applying for jobs online

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Does anyone else not like how a lot of places only want you to apply online?

My mother wanted to apply somewhere recently and they told her they only accept applications online. She doesn't go online. I tried looking on the web site and couldn't even figure it out. The position and location she would have applied for wasn't even listed. As far as I could tell on the site you had to find the job listing you want and apply to that specific one. She is used to just going to a business and filling out an application.

Don't get me started...

Yep, the online application thing is a pain. And if the online application forms are not very well designed, e.g. incomplete field options, it is a real joke.

At one time companies participated in job fairs where you could talk to HR people about available job opportunities and apply. But at the last job fair that I went to, all the company representatives did was hand out some kind of brochure that had their web site on it. They then told everyone to go onto the web site to find out about available jobs and to apply line. The job fair event was a total waste of time.

I actually prefer them...if the online forms aren't messed up to deal with.

It's really nice with places with lots of positions and a saved form you can just recall and submit for each job.

Better than getting dressed up to meet a person and have to do it in person...often having to hand-write each page.

Since over 90% of the time I never get a response, why should I have to go through any special effort just to get a rejection letter.

Job fairs are about marketing, not recruiting. If you're like me you won't spend a dollar at a company that won't hire you. Companies know that there are a lot of us out here so they have these fake job fairs where nobody actually gets hired. I've never met anyone who has gotten hired at one. Never. What they do is go to communities where times are tough, have people talk to you while the local media films, and then profit from the free advertising. My Mom is belligerent (I suspect she's on the spectrum) and insists that job fairs are the way to go. I've told her time and time again that they don't hire anyone. She gave me a list of companies that would be coming to her church (I'm an atheist) and I told her that I'd just go to their websites since that's what they're gonna tell me to do anyway. She got pissed and went without me. She came back with everything they gave out, which is a single sheet of paper with several company logos on it, neither of which listed their websites. It's to the point that they don't even refer you to their websites anymore. Half of the companies didn't even do business in my state! It used to be that only locally active businesses would do this, but after jobs fairs started getting national attention for ridiculously long lines with people passing out from heat exhaustion everyone wants to be at every job fair. The nearest opening for those out of state businesses was 3 states away. Let me put that into perspective for you. I'm in Texas and almost every international boundary is within 3 states of me. 3 states distance is huge.

Companies aren't interested in hiring. Otherwise they would:

1) Hire qualified recruiters
2) Conduct actual interviews
3) Test for skills that applicants claim to have

They do none of this.

From all the jobs I applied online for, 70% of them gave me an interview and for one, I can be hired after my drug test and background check clears. I will admit the toughest part about applying online is how long the hiring process can take. It can take 1-2 months. The company I hope to be working for soon took a while before they gave me a contingent job offer. I had to have a phone interview one week, an in person interview the very next week, the week after that I got an email that said I was put in the pool for potential hires, and two weeks later after that, I finally got the contingent job offer. When applying for jobs online, I found Indeed.com to be very helpful. They let you know which job were recently posted so I say the earlier you apply the better. Also it took me three attempts before I finally got past the interview stage so never give up.