job seeking essay

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• Job Application Documents

How to Write a Job Application Essay

Last Updated: September 24, 2023 References

This article was co-authored by Shannon O'Brien, MA, EdM and by wikiHow staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD . Shannon O'Brien is the Founder and Principal Advisor of Whole U. (a career and life strategy consultancy based in Boston, MA). Through advising, workshops and e-learning Whole U. empowers people to pursue their life's work and live a balanced, purposeful life. Shannon has been ranked as the #1 Career Coach and #1 Life Coach in Boston, MA by Yelp reviewers. She has been featured on Boston.com, Boldfacers, and the UR Business Network. She received a Master's of Technology, Innovation, & Education from Harvard University. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 195,503 times.

Many employers now require a writing sample, or job application essay , to accompany all applications or résumés — even if writing is not a significant part of the position. The goal of the job application essay is to ensure that applicants have the right communication skills for the position offered. Sometimes, potential employers will provide a specific topic or series of questions for your essay to respond to. However, you may also be asked to provide an essay with no guidance whatsoever. Either way, approach the essay seriously so that it highlights the skills and assets you could bring to the company. [1] X Research source

Outlining Your Essay

• If you don't know much about the company, do a little research on it before you start writing. You might look at their website or do a general internet search with the name of the company to see if any news articles or other reports come up. Go beyond the four corners of the job listing so that you understand who will likely be reading your essay.
• If there's anything in the job listing or essay requirements that you don't understand, contact the employer and ask about them. Employers are often impressed by applicants who clarify the employer's intent rather than making assumptions.

• For example, if you're applying for a position in sales, you might want to write an essay about your ability to tailor your pitch to specific clients and close the deal. If you have the ability to be more creative, you might tailor your essay to "sell" yourself directly to the employer.

• For each of your points, think of a specific example you can relate briefly that illustrates the point. For example, if you've described yourself as a "team player," you might include an example of how you came in on your day off to complete some of the more monotonous tasks that no one else wanted to do so a project could be completed ahead of schedule.
• It's a good idea to have more than one example in your outline for each point, even if you only end up using one. That way, if you start writing something and it ends up not working as well as you thought it would, you'll have a back-up handy.
• Brainstorming can be difficult. If you find yourself churning over the same thoughts, stand up and take a break for a few minutes. Step outside or go for a walk to clear your head, then come back to it.

• For example, if you want to describe how you increased sales in a specific quarter, you would want to state specifically how much you increased sales. Your former employer may have sales figures that you could ask them for. You might also have that information in your records.
• Wherever possible, use specific numbers and dates rather than making general statements. It's okay to estimate, but make sure your estimate is conservative. Saying you led your sales team to the highest sales in a quarter is impressive — but only if it's true.

Completing Your Rough Draft

• Think of this paragraph as telling the hiring manager what you're going to tell them in the essay. Outline the points you're going to elaborate on in the essay that back up your theme or thesis statement.
• Sometimes it's best to go back and write your introduction after you've written the body of your essay. That way, you can make sure the introduction provides an outline that matches the body.

• If the employer listed specifically what should be included in your essay, follow their order, since that's what they'll be looking for when they read the essay.
• Write in the first person and make yourself the star of any anecdote you include as an example. Use action verbs to focus on what you did rather than focusing on what happened and how you reacted to it. [7] X Trustworthy Source University of North Carolina Writing Center UNC's on-campus and online instructional service that provides assistance to students, faculty, and others during the writing process Go to source

• For example, if you're writing about your skills as a team player, you might note that you discuss doing routine work that others found monotonous so they had time to work on other parts of a project. You could use that detail to move on to a section describing how you're detail-oriented.

• For example, you might write "My business school education, skills as a team player, and focus on detail make me the best candidate to lead your sales team."

Finalizing Your Essay

• For example, you might start by looking solely at punctuation, then read through again focusing on spelling.
• If you find that you tend to repeat a particular error, go through your essay looking for that error specifically.
• If your grammar isn't particularly strong or you're writing in a language other than your native language, have someone else read over your essay as well.

• If you find that you stumble over a sentence while reading aloud, that's a sign that your writing could be clearer. Work with your text until you have something that you can read aloud with ease.

• If the prospective employer did not specify a length, try to keep your essay under 2 double-spaced pages. Remember that hiring managers are busy and don't have a lot of time to read a long, rambling essay.
• Eliminate all unnecessary words or sentences that aren't relevant to the subject of your essay. The majority of your sentences should be short, declarative sentences with action verbs.
• Apps such as Hemingway ( http://www.hemingwayapp.com/ ) or Grammarly ( https://app.grammarly.com/ ) can help you identify portions of your essay that are more difficult to read. Both of these apps have a free version that you can use to edit your text.

• Working backward is particularly helpful for noticing spelling mistakes, especially hard-to-catch homophone errors, because you're seeing the word out of context.

• It may also help to print your essay in a different font or font size than what you used to type it. This breaks your brain's familiarity with the text, which can make typos and other errors more noticeable. Just remember to change the font back after you print it.

