The Struggles of Job Searching (and Concerns About My Next Job)

If you have been reading my latest blog posts, you know that I am once again job searching. I know it sucks going through the whole process especially when I was let go from my job so soon, so I have to start from the bottom again. I have applied for many positions so far, but I am still unemployed as I am writing this post. If some of you think I am being lazy not having one at this point, well you are wrong about job searching. It isn’t just finding a posting, filling out a resume, hitting submit, and boom you got the job! First, you have to set yourself apart from other applicants to impress the recruiters. Second, you have to make sure you apply to a job you will love working at a company that has great support from management and colleagues, and will help you develop in your career. It is almost like finding the right person to be in a relationship with (which I have never experienced, and currently have no interest in doing so). From the outside, the job and company look like a great choice, but once you start working every day for the rest of your life it can go two ways. Either you will gain valuable experience and have a tight-knit bond with your co-workers and managers, or you will eventually realize the company has “betrayed” you and make you feel like a working “prisoner” until you find some way to “escape." I have been in both situations in my career with the latter happening recently, and the former happening before I graduated from college.

Now whenever I apply for a job, sometimes I go to the next round instantly, or I have to fill out a million applications until I get the call. During the COVID lockdowns and recently, I have constantly applied to jobs that fit my qualifications and skills. If you have been in this situation before, you will understand that it is a long and difficult process. Here are some of the reasons why applying for jobs can be a struggle most of the time, and as you can see a lot of them can be out of your control.

1. The Job Market is Competitive

With a lot of companies shutting down due to the pandemic, or constantly laying off employees for some other reason, hundreds are searching for jobs. With that many people applying to the one job you are interested in, it can be difficult to set yourself apart from other qualified applicants. Every time I applied for a job, I slightly alter my resume just so it fits the qualifications of the position. But, because recruiters have to go through all those applications, sometimes they might not get through all of them which leads into the next reason…

2. You apply for a job, but get no response

It should be common sense if you submit a job application, a recruiter reads through it, then tells you if you are moving on to the interview round of the application process, right? Well, that is almost never the case. Because recruiters have to go through a hundred applications, they don’t have time to carefully go through every single one of them and make a decision. Plus, recruiters have other things to do besides looking through applications. You might think it is rude when a recruiter ghosts you on your job application. Even if you didn’t end up moving on to the interview round or get the job offer, it would be nice to hear a response as a way to improve your next job application. But no, most recruiters want to ghost you if your qualifications don’t fit the job description. This is what most of the jobs I have applied to resulted in, waiting to hear back but being a no show.

3. Entry-level jobs that require 5-10 years of experience

When you hear entry level, you probably think of a recent college graduate that only has one to two years of work experience. Unfortunately, some companies don’t get that definition and say the job is entry-level but the description says that 10+ years of experience are required. I think that sounds ridiculous and deceiving if companies are expecting so much from someone who is just starting out in the working world. Also, it can hurt chances of them trying to hire someone if no one that is entry-level can match the high qualifications. If companies say their job is entry-level, make sure the job is entry level by lowering qualifications for that group of applicants or change the ranking of the job if it really requires many years’ worth of experience. However, I heard somewhere that you don’t need to match all of the qualifications of the job you wish to apply for. What matters is if you are willing to learn the skills of the job, or you know someone that works at the company you’re interested in that can give you a referral.

4. Job applications are too long

I am not sure if this resonates with anyone else, or it is just my opinion. Sometimes a job application can take a while to complete, and you feel like you want to give up. I understand that the companies want to do a thorough job of finding the right candidate for the position, but it doesn’t make sense if some applications require you to upload your resume, and fill out a form with the exact information. I mean, is my resume not good enough for you that I have to enter that information twice? Another thing that annoys me and doesn’t make me want to apply is when references are required. Look, I know some of you think that references are important, but to be honest, they are not worth it. Think of it this way, a company has to go through all that trouble of contacting the references for employment verification. However, the company can refuse to provide information to avoid legal troubles, the contact listed no longer works at said company, or a bad reference is given to jeopardize the chances of applicant getting the job. In my case, I am not able to provide references only because I was fired at my last job, so the managers would not give good references. Prior to that, the employer I worked for the job I had during college no longer works at the school making them unavailable. I also worked in retail, and I don’t have contact info from those managers since it was a large department store with hundreds of employees working there.

