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 2010 with a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Communications - Journalism and worked in TV production, freelance writing, hospitality, and customer service until 2019.
Then, I transitioned to a nonprofit role and went back to school in 2020 to obtain a Certificate in Business Administration.
For the past three years, I have been working in SaaS, focusing on Customer Success & Support and Customer Education.
The hurdles of the long job search
I was laid off at the end of May 2022 and accepted a role to start on December 12, 2022.
I’m a strong writer, and I’ve written resumes before, but the hardest part of applying for jobs is the mental hurdle of telling myself, “Yes, I’m good enough,” and figuring out how to prove it on my application.
Mentorship and grace
Finding a mentor was a huge help for me. I feel like I lucked out because I wasn’t actively looking for a mentor. I attended a Zoom webinar where another participant shared in the chat that she was looking for mentees. I reached out in the chat, connected on LinkedIn, and set up our first meeting.
I had worked with a career coach before but found that, in comparison, my mentor seemed to have a good sense of what I was looking for and shared job postings I didn’t come across in my search.
I need structure to stay motivated, and I’m not the best at creating a structure for myself, so I often struggle with motivation. Knowing this, I’ve learned to be kind to myself.
Helping others look for work during COVID gave me perspective. I also went back to school during the pandemic and made a career switch before getting laid off, so I know how hard the job hunt is. So while, yes, I could have done many things differently, I also gave myself grace, knowing that it’s okay if I didn’t do everything since I was doing the best I could in a tough job market.
Managing finances while job hunting
When I returned to school in 2020, my husband and I had already cut down on many expenses, so there wasn’t much more to trim from our budget. I was receiving EI (Canada) and working part-time as a server – a job I had started when I was employed as a side gig, but neither was as much as my previous salary. I temporarily stopped contributing to my daughter’s RESP (education savings) and my RRSP (retirement). I took a temporary gig as a bookkeeper – first at part-time hours and then close to full-time while I was interviewing for the role I accepted. Still, I went into credit card debt.
Game-changing strategies
As mentioned before, finding a mentor was a game-changer for me. My mentor lived in Europe and worked in Customer Success after pivoting from Marketing. She was part of communities I was not a part of, so it helped that she kept an eye out for roles for me while I did the same in the communities I was a member of.
I found Teal HQ to be a really helpful tool in tracking my job search and applications and creating my resumes and cover letters.
LinkedIn was pretty useless for job postings. Seeing 150 people apply for a job that was posted minutes ago was demoralizing, and it took effort to trust the accuracy of the timing of the job posting. If I saw a job on LinkedIn that I liked, I would cross-reference the posting on the company’s website or another source to determine if it was current and still open. Eventually, LinkedIn became a source for researching companies and seeing what others were posting.
Remote networking
As I’m not looking for work right now, I don’t know if webinars are as common as they were two years ago, when in-person events were limited. I would sign up for webinars in the areas of work I was interested in or career-focused webinars. I also joined a few Slack communities—one for Customer Education and another for recently laid-off tech workers.
Post-rejection care
Stay in touch even after rejections. If your interviews went well and you still like the company (remember, you’re interviewing them too!), it’s best to keep that door open.
Regarding rejections, I think it’s important to remember that you don’t have any control over the other people they interview or the interviewers. You are qualified, and the only reason you didn’t get the role is that someone else did, and that’s okay, it’s not a reflection of you as a person.
⭐ Landing the job
I applied for a Customer Onboarding role with my current company and was rejected after the 2nd round (I didn’t make it to the third round). The recruiter offered to meet with me to share feedback on my application. I accepted the offer and met with her – not only did I receive constructive feedback on my application and skills, but she also asked if I was interested in another position on a different team. Even though the pay was less than the role I applied for, I wanted to join the company based on my first two interviews and was happy to take the role of a Customer Support Associate when offered.
I had misgivings about Customer Support at first, but I was surprised that my role checked a lot of the boxes I want in a role. I’m always problem-solving and helping others. I work remotely but as part of a team, so I have a good balance of time to focus and interact with others. I was promoted to a Customer Support Specialist at my first bi-annual review and have taken on stretch projects working with the Product team.
Final words of advice?
Give yourself grace, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. What I wish I did differently was less about my time off work and more about prioritizing my career when working. Unfortunately, it’s a little too late when you're between jobs. I was pretty skeptical about networking as it seemed superficial and awkward. Networking doesn’t have to be that way and can fit your style. Start small and do what’s comfortable; when you’re ready, branch out.
Believe in and trust yourself. I’m still learning this in my current role, but it was really hard when I was unemployed. Because my work experience spans industries and hasn’t progressed traditionally, I often underestimate myself and think I don't have the skills and capabilities because I don’t hold a specific title, a certain certification, or work on a defined project.
I’ve been working for the last 24 years, I have a degree and a certificate, I raised my child as a single parent for a good chunk of her life, and she’s now an adult. I’ve worked for a diverse set of companies across industry and been a part of many successful teams. My superpower is understanding an issue's crux and viewing problems holistically. I consider the long-term view of various paths and can connect it back to the present day. And above all, I’m empathetic to the company’s customers and use them as my north star when making decisions.
You deserve what you are worth; it’s crucial to remember that in your job search.
Bonus tip
Quality over quantity. As someone who struggles to write applications, I am amazed when I hear people who have submitted hundreds of applications. Maybe not everyone is tailoring their resume and cover letter for each job, and there are arguments to be made that you don’t have to, but it just does not seem to be an effective strategy.
I’m a big believer in working smarter, not harder. Regarding job hunting, it is imperative to protect your mental health. Job hunting is mentally taxing since you have such a strong emotional connection to the outcome. Give yourself grace, take breaks, and limit the hours you spend in a day searching for work. Set SMART goals and break them down into manageable chunks.
Get a part-time job for financial relief and a break from the job search. If you can get a part-time role or a short-term contract in a related field, that could help with networking. Even if you need a full-time role to survive, that’s okay too. Shit’s expensive, and the bills have to be paid, there’s no shame in survival jobs.