Job Application Essay

Expert Q&A

• Give yourself plenty of time to work on your essay. Ideally, you should plan to work on it over the course of at least two days, so you have the time to set it aside after writing before you move to the editing and proofreading stage. [15] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Unless you're applying for a position in a political or religious organization, avoid including anything in your essay that identifies your political or religious preferences or beliefs. [16] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Avoid using humor, especially sarcasm or ironic humor, as it can be misconstrued in text. Additionally, humor may lead the hiring manager to believe that you aren't serious about the position. [17] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/writing-sample-job-application
• ↑ https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2012/04/30/essay-how-write-good-applications-jobs-or-grants
• ↑ Shannon O'Brien, MA, EdM. Life & Career Coach. Expert Interview. 25 May 2021.
• ↑ https://www.govloop.com/community/blog/government-job-application-essays-made-easy/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/application-essays/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/
• ↑ https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/proofreading-tips
• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/career-transitions/200906/the-dreaded-writing-sample

About This Article

Job application essays can seem scary, but they’re really just an opportunity for you to highlight your skills and explain why you’re suitable for the role. Read the job listing to find out what traits and skills the company is looking for, like time management, working under pressure, and leadership. If you don’t know much about the company, read through its website and do an online search to find articles about its work. In your introduction, you’ll want to to describe yourself and introduce the main points you’ll be making. Then, write a paragraph for each trait or skill. Use real life examples from previous jobs, your recent studies, or extracurricular activities to support your points. For example, you could highlight your leadership skills by talking about a time you led a group project that exceeded your targets. For more tips, including how to write a compelling conclusion for your job application essay, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Job — Job Hunting: Ways to Success

Finding a Job: Ways to Success

• Categories: Dream Job Job

About this sample

Words: 874 |

Published: May 7, 2019

Words: 874 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Table of contents

Looking for a job: essay, part 1: career development, part 2: job search, part 3: strategy, applying skills, director of marketing.

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The Process of Getting a Job

Introduction, searching for a job, writing a targeted resume, writing an effective cover letter, acing the interview, works cited.

The process of getting a job remains one of the most challenging tasks for many job seekers in the United States. There are cases where qualified candidates fail to secure a job because they make mistakes in one or more of the stages involved in searching for a job. It is important for these job seekers to understand how to approach each of the steps involved in job hunting. In this essay, the focus is to give clear instruction on how a qualified candidate can get a job that deserves one’s qualifications. The target audiences are job seekers aged over 18 years. There are four major steps that one must take great care of when trying to get a job (Kay 82). The four stages include searching for a job, writing a targeted resume, writing an effective cover letter, and finally acing the interview.

The process of searching for the right job can be very challenging, especially for those who are doing it for the first time. Different jobs can be found using different strategies based on a number of factors. However, there are some common steps to be followed by any job seeker who is interested in getting a good job. Following the steps below is a good starting point.

• Visit the website of the desired company and look for any career opportunities they have on offer. In most of the cases, large companies would post vacancies they have at their company through their website. This offers a perfect opportunity for a job seeker to know of the job availability.
• Visit other websites that specialize in advertising vacancies at various companies. According to Myers (56), some websites have specialized in collecting a pool of job vacancies in various companies and posting them to the general public. Some of them are very reliable.

Avoid websites that demand payments before they can direct one to the employing company. Most of them are run by fraudsters.

• Talk to friends and determine if they are aware of any possible vacancies at their workplaces. Sometimes a network of friends and family members may offer one a perfect opportunity to get a job.
• Go through the dailies to determine vacancies at various companies that have been advertised through them. Sometimes companies would make the advertisements through the dailies, especially if they need urgent candidates to fill vacant posts.

One of the common mistakes that job seekers make is that they use a common resume when applying for different jobs. Observe the following issues.

• Determine what one employer is looking for may not be exactly the same thing that another employer will be interested in.
• Although there may be a soft copy of the resume with all the major achievements and experience, it may be necessary to adjust resume to suit a specific job that one is looking for at a particular time (Taylor 45).
• Identify specific job requirements, and adjust the resume as per the requirements of the position of interest. Make sure that the resume responds to the requirements of the job.

Writing an effective cover letter is another important step for a job seeker. When writing the letter, the following should be observed.

• Ensure that the message directly responds to the information posted by the employer.
• Use simple, straightforward sentences, clearly stating why one merits the position, and how one’s presence in the company will be beneficial to the firm.

Avoid flowery words, especially poetic sentences, because the employer may make a wrong conclusion that the applicant is an activist who may champion for unionization of employees.

This is one of the most important stages in securing a job. Observe the following steps.

• Conduct a simple research about the company and the industry, and find answers to some of the possible questions that the interviewers may pose during the interview.
• When going to the interview, wear a suit because most of the interviewers may use the physical appearance to make their judgment (Caan 29).
• In the interview room, do not panic because this may give a wrong impression to one’s self-image. Also, try avoiding the temptation to be overconfident. Be specific when answering the questions posed by the interviewers, and always try to maintain eye contact with the person who asked the question. Be polite and courageous because these are desirable attributes.
• Remember to thank the interviewing panel for offering you the opportunity before leaving the interview room.

The processes described above are very important for one to secure a good job that meets one’s qualifications. Every stage has specific steps that the job seeker must follow in order to succeed in going into the next level. As stated above, one must try to remain official in the mode of dressing and communication, especially during the interview in order to make the process a success.

Caan, James. Get the Job You Really Want . London: The Portfolio Publishers Limited, 2012. Print.

Kay, Andrea. This Is How to Get Your Next Job: An Inside Look at What Employers Really Want . , 2013. Print.

Myers, Ford. Get the Job You Want, Even When No One’s Hiring: Take Charge of Your Career, Find a Job You Love, and Earn What You Deserve. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Print.

