In your experience, is it easier to do what employers consider to be good work than to get hired?

If payroll expenses are an issue, then one would expect employers to offer lower wages and lower barriers to job applicants. How often do you see an employer changing its policies to reduce both wages offered and the barriers for applicants to get hired?

but I think it would depend entirely on the particular job being discussed.

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in lean times employers offer lower wages and raise barriers to job applicants.

Only when they see increased turnover and a shortage of qualified applicants do they increase wages and lower barriers for applicants to get hired.

The only other situation in which I've seen higher wages and lowered barriers for applicants is when the hiring company is experiencing demand for its products that it's having a hard time meeting, or it sees extraordinary opportunity ahead and is willing to make the investment in personnel to seize that opportunity.

Lower wages and lower barriers to applicants generally don't go hand-in-hand, except in the case of entry-level positions that don't require much experience or training.

Of course, these things tend to move in waves rather than dramatic jumps, and even then the moves are often slow or inconsistent -- but in my 30-plus years of working those general rules of thumb have held true.

in bad economic times they lower the pay but raise the standards.

They know they'll get 200+ applicants regardless of the position or how it's advertised.

If they can hire a PHd to do a clerk's work, they will. As long as they're SURE the PHd won't complain about the work or the wages.

I've done a few things I'm not proud of. I just leave it off the application. Better to let them think I've been unemployed longer.

As a clerk if someone far more qualified but with a lesser educational record applied as well. A PhD isn't going to make someone a better clerk.

If you're qualified, I don't care if your last job was as a door greeter at WalMart. I don't see that as a character flaw, I see it as a person who is determined to do what it takes until something better comes along.