Would You Hire An Unemployed Worker?

By Koleen Singerline

Well the news today is good for some, troubling for others – the unemployment extension has been passed.  After drawn out and agonizing debate (only rivaled by the oil spill in the gulf and Tiger Wood’s escapades), many unemployed workers will be eligible for continued benefits. A recent CNN.com article explains the recent trend for many companies to exclude the unemployed from their pool of candidates to consider for open positions (click here to read the article).

Regardless of where you stand on the issue, there are about 5.5 people looking for work for every job available, according to the latest data from the Labor Department. This presents a real problem that is adversely affecting many potential workers. The current unemployment rate is the highest it’s been in 65 years.


The experience we have gained from interviewing hundreds of unemployed applicants seems to mirror what we see in general when determining what people will be the best fit for a job.  First, let’s look at the definition of unemployed according to the government.  A person is eligible for unemployment benefits if they are “unemployed through no fault of their own.”  What “fault” constitutes is an important distinction in my book.  For example, we see plenty of candidates that violated company principles, had bad attendance or couldn’t get along with the rest of the team and he lost his or her job. I believe that is his or her fault.  On the other hand, if someone has a twenty year history with one employer, takes another job for a better opportunity and then get laid off when that company gets into trouble and has been unemployed for eight months, I’m not seeing his or unemployment as their fault.  

That’s the situation with my friend Jim.  He’s registered on four job boards and gets email alerts for every job opening in his skill category.  He’s applied to hundreds of jobs and interviewed on average once a week for the last eight months.  “I turned down a job that was 106 miles away, because I knew I would be taking it for the wrong reasons, and it’s not the right thing to do.  I owe it to an employer to only take a job that I know I will stay in.”  His unemployment doesn’t pay his mortgage and he has car payments and two kids to support.  That’s a person that is being helped by a program that he’s paid into for his own protection. If I could, I’d pay his unemployment. On a frustrating note, there are others that I see that turn down work every week – why?  Because they don’t want to go back to work and they’ve learned to work the system.

So what do you look for when you are considering hiring an unemployed worker?  The same things you look for when you go to hire an applicant – good core values; someone that believes in hard work, loyalty, doing the right thing for the company that helps him pay his bills.  Look past the dates on a piece of paper and look at the person that resume represents.