Taylor, Denise. How to Get a Job in a Recession . London: Brook House, 2009. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2023, November 23). The Process of Getting a Job. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-process-of-getting-a-job/

"The Process of Getting a Job." IvyPanda , 23 Nov. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/the-process-of-getting-a-job/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'The Process of Getting a Job'. 23 November.

IvyPanda . 2023. "The Process of Getting a Job." November 23, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-process-of-getting-a-job/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Process of Getting a Job." November 23, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-process-of-getting-a-job/.

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IvyPanda . "The Process of Getting a Job." November 23, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-process-of-getting-a-job/.

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The Job Search & Reflection: Know What You Need and Want

New professionals and graduate students, april 3, 2017 sonja ardoin, ph.d. appalachian state university.

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How to Market Yourself as a Job Candidate

• Christina Del Villar

Create a marketing campaign for your job search just like you would for a product.

Stuck in a job you don’t like? Most candidates scramble to get hired without spending a lot of time thinking about what will really make them happy. Like a good go-to-market strategy for a product or solution, there is a lot that goes into defining, building, and executing a plan to find your dream job.

• Every marketing campaign starts with a clear objective, and when you’re looking for a job, this means understanding what your ideal role looks like.
• Once you know what kind of a job you see yourself doing, reach out to a mentor, a career counselor, friends, family members, or friends of friends — anyone who may be in role similar the one you are seeking.
• Next, do a SWOT analysis to understand what might differentiate you from your competitors and where you need to work to build your skills.
• Apply a personal branding strategy to show recruiters what you stand for, what your values are, and what you bring to the table. And lastly, set goals for yourself and tweak your plan as needed.

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

Do you hate your job? Maybe you accepted a role only to find it was nothing like you’d envisioned it would be when you started six months ago. Or worse, you took a job that you didn’t want out of sheer panic.

• Christina Del Villar is a Silicon Valley marketing executive, consultant and author who geeks out on helping companies transform, grow and scale, leveraging technology with 25 years of experience at Fortune 100 companies and more than 10 startups. Christina has developed go-to-market and marketing strategies for exponential growth, new product launches, acquisitions and IPOs, particularly for high-growth companies where she leverages her experience and industry perspective to take them to the next level. Her book, Sway: Implement the GRIT Marketing Method to Gain Influence & Drive Corporate Strategy, is due out in summer 2021.

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Job Seeking Opportunities - Essay Sample

Various sites offer job seeking opportunities. Modern technology has improved means and ways for seeking job vacancies. One of the primary site that provides such service is the www.Indeed.com . The section provides the information required in finding job opportunities as well as describes the actual requirements for the same. In my research work, I found out that the reference is much keen on defining the roles of the post as advertised. In the research, the chosen reference provides detailed information on the positions of the sales manager in a business organization as well as roles and responsibilities of the other posts as related to business management. Additionally, the reference site is worldly known to update individuals on the readily available vacancies or rather the job opportunities that are yet to be advertised.

Similarly, there is the need for one to research the payments of a sales manager before applying or rather taking that job. In many business organizations, companies ought to advertise payments for their workers before hiring them. The outlining of salary for the employees provide the terms of amount and even the period of payment thus promoting the good relationship between the employer and the employee. In my research, the www.payscale.com provided the best reference site for payment terms and conditions as well as the suitable salary for a sales manager. The reference provided for the salaries and terms under which a worker should be paid full salary. Equally, the reference site spells the reasons why a sales manager should be paid a higher wage than other workers in the business organization. I thus chose the site to get precise information on the payment and the conditions.

In my experience at a time I was a Human Resource Manager, I have gained much experience in the field of managing the executive organization of the company. Through managing the employee relationship, I have learned enough experience to handle and controlled the area of management as a sales manager. Therefore, as a sales person or rather a sales manager, I will best perform the function of selection, training and control the sales personnel in the better interest of the business organization. I will bring some skills to the position of a sales manager. I will improve the administration skills through the consideration of record keeping as well as paperwork. I will also monitor well the activities of the sales department hence improving record keeping. I will enhance administration through directing and providing proper incentives to various departments to ensure active duty performing.

In my research, I discovered that the sales manager is paid an average salary of $40, 000 per month. I expected a range of between $40,000-50000 which is equally lovely as a manager (www.Indeed.com). I surprised to discover that a sales manager has many allowances as compared to a Human Resource Manager. In my knowledge, I knew that a Human Resource Manager has the great role to play in a business organization. However, I was surprised to learn that a sales manager is as well ranked at the top position of the company. There are various allowances enjoyed by sales manage that attracted me to take this job. Similarly, many organizations value a sales manager as he is a judge of sales administration.

In the sources provided, I did not find out on how a sales manager ensures a long-term customer relationship. In my expectations, I expected to find research or rather the outlines on how the manager ensures a relationship between the organization and the customer is maintained to achieve the targeted goals of the enterprise. On a similar note, the sources could have outlined on how the sales manager should help improve the coordination and effectiveness of various heads of departments. Thus, the sources did not offer quality information about the researched position of a sales manager. However, as far as research on jobs is concerned, I will have to use the Business Offer Job site to gather more information about the post of a sales manager. I will also consider using internet sources as well as business books that deal with different managerial posts to gather information about a sales manager.

