I am always looking for side hustles and other ways to make money. Since I’m always in search mode I find myself also looking at regular job listings and seeing who people are looking for in terms of qualifications. In the past 5 years in particular I’ve noticed certain trends that I think people might not be aware of that are affecting people’s job searches. Here are a list of 10 unexpected roadblocks to getting your new job.
You Need An I-Phone
I find this requirement particularly annoying because most phones are now capable of running digital platforms, etc. Apple products already have a certain…cache and a level of snobbery attached to them. So, I’m not good enough to work the job if I have a Motorola. ESPECIALLY, if the tasks have nothing to do with using the phone’s operating systems.
You Must Have A Car
What if you don’t own a car? You enjoy using public transit, ride a bike, or walk? Or, what if owning a car is too expensive for you right now? I’m not talking jobs where you have to drive around. I’m talking about jobs that may be located along mass transit lines. If you can manage to get to your job on time (or early) who cares if you ahve a car?
You Must Be Able To Drive
There are actually people who live in cities with fantastic mass transit and don’t know or need to know how to drive in their towns. While I would say this is a very important life skill, I think it’s also important to point out that learning to drive if you don’t have access to a car can also be pretty expensive. What if you want to learn but just need the job so that you can pay for the lessons? Chicken before the egg people.
Where You’re Located
I wanted to work with a company in Boulder on its social media. I have used their services frequently. I was told that I was perfect for the job but they wanted someone who could take pictures of the business for their feeds. This is ridiculous as I could go to Boulder and take the pictures. I commuted to Boulder for 10 years. Give me a break. They said they would contact me when they expanded to Denver. Sigh.
Must Have High Speed Internet Access -At Home
I would say that most people have variations of internet access at home. But that a lot of people probably don’t have high speed connectivity yet. Next week I’m having the fiberoptic cable put in for my high speed access but that’s after I upgraded my modem…without knowing that I needed to upgrade the fiber optics.
You Must Be Fit
This comes up a lot when I’m looking at Brand Ambassador gigs. I’m not looking to strip. I’m looking to talk up your product and be engaging. I think I can do that regardless of how fit I am. Also, this is a very subjective. Some people looking at your pictures may consider you fit, other people may consider you out of shape.
Must Be Young
This is usually brought up in very coded language. Or, it will be explicitly stated. It also may depend on the product. I’ve also noticed this a lot with Brand Ambassador gigs.
Must Be Older
There are some jobs that really don’t want to hire younger workers. There is the concern that you will have train them and teach younger people “how” to work. I totally get this as I’ve trained individuals in their early 20’s but I don’t think it’s fair to say that they won’t be quality workers. I worked with most of my trainees for at least 3 years a piece at my old job.
Must Have A Degree
I understand that there is a baseline level of education that employers are hoping their employees will have. But that’s not fair to self-taught individuals who may be really gifted in their field. I would say in this case that you may want to consider looking for jobs that say also allow for work experience in lieu of education.
You Must Be Attractive
Well then. Not sure what to say about this other than it’s super subjective and kind of rude.
Have you encountered any of these roadblocks?
How Did You Navigate Around Them?
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This is so true! In my field of work, I am definitely in the minority. I have been on interviews with good ‘ole boys who are absolutely not going to hire a female! (Which is fine, I don’t want those jobs anyway!)
Jeez! It’s amazing how many ways you can get excluded from work/opportunities.
Ahh, these must be so frustrating! It also seems like a lot of time you must be GLUED to your computer in order to be one of the first people to apply to these things…and then checking your email constantly in order to respond in a prompt enough manner that the gig doesn’t go to somebody else!
You know I forgot about that too. That you have to be ON IT in order to get in the door.
I’ve seen and heard of some of these, but others I haven’t. Some of them are very shocking. You must be attractive? Really? What does that have to do with my work ethic anyhow? Plus “attractive” means different things to different people…
That’s exactly my point and I’ve seen this more than once especially when looking at jobs where you have to demo products. Or, with certain retail stores.
Wait, wait, wait. What kind of job says you must have an iPhone?? Androids are so much better and do so much more, it’s like they want you to limit yourself to a crappy phone? What kind of employer says that???
I just saw it this week. Totally qualified to do what they wanted. I think that this is a way to have certain type of demographic.
I think in the last 10 years I experienced a lot of ageism when I was looking for full time work. There were jobs I was perfectly qualified for and I always used to nail interviews. I can’t be sure of course, but I have a sneaking suspicion.
I totally believe it. You’re also in L.A. the home of the unnaturally young.