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The Job Market and the Barriers to Employment

The job market is tough enough these days without the existing barriers set by people who are discriminating toward others misfortunes. No one is perfect, not even the people who are setting these standards.

These are the three most awful barriers I have found:

If you have been unemployed for longer than x months, please do not apply. If you have only worked on contract jobs, please do not apply? If you cannot pass a credit check, please do not apply?

I have read articles that state that if a person has been out of work for longer than 3 months, they must be unstable. If they have only worked for contractors, they obviously do not want a "real" job. If they cannot pass a credit check, they just have to be irresponsible or not honest enough to take care of their obligations. Why not ask people questions regarding their situations?

Let me give you some examples of these three situations:

OUT OF WORK FOR MORE THAN 3 MONTHS

Example 1: Engineer out of work for 13 months. He has plenty of experience, has had plenty of interviews, but he and his family had to move from Atlanta so that he could accept a position in Middle Georgia while he lived with his parents until he could afford to buy a house for his wife and child. He did not know the right people in Atlanta.

Example 2: Accountant with a Bachelors Degree and over 5 years of experience moved to a new town and is still looking for a position after 7 months of sending out countless resumes. Responses are almost non-existent except for temporary agencies who want her to do janitorial work.

WORKED FOR CONTRACTORS

Many people work on short assignments. The only people getting hurt by this are the people who have to work these short assignments - they cannot budget much and constantly have to play the job-hunting game, which in itself is stressful. They also do not know when the next job may be offered. I really feel that most people would


like a long-term job - one they can retire from instead of moving around so much.

PASSING A CREDIT CHECK

This is the worst one. If a person is not handling cash, why does this matter? All it tells you is that this person has had some bad luck. The longer this person is out of work, the worst their situation will get because no one will hire them so they can handle their finances. Most people do not want bad credit. If this person has not been convicted of a crime or the job has nothing to do with analyzing finances, then a credit check should be illegal for a company to request a credit check. Having bad credit does not reveal a person's personality or worthiness, it just reveals that a person has had a difficult time at some point in their lives. What if this person had a sick child and all of their funds went for doctor bills and medicine? What if their car broke down and they had to spend most of their money on taxi cabs to get to work? I could list a million situations, but to deny a person a non-financial-related job because of credit is discrimination.

There are some good, hard working people out there who want to work and have had some form of bad luck at some point in their lives. Just because wonderful opportunities have not fallen their way, does not make them any less worthy of having a job to take care of their families. So the next time you deny a person a job because of their credit - try looking at yourself in the mirror and ask "How would I feel if I had bad credit and could not get a job? How would I feed myself and my family?" If you can't imagine the impact of what it would be like to have bad credit and can't get a job, then I feel bad for you. Remember, what comes around, goes around. Stop playing Satan by imposing these silly barriers!

About the author:

Regina Stevens is the CEO of Keep It Simple Websites (http://keepitsimplewebsites.com). She can be reached through her website if you have any comments.