As discussed above, I will best improve the administration and record keeping sectors as a sales manager. Similarly, the as a Human Resource Manager, I have been prepared enough for a lot of experience to deliver and administer various functions as a sales manager. The two sources have majorly helped to outline multiple features of a sales manager as well as the estimated salary of a sales manager. Through my own experience, I will also ensure multiple departments are much responsible and efficient when it comes to record keeping and effectiveness in the sales and product marketing. Equally, the www.indeed.com site has helped in the update of requirements and skills for one to be regarded as a sales manager in a business organization.

WWW.Indeed.comwww.payscale.com

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More From Forbes

Instead of chasing happiness at work, pursue purpose and meaning.

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When it comes to your job and career, seeking meaning and purpose may be more beneficial and ... [+] fulfilling than solely focusing on trying to be happy.

While half of American workers report overall job satisfaction, the challenge is that chasing happiness is an elusive goal. It is an ephemeral feeling that can lead to disappointment once it slips away.

When your main goal is happiness at work, it can lead to problems, such as toxic positivity. The pressure to appear happy, even when you are not, is stress and anxiety-inducing, which can take a toll on your mental and physical health.

When it comes to your job and career, seeking meaning and purpose may be more beneficial and fulfilling than solely focusing on trying to be happy.

Finding Purpose and Meaning

First, you must start by figuring out what your core values are and determining what’s important to you in a job. Think about how your occupation can positively contribute to society, your local community and the lives of the people around you.

You also want to be passionate about your job. You should possess the requisite experiences and abilities to succeed in the role, as it’s helpful to work from your strengths and not your weaknesses.

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An important characteristic of humans is that we crave purpose , which plays a large part in having a fulfilling life, according to Psychology Today .

By pursuing meaning and purpose in your job, you’ll feel that you’re working toward a greater cause and mission. When you feel that you are on a mission, work doesn’t feel like drudgery. This mindset will energize you and provide inner joy and satisfaction from doing something important. A meaningful career can improve your overall mental health by providing a sense of fulfillment, connection to others and a reason for being, which positively impacts well-being.

Having a sense of purpose can help you persevere through setbacks and obstacles. It will give you the mental toughness to build resilience and the ability to take on challenges.

Employees who find meaning in their work are more engaged , committed to the cause and likely to stay within their roles, leading to higher retention rates and improved performance, according to research from BetterUp. They are more likely to be promoted, occupy leadership positions and have opportunities for advancement within their organizations.

Having a sense of personal fulfillment through meaningful work extends beyond the workplace, positively impacting various areas of life and contributing to overall happiness.

A Little Bit Of Both

You will want to strike the balance between experiencing happiness at work and finding purpose and meaning in your profession. While happiness is certainly important for overall well-being and job satisfaction, it shouldn’t be the sole pursuit. A career that provides a sense of purpose, aligns with your values and allows you to make a positive impact can be incredibly fulfilling, even if the day-to-day work isn't always filled with moments of happiness.

However, if you are always unhappy and frustrated at work, it's a recipe for failure. Since you spend so much of your time working, it's important to find roles and environments that are relatively rewarding and positive experiences overall. This requires seeking out work that engages your interests and strengths, provides a reasonable level of work-life balance, aligns with your ethical principles and allows you to grow while contributing something valuable.

Don't just chase happiness as a fleeting emotion, but cultivate a deeper sense of meaning, mastery and connection to something larger than yourself through your work. With that as a foundation, you're more likely to find enduring fulfillment and satisfaction.

The ideal work scenario is to blend happiness and purpose, work that you find inherently enjoyable and rewarding while also making the world a bit better in your own unique way. It's a delicate balance, but one that's worth striving for over the course of your career journey.

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A third of hiring managers don't want to hire older workers or Gen Zers

• About one-third of hiring managers in a survey admitted bias against Gen Zers or older candidates.
• Forty-two percent of managers consider job seekers' ages when reviewing résumés , per Resume Builder.
• Some career advisors suggest removing the year you graduated from a résumé and LinkedIn profile.

If you're looking for a job and you're a Gen Zer or an older worker , you might be out of luck with some hiring managers.

A survey from Resume Builder found that 36% of hiring managers said they were biased against Gen Z candidates, and 34% said they had concerns about hiring candidates over the age of 60.

Ageism isn't new, of course, though the survey findings are a reminder that even in a strong job market, it can still be tough to land a new gig . Having people discount your abilities because of how young or old you are doesn't help.

"You need to be aware of pitfalls like age bias," Stacie Haller, the chief career advisor at Resume Builder, told Business Insider. "You have to know the landscape you're in."

Resume Builder surveyed a pool of 1,000 hiring managers in March, and 42% of them said age is a factor when going over résumés. To determine a candidate's age, the hiring managers said they've used methods like tallying years of experience, looking for the year someone graduated, and even checking out photos, the survey found.

Delete the year you graduated

Some candidates might choose not to put the year they graduated on their CV, concerned about recruiters doing the math. In the survey, six in 10 hiring managers said job seekers should "always" include the year they graduated, but about four in 10 said candidates sometimes shouldn't or should never include the year.

Some TikTokers who focus on career advice encourage people to remove their graduation years from their résumés so that young candidates avoid getting dinged for not having enough experience and older workers don't get dumped for having too much.

Related stories

Haller endorses that philosophy. "It matters that you got the degree. Does it matter if you got it last year or 20 years ago? It shouldn't," she said.

Haller added that recruiters determined to weed out groups they don't like can often still find a way, even when job applicants strip their résumés and LinkedIn profiles of indicators like graduation dates. "If you're somebody who really is biased against folks, those people go to Facebook to check you out," she said.

