15 Reasons Employers Avoid Hiring Individuals Out of Work for a While

15 Reasons Employers Avoid Hiring Individuals Out of Work for a While

As much as job seekers have their concerns probably because of lack of jobs, employers and recruiters have their concerns also about hiring someone who has been out of job for long.

So this creates a scenario where there are people willing to work but employers give reasons why they are not willing to give opportunities to job seekers.

We will be looking at some of the possible reasons why an employer will be reluctant to give a job to someone who has been out of work for a while.

15 Reasons Employers Do Not Hire Individuals Out of Work for a While

1. You might have lost touch of reality

This is one of the worries employers have with job seekers who have been out of work for a while.

Employers are careful of having new intake of employees who might have lost touch of the reality of the business world.

This they know could make a whole lot of difference on the job.

The business world is a changing one which experiences changes almost every day.

So, if you have been out of work for a while, there is always difficulty in getting another job and this is because employers might think that you might have lost touch of reality in the industry.

It is important to know that if you don’t have a better job offer, quitting your current job should not be on your To-do-list.

This is a good piece of advice considering the fact that some employers do not like hiring people that have been out of work for some time.

2. You might have stopped learning

This is another striking reason why employers avoid job seekers who have been out of work for a while.

Learning, as we know comes in different forms and timeframes. Not been current with the events in the business world could be a sign that you have stopped learning.

One potent way of learning is through the experiences you gather daily in your job.

As you work, you see and hear a lot of things happening within and outside the organization, which increases your learning, and this is important to you and your employer.

When one stays out of work for some time, there are chances that such a person has stopped learning, and that is the fact.

It takes something extraordinary to convince an employer to consider someone who has been without job for a while.

3. You might have lost interest

Hunting for a job could cause frustration and that could lead to loss of interest.

In fact, statistics show that most people out of frustration take up jobs that they have no interest in simply because they couldn’t bear staying without a job any further.

So, when one stays without a job, there is every tendency that such a person might lose interest in the desired job and there is no guarantee that the job a seeker is looking for is the job he wants to do.

So, employers are wary of this fact and wouldn’t gamble with it.

Also, loss of interest could reflect in lack of desire to learn or improve one’s skills.

Remember that the business world abhors stagnation of any kind. A person staying out of job could have lost serious interest in learning and development.

4. You might be moved by the pay check

Though it is obvious that the paycheck is the main motivator for most job seekers, yet employers wouldn’t like to have employees who are only interested in the paycheck.

There are other things that employers look out for which someone who has stayed out of work for some time may not have.

5. You might have exceeded the age required for the job

This is peculiar to banks and other organizations where youthfulness is seen as one of the requirements of a job.

Add the years you stayed without a job to your age and you will discover that you might have exceeded the required age needed for the job.

It is a big setback because some organizations are very critical about the age of their workers.

Imagine an organization where the age limit is 30 years and you are already 33 and have spent the past 5 years without a job.

It will be difficult to be employed in such company.

So, employers are mindful of the age of their employees, especially if the organization needs more of unskilled labor who makes use of their physical strength more than mental strength.

This could be one reason employers shy away from job seekers who have been out of work for a while.

6. You might be in need of retraining

Time is very important to every employer and organization at large. Though organizations have developed a means of organizing orientation for new intakes, yet it is mostly for people that are less experienced on the job.

But if you happen to be someone who has been without a job for a while, retraining you could be harder than training a new intake.

This is because you need to unlearn what you know and take up new knowledge entirely, which is somewhat more difficult than been a new intake in the organization.

So employers put this under consideration, which is the reason many of them would not consider someone who has been without a job for a while.

7. Some skills you have might have gone stale

Skills go stale if they are not sharpened to get to the needed current standard.

For skills to be relevant, they must be able to meet the demands of the modern day marketplace or workplace.

But skills go stale when they have not been put to use for a while.

It is like a bassist who has stayed away from playing his bass guitar.

When next he/she gets the opportunity to play it, he/she may struggle to get up to speed again.

Most employers don’t have the time to wait for you to get up to speed again simply because you have stayed without a job for long.

So, the best they can do is to avoid hiring job seekers who have been out of work for a while.

8. You might have lost your competitive edge

Imagine hiring someone who has lost his competitive edge in the industry.

It could be damning and have adverse effect in the general output from the individual and no employer would like to experience such from any of their employees.

The various industries in the business world will always demand that for one to be a major player, they must remain competitive with little or no space for slip up.

So employers are aware of this fact and wouldn’t venture hiring people who have lost their competitive edge.

They won’t be blamed because they are looking after the wellbeing of their organization.

9. You might not understand the demands of the modern day job

Job descriptions change from day to day and that is something you need to understand.

There is always a need to stay in touch with the demand of modern day jobs.

Job descriptions define what your role in an organization is either in the short or long run.

