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(Read Part 1 here)
By the 10-month mark of her job search, Ellis still lacked full-time employment. But she had accumulated a pile of knowledge and advice that she wished she'd started with. She felt it was important to share, in hopes that even one person might save some time and sanity:
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- This is your new normal. Take time to grieve your loss and accept this change. Act and plan as if this situation were permanent. It isn't, of course, but it does you no good to think that surely you won't be at this long, you'll definitely have a job by such and such time, etc. Minimize your expenses now: instead of viewing it as deprivation, make a game out of creative frugality. Do whatever it takes to preserve your physical and mental health. Remember your inherent worth as a living being, and rest assured that this does not diminish it in any way. Know that thousands, if not millions, are in this boat with you: people with decades of experience, people fresh out of school, people with doctorates, they're all struggling. Some have been searching for years and have cast thousands of applications out there, to no avail. This isn't meant to scare or depress you. This is to properly set your expectations.
- Take the time to decide what you REALLY want for the future. You might have to fight against a lot of panic or other tough emotions to do this, but it would help to consider your current assets, your full range of options, and your heart's desires first. What did you like/dislike about your past experience that might inform the sorts of things you would/wouldn't want in whatever comes next? Is there anything you've dreamed of doing? Is there any sort of work that calls to you, that you gladly would do even if you weren't paid for it? Are you thinking that maybe this might be the time to start your own business, go freelance, return to school, change careers, or retire? This may be a golden opportunity to pivot into something new and exciting.
- Work your network. This is the cheat code, as most jobs are not obtained by people coming in cold. If a friend or coworker can give you a referral somewhere, you might get to skip a lot of hassle. As your job search lengthens, keep telling people that you're available.
- Go back to basics. Don't assume that because you've job-hunted before that you know what you're doing with respect to resumes, cover letters, interviews, portfolios, LinkedIn, etc. AI has completely changed everything. If you can get help with this stuff, by all means do so. Before paying for anything, look for free career counseling and job leads offered by nonprofits or other agencies near you. Your library might offer career help and free courses through platforms like LinkedIn Learning. You can find tons of tutorials on YouTube for skills you may be lacking, and you can often audit college courses for free.
- Ask for help. Get comfortable asking for whatever you may need. Most people want to help you, if they only knew how. Times like these are when you learn how wonderful people can be.
- Streamline your search. Fake job postings are rampant. Avoid looking for or applying to jobs through LinkedIn. Check sites like Welcome to the Jungle, Jobgether, and Remote Rocketship for leads (feel free to share your own favorite lead-generators in the comments). Once you find a promising listing, go to the company's website and look for it there. Assuming you find it, save yourself some time by skipping straight down to the Qualifications list. Do you satisfy all or most of those? If not, move on. If so, read the rest of the listing to see if it's a good match for you. Apply directly from the company's website, making sure your resume contains their list of must-haves word-for-word. AI will be evaluating your application long before any human being touches it.
- Beware scams. They are everywhere and take all forms. For instance, you may be tempted to apply to one of those AI-training jobs for side cash, but they will simply take your data and ghost you. Scammers also come at you by phone, email, and text. If it's unsolicited and/or too good to be true, it's probably fake. Always verify the source of every job-related communication.
- If you make it to the interviewing stage, expect a gauntlet of at least four to get through. Thanks, Google! If you're in need of a laugh, take an interview lesson from the all-time champion himself, George Costanza.
- You will face rejection constantly. Even if you view rejection as a positive force in your life for growth, it's still hard to take sometimes. Whatever you feel is valid.
- Ghosting is also normal. Even for those who've already been through several rounds of interviews, who felt like they really nailed it, or were even told to expect an offer. Prepare yourself.
Even though Ellis had resolved to look more seriously into remaining freelance, she hadn't been able to help throwing resumes at full-time job postings whenever a promising one surfaced. After all, some income and benefits would really help while figuring out the freelance thing, right?
Unfortunately, she got so caught up in this tech writing assignment, that interview, that her new adventure wasn't just relegated to the side, it was fully ejected from her consciousness. And for what? For companies that forgot all about her when she failed to meet all of their mysterious criteria. Poof. Hours of study and research up in smoke, hopes crushed.
Clutter accumulated on her computer and around her normally neat house. Every time she looked at one of these objects out in the open, her brain spun off 14 new threads. I have to take that downstairs ... Oh! There's no room in that drawer, I'll have to clean it out first. Also gotta clean my eyeglasses while I'm there. No wait, I was gonna write that email! Oh wait, tomorrow, I'm going to the gym today. Lemme write this down. Where's my laptop?
Along with stress came resentment and frustration from a sense of never accomplishing anything. Finally, Ellis forced herself to stop and pay attention. She'd gone seriously off-course. Her feelings were telling her that if she persisted in this job search, she'd be betraying some deep truth about herself. What was it, exactly?
Being a storyteller, it helped her to consider her own tale. She realized that at the end of her life, she absolutely would not be satisfied saying, "Man, I'm glad I left all those software manuals to the world." With whatever time she had left, she wanted to center her gifts first and foremost, never again relegating them to the periphery. She wanted to leverage them to help others, find ways to build community, serve the world in ways that mattered deeply to her and aligned with her values. She wanted to further free herself from society's shoulds and have-tos.
Her last full-time gig would've given her five weeks of vacation. During her job search, how many weeks of vacation had she given herself? Zero, aside from those forced by illness or injury.
- Do better than Ellis. Give yourself regular sanity breaks. Take in sunlight and nature whenever possible. Do things that make your soul feel alive, that make you wonder where the time went. Laugh! Enjoy "funemployment."
Ellis was blessed with financial savings that had carried her thus far. From Thanksgiving to New Year's, she resolved to give herself the gift of unplugged soul-searching. How did she want to live the rest of her life? How would she leave the world better than how she'd found it? These were the questions she would be asking herself.