There are federal laws designed to protect workers over 40 from age discrimination. Some states also have provisions meant to shield younger members of the workforce from discriminatory hiring, according to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But proving bias based on age can be difficult, as BI has previously reported.

The Goldilocks generation

So why are some hiring managers not down with younger or older workers? One reason could be that hiring managers themselves are often from a different generation, Haller said. More than six in 10 survey respondents were between 25 and 44 years old. It's an indication, she said, that these managers, who might be in their first role leading others, could "seem to be biased against everybody younger than them and older than them."

Among the hiring managers who admitted to bias against Gen Z job seekers, more than three-quarters cited younger workers' lack of experience. About six in 10 managers pointed to what they've seen as a tendency among Gen Zers to job-hop. And a similar portion of respondents questioned the work ethic and professionalism of the youngest slice of the workforce.

The reasons given for bias against older workers were nothing new. Three-quarters of respondents were concerned an older worker might soon retire. Nearly two-thirds were worried older candidates would experience health problems, and almost half the hiring managers said they worried that older workers wouldn't have sufficient experience with technology.

Showing up to an interview and looking too old could also be a problem for job applicants. In the survey, four in 10 hiring managers said if a candidate has an "elderly" appearance, they'd be less inclined to consider the applicant. And 36% of hiring managers recommended that candidates over 60 take steps to look younger in interviews.

Barbara Corcoran , a "Shark Tank" judge and a septuagenarian herself, has given similar advice.

Some hiring managers who were surveyed also had advice for younger workers: Try to look older. Nineteen percent of hiring managers said a "youthful appearance" was a turnoff. More than one-third of the hiring managers polled said candidates aged 18 to 27 should "try to appear older during interviews."

Haller said that while bias works against a range of job seekers, Gen Z has a specific challenge because many young people were sidelined early in their careers by the pandemic and may be ill-prepared to enter the workplace. Some started their jobs remotely, which made it harder for them to build skills and nail basics like how to dress in the office.

But, she added, one generation dumping on another is nothing new.

"Every generation gets talked about. The millennials, at one point, were entitled. Nobody wanted to hire them," she said. "And now they're the age group that's biased against everybody else."

Do you have something to share about your job search or what you're seeing in your workplace? Business Insider would like to hear from you. Email our workplace team from a nonwork device at [email protected] with your story or to ask for one of our reporter's Signal numbers. Or check out Business Insider's source guide for tips on sharing information securely.

Watch: Here's what descendants of 5 former presidents say about the role age plays in politics

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Seeking to defy history, the UAW is coming closer to unionizing in the South

Stephan Bisaha

The Mercedes-Benz training center sits adjacent to the plant that produces several models of luxury SUVs in Vance, Ala. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

The Mercedes-Benz training center sits adjacent to the plant that produces several models of luxury SUVs in Vance, Ala.

The United Auto Workers union has stepped up the pace on its march south.

On Friday, Mercedes workers in Vance, Ala., filed a petition with federal labor officials for a union election — a first for workers at that plant. Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., will begin voting in their union election in less than two weeks.

The surge in union interest follows the UAW's strike against the Big 3 automakers last fall, which led to record contracts.

"We started signing [union] authorization cards Thanksgiving weekend, and it just stacked up quick," says Jeremy Kimbrell, who's worked for Mercedes for 24 years, starting out in the paint shop in 1999. "It was like workers were starving for it, and it took off."

Planet Money

The uaw's decade-long fight to form a union at vw's chattanooga plant.

The UAW has targeted the South before with little success. The Volkswagen plant voted against unionizing twice , first in 2014, then in 2019 . Decades of campaigns at the Mercedes plant failed to gain enough traction to get to a union vote.

That was never surprising, given the South's longstanding antagonism toward labor unions. Right-to-work laws that blanket the region prohibit employers and unions from forcing employees to become union members and pay dues. Voters in Alabama and Tennessee approved constitutional amendments enshrining those laws in 2016 and 2022.

Nevertheless, in the swift few months since the UAW set its sights on non-union plants, pledging $40 million for the cause, organizers have been able to get well over a majority of workers at Volkswagen and Mercedes to sign union authorization cards. The UAW needs only a majority of ballots cast in favor of the union to win an election.

Once a good job, now not good enough

Moesha Chandler sought out a job at Mercedes early last year, drawn by the company's reputation as one of the best-paying employers in a region without a whole lot of opportunities.

"Everyone was mostly trying to get a job at Mercedes where I came from," says Chandler, who worked at the Mercedes battery plant for a couple months before being moved to an SUV assembly line.

But over the last year, she's soured on the place, finding the long hours and grueling work not worth it for the wages she takes home — $24 an hour.

Moesha Chandler was drawn to Mercedes by its reputation as a good employer in a region with few opportunities. She now says the work is too exhausting for what she is paid. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

Moesha Chandler was drawn to Mercedes by its reputation as a good employer in a region with few opportunities. She now says the work is too exhausting for what she is paid.

She was also offended by the two-tier wage system that the company introduced in January 2020. New hires were to top out at a wage that was $5 an hour less than what existing employees could make, according to workers at the plant. Union organizers say Mercedes ended the system after the union drive got underway and also announced new raises.

Mercedes declined to comment on its pay structure, only writing in a statement that the company has a proven record of competitively compensating employees.

Still, wages are a major reason why Chandler became an active campaigner for the UAW. In recent days, she says, she doesn't even have to seek out coworkers on the production line. They come to her.

