Survey finds job hunters would rather go to the dentist than look for work

ROOT canal? No problem! Just don’t make us look for work. Job hunters would rather go to the dentist than keep trawling through adverts, a survey found.

Actor Dustin Hoffman with Laurence Olivier in scene from film 'Marathon Man'.

WHILE many people would rather poke out their own eyes than have their teeth drilled, there’s one activity that eclipses this dreaded necessity.

A survey of 1000 job hunters by CareerOne found three-quarters would rather go to the dentist than carry on looking for work.

Sarah, who did not want her surname used, told news.com.au she would prefer to sit in the dentist’s chair than to trawl through job ads — even though she is currently out of work.

The most frustrating thing, she said, was coming up against large numbers of job ads with minimal information.

“Generally, I get a pessimistic feeling about it when there is just a list of criteria,” she said.

“All I can think is ‘do I fulfil this criteria?’ ”

She said some online job ads were “really dodgy and don’t tell you anything about the role”, while those posted by recruitment companies often did not reveal the name of the business looking for staff.

“I really prefer to see jobs, say, when a company has its own website with their own jobs section, so you can see what they are all about.”

Middle-aged slacker Step Brothers Brennan Huff and Dale Doback (played by John C. Reilly and Will Ferrell) are not the only ones who hate job hunting.

CareerOne chief executive Ben Foote admitted his industry was partly to blame for the survey results.

“Job advertising has failed to evolve, whereas other forms of advertising have become more sophisticated,” Mr Foote said.

He said adverts that presented little more than a list of key attributes did not connect with people on the level that mattered most.

“You miss all of the important things, like the work environment, the culture, the people and the vision of the business, which is necessary to properly engage with people so that companies can find the right candidate.”

Mr Foote said the issue was as important for employers and job hunters.

“Nearly every business complains that they get too many poorly-matched applicants,” he said.

“But in the same breath, their ads are not communicating who they want and who they don’t want — and, most importantly, what does the company want to achieve?”

He pointed to a shift in jobseekers’ career expectations with a greater focus on personal values.

“It’s not enough to find a job; people want to work for a company they believe in. They want to be challenged, listened to, and help their company achieve great things.”

With all this in mind, he said, CareerOne this month relaunched its website with new functions enabling job hunters to research potential employers, rather than just searching their job title.

“It’s allowing people to explore lots of Australia’s top companies, as well as search for jobs,” Mr Foote said.

“And when they find a company that they’re excited about, our technology matches them with opportunities that would suit them ... In many cases, people search for jobs they’ve held before, but this matches you with roles which you’re very well suited to, but you might not have considered.”