I apologize in advance for grammatical and spelling errors, I tend to make mistakes when I’m this fed up / angry.
I retired from military service in June 2019 after 20 years. I started college immediately after retirement however, covid restrictions have slowed my degree progress. I made the decision in May reducing college to part-time and started applying for full-time positions. Starting my job search in the quality assurance / operations job fields. I applied to these positions knowing that my experience was not an exact match. After a constant amount of rejections I decided to fall back and apply to positions directly translating to my military skills. I started applying for entry / intermediate / advance level technical positions with the same results. This seems to be an unwinnable situation. It seems unreasonable, that a company would not at the bare minimum call a candidate for an interview that has 20 years of experience when the job posting is asking for 4 or 6 years.
This leads me to my primary complaint: most job applications require a disclosure of my veteran status to include disability status. Of course these are voluntary statements. They have a drop-down menu selecting “I am a protected veteran without disabilities / I’m a protected veteran with disabilities / I prefer not to disclose”. There’s not an option for me not to fill out the form. As a military retiree it’s almost impossible for me to not reveal my age in the process of hiring. All I want is a fair shot. Companies have to be held accountable in being transparent with hiring practices. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to get to that point.
Here is my secondary complaint: The lack of salary ranges in job postings. However, l am required to put an expected salary number. If the application process allows it I put “negotiable”. Most of time it requires an actual number. The whole system is rigged against employees. I’m normally against government intervention but, companies have unlimited resources to lobby politicians in keeping the status quo.
We the people have to demand complete transparency with pay. A company should have to prove it’s NOT participating in discriminatory practices. The solution to this is simple employees should know what other positions and experience are being paid. I reached out to my local Bar Association for legal representation. Ultimately, I think this will lead to a big bowl of nothing but I have to try to create change, thanks for allowing me to vent.