"They're like, 'What's the next move? What's the next step?' The momentum is great," she says.

How wages became an issue

For years, Mercedes paid wages that were comparable to those paid to union workers at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler), says Stephen Silvia, professor at American University and author of the book The UAW's Southern Gamble.

"They paid the high compensation to keep the union out," says Silvia.

But in recent years, Mercedes leadership has let compensation slide, according to workers. Wages stagnated and the two-tier system was introduced. Silvia says the automaker may have been looking to maximize profits as it confronted the costly transition to electric vehicles.

UAW vs. the Detroit Big 3 automakers

Uaw members aren't all assembling cars. more and more are unionized grad students.

"That's going to be a terribly expensive thing to engage in," says Silvia. "So trying to get as much money where you can is something that all the auto companies are doing."

The pay issues play right into the UAW's current strength. The union successfully negotiated higher wages and better benefits with the Big 3 automakers last year. That gave the UAW a much-needed win to sell to Southern workers.

"The UAW showed that it could deliver," says Silvia.

Union naysayers on the factory floor

Within the Mercedes plant, there are workers warning about the potential pitfalls of unionization.

Jay White, a parts quality technician who's worked at the plant since 2005, points to layoffs at the Big 3 since the new contracts were signed last fall. While he attributes some of the cuts to the lack of success automakers are having selling EVs, he believes the wage increases have also played a part.

"You increase costs, they got to cut it back somewhere," he says.

These days, White wears an anti-union sticker on his shirt and carries extras to hand out to whoever wants one. He's also been letting coworkers know they can revoke their union authorization cards if they change their minds.

Half a million California workers will get $20 minimum wage, starting today

On the plant floor, he has found plenty of workers who share his view that a union would be a bureaucratic hindrance. But having been through several union campaigns over the years, he senses that there's more pro-union sentiment now than in the past.

"It might be a sign of the times. It may be a generational situation," says White. "I don't think people understand the rules and restrictions that come along with unionization."

A threat to an economic model?

Southern politicians have offered their own biting criticism of this latest UAW push, framing their opposition as a move to protect jobs.

"Alabama has become a national leader in automotive manufacturing, and all this was achieved without a unionized workforce," wrote Alabama Governor Kay Ivey in an op-ed for the Alabama Department of Commerce .

"Make no mistake about it: These are out-of-state special interest groups, and their special interests do not include Alabama or the men and women earning a career in Alabama's automotive industry."

Jeremy Kimbrell has worked at the Mercedes plant in Vance, Ala., since 1999. Having been involved in several failed union drives, he says this latest one feels different. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

Jeremy Kimbrell has worked at the Mercedes plant in Vance, Ala., since 1999. Having been involved in several failed union drives, he says this latest one feels different.

While picking Alabama for an assembly plant may have been a gamble for Mercedes in the 1990s, the Deep South has since become one of the country's leading automobile manufacturing regions. Mazda, Toyota, Hyundai and Honda also have plants in Alabama. Mercedes itself has since expanded its plant, announcing a $1 billion investment in 2017 for building EVs.

Kimbrell, the longtime production worker, knows that Alabama's right-to-work laws and largely non-union workforce were a big part of what drew automakers to Alabama in the first place. But he scoffs at the idea that Mercedes would pick up and leave the state should workers vote to unionize.

"The plant is established. A whole lot of the plant's brand new. We've got a proven workforce building top-notch vehicles," says Kimbrell. "This plant's going nowhere."

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• United Auto Workers

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English Speaking Tutor / Governess - Live Out Position in Qatar: Start ASAP My client, a member of the Qatar Royal Family is seeking a formally qualified British teacher to work with her 16 year old daughter. The job is to help this young lady develop herself scholastically, especially in regards to her English, History and formal essay writing skills. The student speaks English however your command and passion for the English language will help her to further develop her own knowledge of the language and her ability to speak beautifully. My client is seeking a qualified teacher who has a true passion for teaching and a real desire to help educate her daughter both intellectually, socially and emotionally. You are to be her teacher, her friend and her role model so it is imperative that you possess intellect, a sense of humour and a deep interest in the world around you. You will have well developed teaching skills to guide your student’s mind whilst developing her intellect. My client seeks a teacher who can help her daughter engage in reading and develop a true love of one life’s most important past times. You must be well presented and well- spoken and be able to hold your own in any intellectual or social situation. As well as polite confidence we require a lady who easily smiles and shares her zest for life with those around her. The ideal candidate will have experience teaching the national curriculum and will ideally have previously worked for a High profile family, however I welcome teachers with just classroom based experience. You will need to be active and sporty and be able to swim. You will possess a cheerful and positive disposition and be flexible and willing to go the extra mile when required. This is a very high end family so they are looking for someone who is comfortable in all situations as you will be a role model through your display of good manners and etiquette. Your excellent communication skills and your lovely personality is what this family are looking for in a Governess. The family travel internationally, and as you will be required to accompany the young lady you need to be able to create exciting and intelligent lesson plans about the countries and cultures you will be visiting. Responsibilities: You would be responsible for supervising the afternoon daily routines and activities. Accompanying the young lady to high profile functions, during international travel, in both a sole and shared charge capacity, with the adaptability to intuitively know when needed and when to be discreetly available. • Expertly devises fun, creative learning opportunities that appeal to the young lady’s specific interests and hobbies • Delivers high quality, tailor made English and history lessons, engaging the young lady in imaginative, hands on activities to develop speaking, listening, reading, and writing – e.g. using innovative techniques to teach grammar and other usually mundane aspects of English language acquisition • Develop the young lady’s essay writing skills to a very high standard • Provide detailed feedback to parents and other family members when requested on the young lady’s wellbeing, social development and academic progress in form of bespoke reports, phone calls, text messages, emails and discussions where appropriate • Maintains professional, patient, flexible attitude to last minute requests, travel plans and changes to provide a good role model and promote a calm, happy environment despite disruptions • Build excellent relationships with non-English speaking staff at all levels and in many different locations, fitting in well to maintain smooth running of routines, security and travel plans Conditions • Working 6 afternoons per week with flexible hours • The salary is £1000 per week • Live out with fully furnished separate apartment in Doha • 4 weeks fully paid holidays per year • Visas and flights covered by employer Requirements • Start ASAP • Native English Speaking Person • Teaching qualification (B.Ed. or PGCE) • Previous experience in a similar role preferred • Creative, positive, outgoing person To apply please forward your CV, cover letter and a recent photograph. Or call me to discuss this job further, thank you Lisa [email protected] Ph.07885405192

