Horror Stories from the Jobs Market
Now is not a fun time to be unemployed
I’m telling you this not to relish in the suffering of others. Rather, it is a warning of things to come.
If and when a real recession arrives, the agony of unemployment will be felt by millions. A steady paycheck is no joke when needed to pay the mortgage and put food on the table. Most Americans and Canadians barely have any emergency savings and are a few missed paychecks from crisis.
Even if you can hang onto your job, the threat of unemployment will be held over your head by your employer. People are already drowning in work. Wait until 5-10% of your coworkers are turfed.
Still WFH? No better time to force new standards on employees than when they’ll do anything to keep their jobs. Things are about to get a lot crappier for the average person.
I often scan Reddit to get an informal pulse on how people are thinking. Many subreddits are echo chambers so I adjust accordingly, but the anecdotal insights are still valuable.
Below are word-for-word horror stories from people hunting for jobs right now:
After leaving my sales job at an E-commerce site in May and struggling to find any form of work, my financial situation has gotten into a tough spot and my motivation to continue job hunting is at an all time low.
I just applied to be a crew member at my local McD’s. To be honest I’m really hoping I get hired and am actually really excited to work a job that’s just simpler and more genuine, even if it’s only for a bit.
I made $130,000 last year before taxes and now I am praying that I can land this job where I work for minimum wage at a fast food place. That’s the best way I can describe the current job market right now.
Anyways, fingers crossed!
I just graduated from a prestigious university with 2 and half years of experience. I’ve applied to over 150 jobs, had 5 interviews, and have gotten none of them. What can I do to get hired? Am I missing something?
I have 8 years of extensive experience in Marketing and Social. Got laid off for "budget reasons" and have been applying like mad. Probably 400 applications across Indeed and LinkedIn, and only one interview. It's super competitive, I would not want to be a new applicant today, because you'll be flooded out by people just looking for anything. Hell, I'm considering changing careers over it.
I recently had a group interview and some of the candidates were very clearly overqualified {for an entry level position}. It was one of the more deflating job search/interview experiences I've had to date.. recent layoffs could've potentially played a role in this, as more experienced people just look to snag a gig, even if not up to their standards/expertise/qualifications.
I work as a consultant and by god many remaining marketers at the tech companies I work with are miserable. Their juniors got laid off so they have to do literally everything like deal with cms issues, Google analytics nonsense, and social media, alongside all the high level work they have to do. I guess it’s good for me because I get brought in to help them but it’s not the same as having an employee.
8 years of marketing experience at startups, so much work to show for it, and now I’m not even getting responses to jobs that I have referrals for. WTF.
Hiring is a fucking mess right now almost across the board. Unemployment is down yes but companies are not really hiring anymore as the hunker down for a potential recession.
I was a marketing consultant for a major retail company for 3 years or so, and even at that company whom I’ve worked for hasn’t even looked at my resume, I get instantly rejected. I’ve been applying to just about every graphic design job every marketing job, pre press, anything, and I’ve been at it for 8 months. It has really ruined my faith in the industry, my own skills, and a possible future in such a career.
10 years: Sales xp, Op xp, marketing, mgmt, hr, hiring, pm... Top 30 University in the world. Start-up xp. Older graduate. Paid my way through via work during school. 3.8 GPA.
3 years after graduation- over 400 applications. 2 interviews. No luck...
I've helped multiple people start companies which were making millions within 3 years and it's easier than getting hired.