Some of the changes are known by people who are active on the job.

So, someone who is not active on the job may not have full understanding of what modern day jobs require.

There are many requirements that have been added over the years.

Some of the skills that have been added over the years may include great IT skills, versatility, and multitasking.

If one is not active on the job, he/she may not really understand what is needed to build a successful career in a given job.

So employers try to avoid this by all means.

10. Versatility could be a problem

An average employer will like to have an employee who can do different things and work in different capacities.

This is sure to be one of the things a recruiter checks for when glancing through resumes and other relevant documents submitted by job seekers.

If an employer discovers that one has stayed out of job for a while, one of the big questions they will need answers to is the guarantee that the job seeker can fit into the mode of a versatile employee.

This is not possible to ascertain as such individual may need time to adapt to his/her new job before even considering taking up further responsibilities.

An employer wouldn’t want to spend so much time retraining and babysitting someone until he/she comes to the stage of handling more activities in the organization.

This will result to reluctance of giving the job seeker a chance in the organization.

11. You might have lost motivation

Motivation does not come when one has stayed out of job for a long time. It just doesn’t work that way.

Motivation comes through seeing more and more possibilities when you are still active on the job, except in a scenario when you are having a break.

Apart from having a break, the tendency of one losing motivation is very high.

This is why an employer may not fancy giving a job seeker a chance in their organization.

So, this is another potential reason why employers feel reluctant hire job seekers who have stayed out of job for long.

Employers understand the fact that employees who lack motivation cannot do much in the organization.

In fact, employees commonly nag, complain, and find fault easily with colleagues when there is no motivation.

This is a clear red flag for most employers.

12. Staying out of job could imply wide gap between your vision and achievement

Though this should be taken with a pinch of salt, yet it is quite possible that once someone stays out of job for long, he/she may lose interest in his/her vision.

Though such a person may rest on his/her past achievements, however what is yet to be achieved should be the most important thing.

This is one of the things an employer tries to avoid.

No employer wants an employee who no longer has a vision for himself.

Personal vision is what gives birth to the energy and drive to accomplish organizational goals, without which organizations suffer.

With this, it is difficult for employers to consider hiring job seekers who might have stayed out of work for a long time.

13. Other engagements could have hindered progress

Not everybody that has been without a job for a while can attribute it to sack.

Some could be because they want to further their education or acquire more training; while some could be down to some other engagements that require 100% attention.

If the latter is the case, an employer may not be interested in giving such a job seeker a chance in his/her organization.

The employer might think that if such a thing happens again, the employee might have to repeat the same action he/she did in the past.

So with that in mind, an employer may not be willing to give a job seeker any opportunity in their organization.

An employer will always demand 100% commitment from every employee and will not consider someone who has shown to give diverted attention to their job.

14. Lack of passion could have set in before now

Another factor that could have made someone quit his previous job could be loss of passion on the job.

In fact, employers are very critical about why people left their previous jobs.

That could give them a hint of what to expect if they eventually give such a person a chance to work for them.

If lack of passion can be cited as a reason why someone left his/her previous job, then it is difficult to believe that the passion is back after several years of been away from work.

It cannot be explained and because it is a controversial situation, every employer will like to play safe in this respect.

So, it is difficult to believe one has the passion to work after many years of being out of work.

Employers wouldn’t like to take such risks because of the probable consequences.

15. Professionalism could be an issue

The truth is that once someone stays without a job for a while after formally having one, it is difficult to convince another employer to hire them.

One of the doubts that go through the mind of the employer is if the job seeker is professional enough for the position.

An employer would not hesitate to hire anyone if there is an assurance that such a person is professional enough to handle the job.

If there is no guarantee for that and that person has stayed without a job for long, then the chances of landing a job will be slim.

So, if an employer has a reason not to hire someone who has been out of job for a while, one of the reasons could be that there is doubt over the professionalism of that job seeker, especially if he/she resigned or got sacked from his/her former job in a controversial manner.

Conclusion

Sometimes, job seekers complain of been rejected even when it is obvious they have the required qualifications and skills needed by the employer.

The reason for this could be traced to the points shared in this article. It is important to know that the above reasons could be the cause of rejection.

Employers are not too eager to hire people who have been without job for a long time, especially if it is due to controversial situation from their previous place of work.

What to do if You Have Been out of Work for Long

Having learnt about why employers or recruiters avoid hiring people who have been out of work for some time from this post, you will have to address the various employers’ concerns in your preparation for a new job.

You will need to provide answers to probable questions the recruiter might have concerning your being out of job for long in your resume.

You should also consider doing volunteering work in the industry that you are interested in building a career in while searching for a paid or permanent job.

This will help you to remain knowledgeable and active in that industry and will dispel any fear employers may be having about hiring someone without a job for long.