Job Hunting Depression

BreannaCarodine·Oct 11, 2023

Posted in:Advice

How do you keep going when you're either constantly rejected or not hearing anything at all?

It was one thing before when I was at least getting interviews. I could look at what I did and improve upon it but because of our market the way it is now I barely get noticed. I've done all the things I'm supposed to: craft my resume to each job, had my resume optimized by professionals, create an incredible eye catching cover letter, and utilizing my network but I'm feeling stuck.

I love working in people ops, I have tons of experience and passion for EE and DE&I. If you have any advice or leads, feel free to let me know!

kaitlingraham·Oct 11, 2023

Breanna,I'm sorry you're struggling! I looked for a full-time entry level position in marcomm for 10 months with no results. I would get interviews here and there, but I mostly received automated rejection emails. I chaulked it up to the market being oversatured. In the marketing industry, there are currently more new grads than their are entry level jobs. I tried not to let it get me down by staying hopeful and keeping at it, but it's impossible not to feel defeated sometimes when you've received hundreds of rejections. So in September, I decided that I needed to go after different positions because what I was doing clearly wasn't working. I started pursuing minimum wage jobs in my area that I can work for the time being while I build a portfolio of freelance copywriting clients. Maybe you could offer freelance DEI services to businesses you've worked with in the past?

Iynna·Oct 11, 2023

I am really sorry you're going through that! I wonder if you can iterate your job search strategy a little and focus more on building connections with people not in the hope of looking for a job but for meeting people first and overtime that work will yield dividends. When I was in this situation, I set myself to meet at least 2 new persons a day (by reaching out on linkedin or different slack channels i was a part of or even here on elpha) and by just multiplying my visibility, i started having a lot more access to opportunities i didn't even know existed. Granted things are a lot more competitive today and you ultimately have to double the efforts. I imagine you have bills to pay so if you have opportunities to do small gigs (eg nannying, teaching young kids, freelancing on some projects, raising your hand to speak at things and get paid for it, assuming it's something you've done before too)

prettycold·Oct 12, 2023

Breanna,I'm really sorry to know what you are going through. Do not lose hopes, this too shall pass. You should get in touch with @millytamati, she runs Generalist World (https://www.generalist.world/), an empathetic leader and a community builder. The community as such is very supportive, lot of Chief of Staff roles are posted there. You may want to check that too.