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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Since university, my career has been focused on the intersection of sustainability and business. It might be cliche to say, but I love operating at the intersection of people, planet, and purpose.

When I first graduated, I worked as the Sustainability Coordinator at Wellesley College. While I loved being in the campus atmosphere and collaborating with everyone, from students to facilities to professors, I was frustrated at the lack of commitment from the university towards sustainability action.

At the time, I was given the advice that in order to get the kind of sustainability role that I wanted, I had to either get more experience or a master’s degree. So I resolved to do both at the same time and continued to work at Wellesley while also starting a Sustainability MBA.

During my MBA, I took a really impactful class called Developing People and Purpose, which sent me down the Human Resources path. While finishing my second year of school, I worked as the HR Manager at Hubway (Greater Boston’s Bike Share).

Once again, on the one hand, I loved being in the world of bicycling and guiding people in their growth and development; on the other, I had an awful relationship with my micromanaging boss and struggled with core parts of my role in human resources, including firing employees and conducting labor union negotiations.

Upon finishing my degree, I sought the next opportunity. Through networking, I found my most recent role as the Sustainability Officer for MIT Solve.

MIT Solve runs global competitions for entrepreneurs and nonprofits that have solutions to challenges in sustainability, health, education, economic prosperity, and indigenous communities.

For five years, I made some of my best friends and learned about the startup and innovation ecosystem, human-centered design thinking, facilitation, and so much more. After five years there, a pandemic, and realizing I had hit my growth ceiling, I knew it was time for the next adventure, and I lovingly parted ways with the MIT Solve team.

The long job search

Technically I left my job in August 2022 and didn’t start my current job until April 2024. However, from August of 2022 to June/July of 2023, I was intentionally unemployed, traveling the world, separating work from my identity, and not job searching. It was 9 months that I didn’t want to be working – my travel baby, if you will. From July 2023 to April 2024 (~9 months), I was furiously on the job hunt.

When I quit my job to travel, I had no idea it would take so much time to find the next opportunity. Budgeting and keeping up with friends who had full-time incomes was really challenging. Especially since I was so excited to be back home and doing things with my friends, but it was a constant negotiation of what I could and couldn’t afford.

I’m extremely grateful to have friends who would subsidize activities so I could join, but being in a state of constantly asking was hard. Asking for help reading cover letters, asking for informational interviews, asking my parents for financial support – it starts to wear you down!

Another challenge was getting to the finalist stage on several occasions, which necessitated a tremendous amount of time, energy, and frankly, getting my hopes up, only to be crushed by rejection.

In one instance, I had two virtual interviews, a five-hour in-person interview that included giving a one-hour presentation, a follow-up interview that mostly told me about the culture and my work, and finally, I was asked for references. However, my references kept reporting that they had heard nothing. Finally, I was notified that while the team adored me, they no longer had the budget or capacity to hire me. After all of that?! It was heartbreaking.

“How’s the job search going?”

I frequently compared the job search to dating. You would give so much of yourself to a potential job. You’d learn everything you could about them, share why you are such a good match for what they are looking for, and then be let down. Plus, it seemed like the only question I would receive from friends and family was, “How’s the job search going?”. You’d provide current opportunities, and when you couldn’t tell them you had advanced, it was awkward and disappointing for everyone. I tried to avoid talking about the job search eventually.

Handling finances during the search

When I left my job, I saved for both my trip and budgeted for time after traveling. However, I did not budget enough. To fill in the gaps, I accepted help from my parents and acknowledged the incredibly privileged place I was coming from.

In addition to that, I had a slew of part-time jobs. I was doing 5 hours a week of administrative work for a life coach, 5 hours a week of human resources support for a bookkeeping startup, and 10-15 hours a week of working as an interim executive director to get a new nonprofit off the ground with support from a funder.

There were lots of other small opportunities that I jumped at while still trying to save enough time for searching for my long-term job. I especially loved reselling things on Facebook marketplace and still do that as a side hustle now. Although I was not eligible for unemployment benefits, living in MA meant I got excellent healthcare!

The most effective form of networking

Networking was extremely helpful in my search! That being said, the most effective networking approach for me was doing targeted outreach on LinkedIn and getting introductions through the people I connected with. Also, reaching out to mutual connections on LinkedIn who knew someone working at the company I was applying to.

Networking events, on the other hand, felt awful! While there is always the magic of the serendipitous meeting, having to follow up your introduction with the fact that you’re unemployed quickly shifted the level of interest in most people.

I found my approach to tracking progress very helpful as well. I kept a Google sheet of every person I spoke with as an informational interview, every job I applied to, connections I had to the job, and relevant dates. This helped me celebrate all the work I was doing, set goals, and send nudges when I needed to. This was in conjunction with setting up a variety of different job alerts on different platforms and then slowly getting a little more flexible with what kind of job and what salary range I would accept.

When rejection starts to sting

I took rejections after I had had an interview far too personally! Once again like dating, after one date, a rejection is no big deal, but after multiple dates, it starts to sting. Interviewing always came a lot more naturally to me than writing cover letters.

For every interview, I would have my resume and the job description in front of me, take copious notes to refer back to in the thank you email, and have a much longer list of questions than I would actually have time to ask. I kept my goals at the front of my mind, sometimes had a good cry, and plowed ahead because wallowing wasn’t going to get me a job! I also would eventually go back and check LinkedIn or the company website to see who got the job and understand what made their qualifications more relevant.

⭐ Landing the job

I am now 9 months into my new job as the Climate and Clean Energy Lead at FedTech. I am running the Massachusetts Climatetech Studio, where we are building new climatetech startups in Massachusetts and making entrepreneurship a more accessible path.

It’s an incredible culmination of my skills working with startups, the Greater Boston innovation ecosystem, my skills in community building and engagement, and my experience as a program manager.

While I was starting to lose hope that I would find a role in the salary range I wanted, this job exceeded my expectations and provided me with fantastic benefits, interesting colleagues, and a culture committed to learning and growth.

Final words of advice?

More and more often, the process takes longer than we would like – unless you’re one of the lucky ones. The search has a way of eating at your self-worth, but you are so much more than your job! I also wish I could have compartmentalized the search and found time to enjoy myself and my free time instead of being consumed by stress. It’s all too often that when you have time, you don’t have the money, and when you have the money, you don’t have the time. But you can find a healthy balance!