Hiring process is too automated

I am a statistic. I'm unemployed. Now, for 16 plus months.

I fit all the adjectives and adverbs of unemployment that you can think of. I do not sit back and wait for someone to call me. I'm 59 years old and have been there, done that. My age? Maybe. Educated? In life, yes, and in business, yes. Academically, maybe not as much as I should be.

Recruiters have programs to sift through all the resumes that are e-mailed. If it isn't just right, they pass you up.

What happened to person-to-person meetings? What happened to phone calls?

Sometimes these tell you more than an electronic message. People in business interact daily, yet, we have to rely on e-mail to make the cut. I think a business would be very lucky to have someone like me employed by them. My work ethic is beyond the call and I'm relatively smart.

And, to boot, I have three brokerage licenses that have not expired. It's just getting past those recruiters and whatever other electronic devils are out there hampering the well-qualified!

Linda Gates

Palatine