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Opinion Guest Essay

An Idyll on the Shores of a Toxic Lake

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Text by Jaime Lowe

Photographs by Nicholas Albrecht

Ms. Lowe is the author of, most recently, “Breathing Fire: Female Inmate Firefighters on the Front Lines of California’s Wildfires.” Mr. Albrecht is a photographer based in Oakland, Calif.

• March 29, 2024

There are two ways to experience the town of Bombay Beach, Calif., as a visitor: gawk at the spectacle or fall into the vortex. Thousands of tourists cruise through each year, often without getting out of their cars, to see decaying art installations left over from an annual mid-March gathering of artists, photographers and documentarians known jokingly as the Bombay Beach Biennale. When I went to the town for the first time in 2021, I was looking for salvation in this weird desert town on the Salton Sea south of Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park. I dropped in, felt vibes and left with stories. I stared at the eccentric large-scale art, posted photos on Instagram of ruin porn and a hot pink sign on the beach that said, “If you’re stuck, call Kim.” I posed in front of a mountain of painted televisions, swung on a swing over the edge of the lake’s retreating shoreline and explored the half-buried, rusted-out cars that make up an abandoned ersatz drive-in movie theater. On that trip, it felt as if I were inside a “Mad Max” simulation, but I was only scratching the surface of the town.

I returned in December to try to understand why Bombay Beach remains so compelling, especially as extreme weather — heat, hurricanes and drought — and pollution wreak ever more intense havoc on it. Summer temperatures can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit, tremors from the San Andreas Fault strike regularly, bomb testing from nearby military facilities can be heard and felt, and the air is so toxic from pesticide use, exhaust fumes, factory emissions and dust rising from the retreating Salton Sea that one study showed asthma rates among children in the region are three times the national average. By the end of the decade, the Salton Sea, California’s largest inland body of water, at about 325 square miles, may lose three-quarters of its volume; in the past 20 years, the sea’s surface area has shrunk about 38 square miles .

But people who live in Bombay Beach stay because the town offers a tight-knit community in the midst of catastrophe. Though its residents contend with environmental adversity on a daily basis, they’re also demonstrating how to navigate the uncertain future we all face — neglect, the fight for scarce resources, destruction of home, the feeling of having no place to go. They are an example of how people can survive wild climate frontiers together.

The 250 or so town residents live in the low desert on the east shore of the Salton Sea, which formed in 1905 when the then-flush Colorado River spilled into a depression, creating a freshwater lake that became increasingly saline. There used to be fish — mullet and carp, then tilapia. In the 1950s and ’60s, the area was marketed as a tourist destination and was advertised as Palm Springs by the Sea. More tourists visited Bombay Beach than Yosemite. There were yacht clubs, boat races and water skiing. It became a celebrity magnet: Frank Sinatra hung out there; so did the Beach Boys and Sonny and Cher.

Eventually, as agricultural runoff kept accumulating in a body of water with no drainage, it became toxic and created a lake with salinity that is now 50 percent greater than that of the ocean. In the 1980s, dead fish washed up on the sand, car ruins rusted in the sun, tires rotted on the shore. Tourism vanished. But some in the community hung on. One way to define Bombay Beach is through environmental disaster, but another way is as an example of how to live through disaster and how to live in general.

Candace Youngberg, a town council member and a bartender at the Ski Inn, remembers a very different Bombay Beach. When she was growing up in the 1980s, she’d ride bikes with neighborhood children and run from yard to yard in a pack because there were no fences. But over time, the town changed. With each passing year, she watched necessities disappear. Now there’s no gas station, no laundromat, no hardware store. Fresh produce is hard to come by. A trailer that was devoted to medical care shut down. In 2021, 60.9 percent of Bombay Beach residents lived below the poverty line, compared with the national average of 12.6 percent.

As painful as it was to witness the town of her youth disappear and as deep as the problems there go, Ms. Youngberg admits that adversity bonded those who stayed. She wanted to return Bombay Beach to the version of the town she remembered, to recreate a beautiful place to live year-round, not just in winter, not just during the art season, not just for the tourists posing in front of wreckage. She wanted people to see the homes, the town, the community that once thrived thrive again. With the art came attention and the potential for more resources. She got on the Bombay Beach Community Services District, a town council, and started to work toward improvements like fixing the roads and planting trees to improve air quality.

