I miss the days when I could just send a company my resume and they would call me back within a couple of days to either schedule an interview with me, or let me know that I wasn't a good fit for them.
I've been applying to jobs for two weeks now, and the amount of work it requires is honestly insulting. The cover letters, the multiple rounds of tests, the short essays, the phone interviews, the in-person interviews… all with several days of waiting between each step. It's ridiculous. What's the point of even sending companies my resume if they're not going to use it to assess whether or not I meet their requirements and would be a good fit for them?
I feel like I'm applying to work at the fucking circus with the amount of hoops I'm being forced to jump through. It's starting to feel like they're taking the piss at this point, like they're trying to see how far they can take it? Dance, monkey, dance! Show us how dedicated (read: desperate) you are!
The worst part is that I'm not applying for job that are particularly difficult or that require a very specific skill set, either. I have a diploma in administrative studies and accounting; we're talking receptionist jobs that pay barely above minimum wage and offer next to no benefits.
It's not that people don't want to work. It's that applying for jobs has become a full-time job in and of itself, and putting that much effort in for jobs that only pay enough to scrape by is insulting and ridiculous. Especially when you're not even guaranteed to get the job after jumping through all the hoops.