A Greek myth as related by me… in a nutshell – Historically, Sisyphus was the founder and King of Corinth. According to Greek mythology, he was a very bad dude (not a literal translation). Those were tough times, but even in that day he was seen as a thug,murdering travelers passing through his city just on a whim. Nothing was sacred to him and even the gods knew him as a cunning trickster.
He even betrayed the secrets of Zeus. When the god of death, Thanatos, came to take him to the underworld, Sisyphus tricked him into demonstrating his chains on himself and was then locked away in a closet in Sisyphus’ house. Of course, now nobody could die. This angered the god of war, Aries who intervened. What’s the fun of watching people butchered on the battlefield if they can’t die? One final trick up his sleeve was to order his wife not to bury him. When he arrived at the river Styx he complained that he had not been accorded the proper funeral honors and again found himself back on earth. Ultimately everything catches up with him… His punishment was the stuff of legends. In the deepest, darkest realm of the dead he was forced to roll an immense block of stone up a steep hill and when reaching the top it would roll all the way back down. Then the whole process started all over again… for eternity.
We have all seen art work or heard the story of Sisyphus pushing the stone up a hill. Modern allegorical lessons have been drawn from his punishment, especially when discussing an endless, tedious and unavailing task. It seems to me that some job seekers feel that way, but how much of this effort is punishment for wrong doings and how much is simply chance? It is important to know in all situations how much control can be exercised to prevent wasted or harmful results.
Immoral, indecent or illegal activities are frowned upon – Falsifying education, skills or experience on resumes and applications almost never wins. This is a losing game. The end of this game is when the applicant is called upon to answer tough questions (or even easy questions for qualified applicants) and failure is immediate and final. In a worst case scenario, deception wins the offer but later performance ends in termination. It would have been better never to have been hired.
Arrogance toward power – It does not take a very deep search on social media outlets to see complaints and gripes about companies, their representatives, the evils of applicant tracking systems and the gaping, candidate neutering black holes. Yes, these are all problems that cause concern and need to be seriously addressed by those who have power over fixing things. The applicant has no such power. There is a fine line between constructive criticism and whining. Those invited to give meaningful feedback are winners. Complainers are usually losers.
Trying to outsmart the system – The ad says no phone calls. The company rules are to apply online. The ATS shoots out an auto-reply to the application, but the applicant claims foul and demands a better answer. There is no part of cunning and trickery that will win. There are some rules that are made up and arbitrary, but they are still rules. Others are an essential part of the hiring process. If a resume in the ATS database is required for HR to act, who is going to put that into the system if the applicant refuses? The answer: Nobody! No hire!
Avoiding the inevitable by evasion – This is the old childish scheme of going to Mom when Dad says no. The recruiter gives feedback that someone else is better qualified for the role, but going over her head feels so good… except that most of the time the hiring manager was in on that decision as well. This not only backfires because it was fruitless from the start, but it paints the character of the applicant as someone who will not follow instructions or accept final answers as an employee. Nobody wants to hire a troublemaker.
In case this sounds like a one sided story of a Sisyphus-like candidate getting appropriate punishment it is only true as far as it goes. Sometimes the daunting task of finding a job just goes sour without any fault. It may seem like pushing a rock up the hill, but the difference is that it is not for eternity and eventually things will turn around. Even when bad results follow bad choices, these situations can usually be repaired by a change of course. Follow the advice of career counselors, recruiters, and mentors who genuinely want to help. Go against that advice and… well, good luck with that stone.