Like many people, I’ve spent a lot of time over the years job hunting. A lot of time, and for a lot of years. Sometimes it was necessary when I was out of a job, but usually I was employed and just wanted something better. And like many people, I spent most of that time combing through the job boards online. Sure I got some interviews, and even a job offer or two, but it came with a lot of frustration, anxiety and a ton of wasted energy. In hindsight, it was a mistake to have such a narrow focus in finding work but it’s what most people do. I didn’t know any better. But now I do.
In this two-part blog, I wanted to talk about the good and bad, and the ups and downs, of my job search journey. If you are reading this you’ve probably been there and know what I mean. And you probably know the facts, if you did things the way I did:
- There are hundreds of applications per job
- Your chance of landing an interview is small
- On average it takes about half a year to find a job
So yes, I stuck with the online job search process and sent in hundreds of resumes and filled out an equal number of applications. It didn’t help that for the longest time I didn’t know about that great gatekeeper, known as an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), and how it weeds out about 75% of applicants before a human even looks at your resume! Yes, the odds were stacked against me, but most people still job hunt this way and depend on Indeed, or Monster, or Simply Hired, or the various apps and specialized job boards for the profession you are in. And yes, they work on occasion, and these companies continue to promote the heck out of them, but they aren’t an efficient way to find work. They give you the illusion that you are being proactive and are putting in a serious effort to find a job, but they usually just perpetuate that feeling of hopelessness and anger that goes along with the job search process for most people.
The Challenges
No matter how you do it, whether by traditional searching such as I described, or by more effective and efficient methods that I’ll mention later, finding a job is often a big time struggle and it can take its toll. Here are some of the things I experienced first hand:
It’s very draining, saps your energy and wastes your time – I remember feeling very drained from the process of looking online for work and having very little energy after I spent hours doing it. I felt bad spending that much time on my computer but I didn’t know any other way. Until much later.
It can destroy your morale and shake your faith in human nature – After so many applications and resumes, and so little response, you really start to lose hope. You wonder why people aren’t seeing how awesome you are, and you even wonder if anyone actually looks at what you submit. Hint: they might not, thanks to ATS software.
It affects your whole life, and job search depression is a real thing – It’s very true. It would be great if we could spend time on the job hunt and just let it go but it stays with you like a bad penny. It can really get you down, and though you know you have to shake it off, it’s much easier said than done. It can affect your home life, and make your current job (if you have one) even more difficult to stick with.
It makes you question your abilities and your self-worth – You spent time (and maybe money) on your resume, and on the online job application (which asks you for the exact same things as are on your resume), and still you strike out. It really makes you doubt that you have what it takes, even if you match the job description perfectly. If that happens often enough, it eventually makes you question your own value as a contributing member of society. I remember asking myself often enough “what am I missing?”
It makes you want to settle for less – You know your value in the job market and what you should be paid but with no luck in the search, and no feedback either, you just want to give in and apply to lower level jobs. No one wants to settle for less but it makes you desperate. Of course at that point, a hiring manager will come to the same conclusion and not interview you. You can’t win.
The worst part for me was not hearing anything after I submitted a resume. I got to the point where I was happy just to get that “thanks but no thanks” email because that way I knew someone actually looked at my application! A small victory I know, but it’s better than nothing. But not by much.
The Better Way
Eventually, largely through trial and error but also from reading books and online information, I realized that I was wasting my time using an ineffective process. If you’ve done any reading on the subject, you probably know what works best, and what doesn’t work well, in the job search process. I’ll talk about some of them in Part 2 of this post, along with the lessons I learned in the process. As a preview… it’s all about making good connections, knowing what you want and what you have to offer, having a clear personal brand (on your resume and social media profiles), being targeted in your messaging and search, and having a plan to keep you moving forward.
I made a lot of mistakes in the past and wasted a lot of time for very little result. The job hunt started to feel like a second job, and that makes it even more draining. Yeah, it’s not fun I know, even doing things the right way, but when it feels like you’ve taken on a second job (and one that you don’t want to do), it’s time to rethink your strategy. Eventually I figured things out, and eventually people started to come to me to offer me jobs, but I concluded that the best use of my talents was to pass along what I learned to other people so they don’t have to go through what I did. That’s why I went into career services, and why I got trained and certified. There’s a better method than what most people use, and I learned that the hard way. As for what I learned … well, that’s coming up in Part 2.