It might just be that Bombay Beach is a small town, but when I visited last winter, there was something that felt more collaborative, as though everybody’s lives and business and projects overlapped. I’m not sure the community that’s there now started out as intentional, but when fragmented groups of people come together as custodians of an enigmatic space, responsible for protecting it and one another, community is inevitable. Plus, there’s only one place to socialize, one place to gossip, one place to dance out anxiety and only about two-thirds of a square mile to wander. Whether you like it or not, your neighbors are your people — a town in its purest form.

When I was there, I walked the streets with Denia Nealy, an artist who goes by Czar, and my friend Brenda Ann Kenneally, a photographer and writer, who would shout names, and people would instantly emerge. A stranger offered a handful of Tater Tots to Czar and me in a gesture that felt emblematic: Of course a complete stranger on an electric unicycle would cruise by and share nourishment. I was given a butterfly on a stick, which I carried around like a magic wand because that seemed appropriate and necessary. I was told that if I saw a screaming woman walking down the street with a shiv in her hand, not to worry and not to make eye contact and she’d leave me alone; it was just Stabby. There was talk of the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting on the beach, the weekly church sermon led by Jack the preacher (who is also a plumber), a potluck lasagna gathering.

Last year Ms. Kenneally created a trash fashion show/photo series for the Biennale in which she created couture designs out of trash collected from the beach, enlisted regulars in town to model the outfits, then photographed them. (She exhibited a similar series at this year’s festival as well.) The work was a way to showcase the people and the place. Jonathan Hart, a fireworks specialist who slept on the beach, posed like a gladiator; a woman who normally rode through town with a stuffed Kermit the Frog toy strapped to her bike was wrapped in a clear tarp and crown, looking like royalty emerging from the Salton Sea. The environment was harsh, the poses striking. Each frame straddled the line between glamour and destruction but also showcased a community’s pride in survival. Residents were undaunted by the armor of refuse; in fact, it made them stronger. The detritus, what outsiders might think of as garbage, became gorgeous. The landscape that is often described as apocalyptic became ethereal and magical. And that’s because it is.

On my second day, we went down to the docks at noon, and I found myself sitting on a floral mustard couch watching half a dozen or so people taking turns riding Jet Skis into the sun. The sun was hot, even though it was the cool season. Time felt elastic. Mr. Hart told me that he and some friends had fixed up the water scooters to give everyone in town the chance to blow off some steam, to smile a little. It had been a rough couple of months in the region. In preparation for Hurricane Hilary, which hit Mexico and the southwestern United States last August, 26 volunteers made 200 sandbags and delivered them door to door. Neighbors helped secure as many structures as possible.

Most media outlets reported that the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm because that’s the weather system that hit Los Angeles, but it was close to a hurricane in Bombay Beach, with winds hitting 60 miles per hour, and most properties were surrounded by water. Roofs collapsed or blew away entirely. “When faced with something like that, they were like, ‘Boom, we’re on it,’” Ms. Youngberg told me. They were together in disaster and in celebrating survival.

It reminded me of the writer Rebecca Solnit’s book “A Paradise Built in Hell,” which considers the upside to catastrophe. She finds that people rise to the occasion and oftentimes do it with joy because disaster and survival leave a wake of purposefulness, consequential work and community. Disasters require radical acts of imagination and interaction. It seemed that because Bombay Beach lived hard, surviving climate catastrophes like extreme weather on top of everyday extremes, it celebrated even harder. It seemed that in Bombay Beach there’s enough to celebrate if you just get through the day, gaze at the night sky and do it all again in the morning.

A lot of the residents who live there now arrived with trauma. Living there is its own trauma. But somehow the combination creates a place of care and physical and emotional presence. People experience life intensely, as one. It’s a town that is isolated, but in spite of a loneliness epidemic, it doesn’t seem so lonely to be there. I felt unexpected joy in what, from everything I’d read from afar, was a place that might as well have been sinking into the earth. I felt so safe and so happy that if we had sunk into the earth together, it wouldn’t have felt like such a bad way to go.

On my last night in Bombay Beach, I went to the Ski Inn, a bar that serves as the center of all social activity. I’d been in town for only two days, and yet it felt as if I’d been to the Ski Inn a million times, as if I already knew everyone and they knew me. A band was playing, we danced and drank, and I forgot about the 8 p.m. kitchen cutoff. The chef apologized, but he’d been working since 11:45 a.m. and had already cleaned the grill and fryer. He’d saved one mac and cheese for the bartender, and when she heard I hadn’t eaten, she offered to split it with me, not wanting me to go hungry or leave without having tried the mac and cheese.

Bombay Beach is a weird place. And this was an especially weird feeling. I had been instantly welcomed into the fold of community and cared for, even though I was a stranger in a very strange land.

I realized I didn’t want to leave. There were lessons there — how to live with joy and purpose in the face of certain catastrophe, how to exist in the present without the ever presence of doom. Next time, I thought, I’d stay longer, maybe forever, and actually ride a Jet Ski.

Jaime Lowe is a Knight-Wallace journalism fellow at the University of Michigan and the author of, most recently, “Breathing Fire: Female Inmate Firefighters on the Front Lines of California’s Wildfires.” Nicholas Albrecht is a photographer based in Oakland, Calif. His first monograph, “One, No One and One Hundred Thousand,” was the culmination of a multiyear project made while living on the shores of the Salton Sea.

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