The expression “looking for a job is a full time job” could not be farther from reality, especially if you are a recent graduate or shifting careers during a pandemic. Although the unemployment rate dropped to 4.8% – better than the expected 5.1% – most of the available jobs are offering low wages.
25-year-old Sophia Cheung’s LinkedIn post went viral when she said she was rejected by 357 companies in six months. Cheung graduated in 2018 with a business administration degree, but decided to shift her career path to software engineering in early 2021. She said it took hundreds of rejections, forty interviews and two offers to find a job. Some say many job seekers are in the same boat.
“I read Sophia’s story in Linkedin, but sadly, I’ve seen many similar posts since the pandemic started, and that’s scary and discouraging,” said 19-year-old UC Berkeley student Alejandra said.
Jorsh, 27, marketing professional in the San Francisco Bay Area, shared, “I recently finished my master’s degree overseas, and spent over five months searching for a job in England, being one of the most stressful journeys. As an immigrant you feel like no one really wants to hire you because you are not “one of them.” So after a good amount of rejections, I decided to come back to the United States, only to find out that the job market was the same. It took me three months to get a freelance position, and I am still wondering if I would be able to get a full-time position.
Many share the same frustration – lots of job postings, tons of applications, but not hearing back from recruiters. Samy, 29, business strategist, quit her job in May because she had to take care of health issues, and since then, she says the journey to find a new job has been a roller coaster of emotions.
“I know I am not the only one who thinks it would be much appreciated if we could get feedback from applications or interviews,” Samy said. “I find myself lost trying to figure out what I did wrong.”
Here’s a list of best practices to get noticed when applying to your next job.
Remember – you are not alone in this search!
- Tailor your resume. Always
- Don’t forget a cover letter
- Keep your resume simple and relevant
- Share your story and experiences
- Leverage your network to find new opportunities
- Follow up with the hiring manager
- Practice confident body language
