The Floods of Current Affairs in Job Hunting

Hi folks. I've dropped off the radar for some time now. Hubby and I have been extremely busy with buttoning up all of the small and numerous projects on our stucco remodel. I will be posting updates on how that's coming along soon.

The other underlying facet of my absence has something to do with job misery. Unfortunately, we need jobs to pay for our bills, but it can feel like a penitentiary when you loathe what you do every day, and you hit the glass ceiling years ago. When the situation gets that bad, it can really affect our health, creativity and social lives. I can vouch that I have been head-deep into this "flood" and can't figure out how to get out.

Most of my free time has been wasted allocated to applying for new jobs, or cleaning the house in order to try to clear my head and soul from the icky feeling my job leaves me in at the end of the day. What's worse is the lack of response I receive after sending out my meticulously crafted resumes and cover letters--which, mind you, take hours to complete per job application. Why must we introduce ourselves on paper? Why are we overlooked simply because we cannot seem to sell ourselves in the exact way that the employer is looking for?

I know the majority of the population feels the same frustration. I ended up writing an applicant cover letter about how I really feel. I can't succumb to this marketplace prostitution any longer!

Apart from the painful crafting of resumes and letters to tailor to each job, I have on countless occasions logged into a company's website to apply for a position, and they want my social security number off the bat! In fact, they force you to enter it and if you don't...well, you cannot submit your application. One company was seeking it for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), which I can bet I'm not part of their target group, so no sense on hiring me! And should I be that hard up to willy-nilly give out my social security number so that big box employer can find out everything about me before they even decide if I'm fit for the job? What kind of nation are we? 

It's been years since I've been on the job market, but something has dramatically shifted. It has shifted toward benefiting the companies and not the people. I cannot tolerate these new requests that put my identity and privacy in jeopardy. I'd love to hear from you on your job application experiences, not only getting through hours of CV and letter crafting, but especially encountering online applications that fall into the gray "unlawful" category.