Job Hunting Blues

 Hi everyone,

it's been a while since I've made a blog post. Been busy trying to find a good, stable full-time job with decent compensation. I have a few freelance gigs lined up, but job-seeking is different from what it used to be. In fact, it's gotten considerably harder for most of us. I'm fortunate to have only gone about 5 months since my last full-time job, but I know others who've been without a full-time job for twice that long, if not longer.

The process itself is much more complicated than it used to be. Long gone are the days when you could simply stop in a business with your resume. Almost everything is now online. You have to fill out an online application, and often take an assessment or other additional steps as well. Also, you now have to compete with other applicants worldwide in many instances.

It's pretty common nowadays for companies to require applicants to create new accounts just to apply for jobs on their website. The problem is that after enough time, you have too many user names and passwords for those sites to keep up with. That's why I try to keep such experiences like that to a minimum.

There are also a lot of scams out there. I've seen more than my fair share of them. If I receive a message saying that I'm automatically approved, am asked to download an app to communicate with the company or if I can't find the actual company website, it's usually a scam. 

Some employers ask candidates to complete a task. Common examples that I've seen are writing samples, case studies, and so forth. My general rule of thumb is that if a task takes more than a half hour to complete, the applicant should be fairly compensated for their time and effort. If a company isn't willing to accept that or other previous samples in the candidate's portfolio, then they're an organization that you're probably better off not working for. NEVER, ever work for free. 

The puzzling thing to me is the amount of ghosting. It seems to have accelerated after COVID-19 began. I've had some very good interviews recently and made attempts to follow up with the employers, only to never hear from them again. I was stunned a few weeks ago when I stumbled across one such interviewer's social media page and discovered that they filled the job that I'd applied for a week after my interview. They went radio silent after what I knew was a very positive job interview for both me and them. I know it isn't anything personal, but that doesn't always make the rejection any less difficult to swallow.

I'm still doing well enough to keep myself afloat, and I'm confident that I'll find something good before too long. I just wish that the process was easier. If it were up to me, I'd ensure that things were transparent and simple. There's no reason to keep people in limbo. After all, people's livelihoods often hang in the balance. Do the right thing, companies. 

Well, that's all I have for now. This is the last quiet weekend I have until June. Got lots more writing, job hunting, and a few fun things planned for May. Until next time, have a great weekend, and don't forget to be kind to one another.