For anyone who has ever found himself or
herself out of work in Greater Sudbury, the situation I am in
will come as no surprise.
Imagine yourself to be a well-educated,
talented, articulate and hard-working individual who has
recently graduated from CDI College with the intention of
bettering yourself in the workplace.
Now imagine sending out more than 27 resumes
over the course of two weeks to employers who have posted Help
Wanted ads in local newspapers, on the HRDC website and through
other venues.
After several days you begin to call these
people to confirm they've received your resume. Every once in a
while you even receive an invitation to attend an interview.
Things begin to look a little brighter...until you hear those
dreaded words "I'm sorry, but you're over-qualified for the
position."
Can anyone tell me what that means? How can
you be over-qualified for a job? Either you have the skills to
do the task placed before you, or you do not. Either you have
the desire to complete the work assigned to you, or you do
not.
However, this does not seem to be enough. All
of a sudden the employers in this city have begun to make
decisions based upon their own feelings of having their own
jobs threatened by someone they might intend to hire; someone
who, in their minds, might have a better education, might have
more motivation, or might have the potential to out-perform
them at their own jobs.
All of a sudden education is not the key to
securing a job in the Sudbury workplace environment. Instead,
it has become a popularity contest.
I went to school, achieved what I believe to
be above-average grades, and along the way I picked up a number
of skills in a diverse range of employment fields. I thought
those skills would help me find a job.
I never thought they would be looked at as
"too much," or "too advanced" for me to qualify for anything
from a retail sales position to a warehousing job.
I have no intention of dumbing down my resume
so I appear to be less of a threat to any prospective
employer.
Sooner or later someone out there is going to
decide to hire me based upon my merits, and not deny me the
opportunity to work simply because they fear I might make them
look bad.
Kevin Bell
Greater Sudbury