem. Of course, when I was laid off in my late 50's, I never had another job, but part of that was not liking the offers that I got and having enough money for a decent life, if not a rich one.

Another key to success is network network network. I formed a local woman's group for my field and we had monthly meetings and helped each other get jobs.

[Lex]

4. My brother has been fired from multiple jobs but still gets interviews and

gets hired. He does IT support for companies. It's the most amazing thing the way he can continue to screw up and then get hired again and again.

[boppers]

6. Helpdesk (aka "IT support") has a high churn and burn rate.

Just the nature of the beast, they need bodies to act as front line cannon fodder, to separate real problems from the people who don't remember their passwords.

[Lex]

8. No, he doesn't answer the phone. He keeps their networks running at multiple locations

so the company's computers interface easily and data keeps flowing, so maybe it's something other than IT.

[boppers]

12. A WAN/LAN tech?

Router monkey? Switch jockey?

Any chance you know his "unofficial" job title, or what his certs (certifications) are?

[boppers]

5. What do education, skills, and work ethic have to do with it?

Seriously, on the "how to get an interview" spectrum, that stuff is *waaay* down on the list. Anybody who tells you otherwise is a dreaming idealist.

Additionally, sales has lots of "you can work, and if we don't make money, you don't make money", so there's that, and if he *is* a gifted salesman, well, that's a big part part of getting hired, selling yourself.

I didn't see the other thread, but apples are oranges are different things, much like sales and marketing.

Got an online resume? We can play "let's make this resume ROCK!" if you'd like.

[Fawke Em]

9. You'd think a marketing person could make a resume rock.

Well... I did some rockin' cover letters and got NA-DA.

It's really weird.

[boppers]

13. Different jobs have different needs.

I'm sure you've probably heard this before, but every job prospect, if possible, should have a different resume, and different cover letter, tuned for the specific job being applied for.

It's like sales vs. marketing, in that sense... marketing pitches to a crowd, sales pitches to a buyer.

[truedelphi]

23. Two important tips for you. One - a best piece of advice for

You is this one: decide on putting together a "jobs group." A problem that seems difficult becomes easier if there are five other warm bodies connected to the same problem, and they meet every week, or every ten days.

You can get this group going by finding a local Gazette and paying the thirty bucks, for an ad telling about the new group, or by putting up flyers at the local (physical) bulletin board at your grocery or church or wherever. Or if in a large enough area, with significant population, there should be a Craig's list you can use.

Things are always easier when other people share what they know about the problem. Even if they aren't in the same field of work.

There is also something to be said for some New Age tom foolery. Is there part of you that doesn't want to work? Have a mini ceremony for yourself, and say goodbye to "whatever reasons lurk within" that are holding you back. It could be holding on to and/or resenting the past experience of working with an unpleasant co-worker, or having to do everything at home while your partner basically skates on things like dishes and child care.

Tip two:
Also, the health insurance situation carries a lot of weight in this job market. If you are someone with a "prior condition" that is even a little bit costly to the employer (in my case, it is my age,) it can be difficult to get work.

The employer shouldn't do this, morally, and in fact is disbarred from doing it legally, but many many many employers are not hiring people that will cause their insurance premiums to rise. If your husband is younger than you, in terms of a cut off age (forty is one such cutoff age) he might be able to get hired for that reason alone. And consider this: If he doesn't apply for the type of job where employers insure their employees, then he doesn't even have that worry.

If he is employed now and has the ability to provide insurance for you, let employers know that. It might make all the difference in the world.

[SoutherDem]

7. Sexism? That is what came to my mind.

When I read you OP it reminded me of something I heard a boss say one time. We sold a product called endangered species ties, if you remember those were ties with pictures of animals which were on the endangered species list and a donation was made when one was sold.
The district, store and department manager (me) was walking throughout the store when the district manager stopped to see if any new ones came in. The store manager spoke up and said the new one would be white men. I am glad to say his joke flopped and even got him a bit of a reprimand by the district manager, something which normally would never be said in front his employees.

My sister lives in Tennessee. She works at a plant where many if not most of the employees are women but all of her supervisors and managers are men. I once asked her about this and she said they seem to have the attitude that women aren't as smart as men, and don't do a lot to hide it.

Anyone who argues that white men are persecuted I would love to hear there evidence. I think that is BS.

[Fawke Em]

10. I've done most of the marketing and didn't get promoted when

my boss left....

I'm under a white male who hasn't been there as long... so... this is why I'm looking.

[SoutherDem]

11. I don't blame you one bit.

Good luck on your search. Just a suggestion. I don't know if this exists but I would think it would, but I have looked up gay friendly employers when looking for jobs so I know at least I will be treated like a human being. You may want to see if there is a list of women friendly employers.

[boppers]

14. +1

Gay yellow pages, if your city/metro has them (or the equivalent), are a godsend.

[Fawke Em]

16. You know what... I actually know we're the 13th "gayist" city in the

USA.

We're Southern, but we have a kick-ass union mayor Latina who rocks.

I have gay friends (mostly male).

Y'all have a point.

[boppers]

18. I only spent a few hours in your state. (TN)

Maybe another might suit you better.

[HipChick]

15. I work in a male dominated field, and always get job offers without interviews

I only ever use my initials on my resume..

Network,Network,Network - can't mention this enough...since 2000 I have got job offers without a formal interview - someone either knew me or worked with me in the past, and hired me

I mention I open to travel or relocation...but actually, most of the time, I end up working a deal where I can work from home

I am in IT...

[Fawke Em]

17. My problem is I'm really not open for travel

Should I lie?

I have a 5-year-old daughter = high gear - and a 13-year-old son = higher gear.

[boppers]

19. Oooch.

That complicates things.

[ljm2002]

20. If you're not open for travel...

...don't lie about that. But you don't have to tell them you have children, either.

It's a fact that women are penalized for having children. By "penalized", I mean: they are often not considered for jobs because of it. Whereas a man with the exact same qualifications who also has children will not be penalized in the same way. This is not necessarily because the people hiring are bad people or are consciously discriminating; however, the social norms are what they are, and it is still expected that moms will bear the brunt of parenting (and that is still true for the most part -- for example, I wonder if your husband is open for travel?).

Gender discrimination in hiring is very real. Many studies have been done, asking people to rate the resumes of people, where half of the resumes were given a male name and the other half were given a female name. In areas that are considered "male" (i.e., engineering, sales), the identical resume was always rated substantially higher when it came with a male name.

One tactic is to think of a male nickname for your first name (such as "Jerry" for "Geraldine", or whatever), or alternatively just use initials (although that is sometimes a clue to people that you are female, since very few people of either gender use initials these days).

Again, I am not suggesting that the hiring people are necessarily sexist, at least not consciously. But you should do everything you can to give yourself an edge. If that means hiding the fact that you are female, long enough to get in the door for an interview, then so be it.

[cbdo2007]

21. People are more willing to take a chance on someone in sales.

I've never been in sales and could go out tomorrow and find a sales job. It's kind of like gambling to those companies. If they hire 5 random people, chances are 2 of them will suck but not enough to bring down the average, 2 of them will be average, and 1 will be amazing and more than make up for the 2 that suck.....so they still come out ahead and they have no problem telling the ones that suck to take a hike.

[bemildred]

22. He's in sales, that's why. nt