The Long Job Search features stories and advice from women who got hired after a prolonged job search. In sharing their stories, we aim to support and inspire those navigating similar situations during their job hunt.

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I graduated in December of 2018 with a degree in User Experience (UX) Design and a minor in Graphic Design. I have worked for a total of about five years in full-time positions—two years as a web designer and two and a half years as a UX designer, both at small start-ups.

During my time in college, I completed two internships: one as a graphic designer for a non-profit (The YMCA) and another as a Universal Designer for Michigan State University, where I studied.

I always feel like I am a jack-of-all-trades type of person when it comes to design and I think that can make it difficult to find design work because my portfolio is kind of all over the place.

The struggle to break through to the final round

It took me about 8 months of searching before I landed the job I was looking for! The hardest challenge for me was getting to the second or third round of interviews. I had endless first-round interviews and was reached out to by a lot of recruiters, but everything seemed to end after that first or second interview.

The most frustrating thing for me was the times when I never heard anything back from the people I was interviewing. I think it would have been helpful to receive feedback as to why I wasn't a good fit for the role. If I did receive this feedback, I’d say 90% of the time the only thing they would tell me was that they wanted someone with “more experience”, which I didn’t understand because all of the jobs I had applied to were entry-level or at the most, 5 years of experience (which I felt I had).

Staying sharp through freelance work

I think as a designer, it was helpful for me to work on my portfolio. I did several freelance projects which helped keep my design skills sharp and also practice networking. At one point I even thought that maybe I could just continue freelance work.

The importance of support

I definitely took breaks to recharge/focus on freelance work. I am lucky to be married and thus able to live off my spouse's income mostly during that time as well as be on their benefits. Having that support is the only way I was able to make it through such a long period of being unemployed.

Networking fatigue

I hate to say it, but I feel like networking did not help me that much. In the beginning, it felt very important, but after a few months, it felt more of a burden than anything. It got my foot in the door, but after that first or second round, did not do much. I feel like I put myself out there a lot (reached out to hiring managers, randomly messaged people on LinkedIn, went to networking events), but I feel like the only thing this did for me was maybe help my socializing skills. Which I guess was positive, but also at times was exhausting.

How I managed rejection and interview anxiety

I wish I could have had better feedback after the rejections. I felt very discouraged not having this from hiring managers. As far as interviewing, I did make sure to stay up to date on the different tools I use for design and even took several LinkedIn courses to gain more knowledge for the roles I was interviewing for. I feel like this did help me be more confident going into interviews. Also, I am a very anxious person, and a few months into my job search I started using beta blockers to help me be less anxious interviewing. This helped me.

⭐ Landing the job

The job I ended up accepting was one that kind of just fell in my lap. I feel very lucky with how it worked out. My old boss from one of my internships reached out asking if I was interested in the role and I interviewed and got it very quickly! Now I am 8 months into this role and am loving it so much! Definitely felt like it was worth the wait.

Final words of advice?

Don’t be too hard on yourself about rejection. The right role will come to you eventually. Also, start some new hobbies…something to occupy your time and give you a break from the mentally draining task of job searching.