5. Rejections, Rejections, Rejections

Besides having to submit a different resume every time I apply, preparing for an interview, and waiting for a decision, hearing that I got rejected has to be the worst thing in all of job searching and applying. Even after working so hard to have my qualifications match the job description, I still get an email saying I was not a chosen applicant. Most of the time after applying, I would get an email with the subject line of “Thank you for applying…” and it continues saying I am not moving forward to the interview round. Reading that just puts me down thinking I don’t have enough experience even though I need experience by applying to a job. There were also times when a job seemed like a good fit, the interview went really well but I still got rejected. For example, I applied to a position at another financial institution, HOWEVER, it had nothing to do with working at a teller window. It involved planning and organizing events that the main location holds. I thought it seemed more interesting than my other job, so I went ahead and applied. Then the recruiter invited me for a phone chat, and everything seemed to be going well during that time. Unfortunately, I did not move on to the interview round all because I did not have a physical requirement (which I won’t reveal due to personal reasons) that wasn’t listed in the job description. I mean, if you were going to ask if I had that physical requirement, it should have been in the job description so that everyone would know before applying. Another thing that made the chat worse was that they also asked me why I left my last job, and I lied, which makes me feel guilty. The truth is, I was hesitant about how recruiters would react when they found out I got fired from my job, and I didn’t want that to jeopardize my chances of getting a new one. Luckily, I came up with a statement that I will say if future recruiters ask about it, but I phrased it in a way so I don’t blame the company too much, and I am taking some responsibility. Also, the recruiter that talked to me that day was the same person that called offering me my last job, but now works at a different company. I am not sure if they remembered me, otherwise they would have said something, but probably refrained from doing so just to be professional. The point is that I was so close to getting my next job, even my qualifications fit the job. However, it wasn’t meant to be and I still feel gutted about it. Even if I keep getting rejected, I heard somewhere that “rejection is redirection” meaning that the job wasn’t the right fit, and there is a better one out there. Therefore, I have to keep trying and not give up.

Before I started my last job, I did not know what to expect besides the job description which I carefully read before making my decision. I had a bit of uncertainty, but I assumed that would go away once I transitioned into the job. However, it turned out to be so much worse and after I got fired, I realized that I was in a toxic work environment. I was dealing with unsupportive managers and colleagues, working long hours with hardly any time off leading to burnout, and I felt unmotivated. This is what I DO NOT want my next job to be; I want to be happy working at my job but in order to achieve that, there also needs to be a few things. I want a job that has an equal work-life balance where I can take sufficient days off, and not have any burnout. I also want to have supportive colleagues and managers that listen to you, and help you develop your skills instead of being “bullies” micromanaging you. Finally, I want to work at a company that strongly supports mental health in the workplace in addition to following its mission and values. Another concern I have about my next job is making mistakes once I get started. In my last job, I made so many mistakes past my first week, making me beat myself up. I know that no one is perfect, and mistakes help you learn, but my managers thought I shouldn’t make any mistakes after my first week. Anytime I would mess up, they would be pissed. It was also because I have never worked in banking before, even though I have handled cash working retail, but banking was much more complicated than that. Therefore, I will not work in banking or any financial-related jobs ever again because I wasn’t good at it. I still don’t understand how I screwed up so badly to a point where I lost the job, and I am worried about being in that situation again. I know I am capable of doing anything I put my mind to, and I am not stupid. However, if my actions lead me to get terminated after a few months, I am afraid future recruiters will think I am no good at any job. But, if I get laid off (which hasn’t happened to me), it isn’t my fault but more of the company since the reason for their lay-offs are due to budget or bankruptcy issues.

Now that I have told you the woes of my job search, and what I DON’T want in my next job, I hope you have a better understanding of why it can be so difficult for people like me to land one automatically. As you can see, most of it is out of our control even though I have scoured through job search websites like LinkedIn, Indeed, etc., and visited a few virtual job fairs in between. I have also tried networking with recruiters, but most of the time I don’t get a referral or they don’t answer my connection request. Even if it seems hopeless for me, I am still going to keep on searching because I know for sure I can get through this. Maybe after this post is published, someone will read this and would want to talk to me about a potential opportunity. However, the main intent of this blog was not to get a job (even though that sounds great), it was to share my challenges and interests to make people feel good and know they aren’t alone. So, if you are in a similar situation like me, I commend you for taking on the difficult process and wish you all the best in your job search with hopes of both us landing our ideal jobs.