Dear Mid-Pandemic Job Seekers,

If you’re reading this, you probably understand the struggle that is looking for a job during a global pandemic. From fine-tuning 15796248 different versions of your resume to tweaking your cover letter based on the tiniest details of every new job description. From scrolling LinkedIn more than any other social media site to monitoring your email as if your life depends on it. If you’re nodding your head right now, you and I probably have a lot in common.

Maybe you’ve come across this post and you’re rolling your eyes. What could I, a 23-year-old recent college graduate know about the struggle you’ve faced looking for a job during this pandemic? Aren’t I just getting started?

To get a better idea of where I’m coming from, here’s a little backstory:

In 2020, I spent all of January, February, and the first half of March (you know, the half that actually counted for something) in hot pursuit of a job at the Happiest Place on Earth.

That’s right, somehow I managed to work my way into being a finalist for a long-term internship at the Walt Disney Company. During this time, I spent 2 1/2 months prepping for interviews, driving to Orlando, and stress crying only to see Disney shut down in mid-March. To keep a long story from getting too long, you can probably guess that position was eventually canned and I was devastated and totally SOL.

So, I changed my plans and continued on as a full-time student.

By September 2020, I was already being urged by my HR-minded brother to start applying to jobs so that after graduation in December, I’d have something lined up. So, after a little push back on my part, I started applying. And applying. And applying.

I submitted my first application on September 3, 2020. If you’re reading this and noticed that it’s February 2021… you probably have an idea how this story ends.

As of today, I have submitted 190 job applications all over the southeast United States. I have received 83 formal rejections, and I have been ghosted by 107 companies. I have done 22 interviews. I have 50 versions of my resume currently downloaded on my computer, and I even built and paid for a new website just to add any value to what I’ve already done. Despite all my efforts over the past 6 months, I have not found a job.

So, here we are.

Contrary to what the last few paragraphs may have led you to believe, this letter isn’t about me. If it were, I would’ve addressed it to myself. I am in no way looking for pity or sympathy because I’m sure you feel my pain. It was important to me for you to see where I’m coming from so hopefully I can better meet you where you’re at.

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So back to you, Mid-Pandemic Job Seeker…

How are you? No, how are you, really?

Has anyone asked you that lately?

I’m not wondering if anyone has asked you how the job search is going. No, I’m asking if anyone has looked beyond your facade of chipper job-seeker (or maybe grumpy, debby-downer job seeker) and asked how you, the person behind the LinkedIn headshot, is really doing these days.

If they haven’t, I’m sorry. But I’m asking it now, how are you?

Maybe you’re feeling like a failure. Or maybe you’re feeling lost and directionless. Maybe you’re scared. Wondering how you’ll manage to get food on the table or if the bills are going to be a little late this month. Maybe you’re feeling like you’re never going to get a job. Like you’ve done everything you know to do and none of it’s working. Maybe you’re feeling like you’re not enough. Like you’re a well-qualified, personable, hard worker but it doesn’t even matter no one will give you a chance. Does any of that strike a chord? Let me go on record saying you are not those things. You are not a failure and you are enough. But, I do understand these feelings and why they’re there.

One of the great challenges of looking for a job right now (you know, outside of the actual looking for a job part) is the idea that you can’t even feel bad for yourself because of the state of the world. Not that getting a job is ever a super fun, easy process, but actively trying to get a job during a pandemic? Next level.

I find myself throwing a pity party and then feeling guilty because “my life could be so much worse.” I’m fortunate enough to have family who cares for me, a roof over my head, and I never have to worry if there will be food on the table. So why should I complain?

To be honest, if you’re anything like me, you might just be looking for someone to tell you it’s okay to complain a little. It’s okay to feel sad or mad or frustrated or all of the above about the situation you’re in because, you know, it really sucks.

It sucks to want so badly to have a job to go to in the mornings but you just can’t get one. It sucks to spend literal years of your life (not to mention thousands of dollars) working toward a degree that just doesn’t seem to be good enough now that you have it. It sucks to spend 5, 10, maybe even 20 years in a career only to be let go because a global pandemic shredded the economy. It sucks. And if you’re reading this right now looking for someone to tell you it’s okay to be mad or complain, here I am giving you the total green light.

You probably had an idea of how your life would look, and this just isn’t it. You didn’t ask to be here. You didn’t ask to have your plans, your future, or your present ripped out from underneath you.

You didn’t ask for any of this, but here you are, anyways.

Maybe you look around and all of your friends are living their lives while you’re just trying to get yours started, falling more and more behind with each passing day. Maybe you’re embarrassed that your career took a hit like this and you’re afraid to reach out to previous co-workers because what will they think if you’re still unemployed? Maybe you’re confused as to how you got here or how you’ll ever get out of this place.

Maybe, like me, you’re a recent graduate and – to quote everyone’s favorite theme song – no one told you life was going to be this way (clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.) Maybe you got laid off from the job you thought you’d retire from, or maybe you’re mid-career and this time off has forced you to take a look at what you really want.

I don’t know you. I don’t know where you’re coming from, what career field you’re in, or how you got here. But I do know that you are not alone, even when it feels like it.

Has this gotten motivational yet? Not really? Whoops.

To be honest, I don’t have any magic words that will make this any easier. If I did, you can rest assured they’d be my personal mantra. I just wanted to write this letter for anyone out there who, like me, sometimes feels like they’re the only one going through it.

Your friends and family will try, but it can be hard for anyone else to understand how you feel right now. From the outside, it may look like you’re living the life of luxury – I mean, 24/7 free time baby. Just think how many shows you’ve binged on Netflix so far! But only you know that “free time” is actually spent worrying, and scrolling, and applying, and worrying, and checking emails, and getting rejected, and worrying… did I mention worrying?

They’re trying to be supportive. They’re probably telling you not to worry and that something will come along, that you just haven’t found the right one yet, that you just have to keep trying. I’ve come to realize that if you’re not also in this perpetual cycle of hope, rejection, frustration, repeat… it’s very hard to know how to help. Truthfully, you know as well as I do there’s nothing the people in your life could say to make this any better, so, just try to understand that they’re doing their best, too.

And if you’re one of those people in the life of someone in the middle of job searching (and for some reason you read this far into my stream of consciousness) I hope you’ll take these things to heart:

• Check in on the job seekers in your life.
• Ask them how they’re doing. How they’re really doing.
• Don’t get annoyed when they talk about jobs more frequently than you’d like (they probably feel self-conscious about it, anyways).
• Understand that they understand that having a job isn’t a walk in the park either. But know that not having a job – when all you do is look for a job – is a very quick way to feel helpless, directionless, and purposeless.
• Most importantly, just be there. Don’t try to make everything better because you can’t. Tell them it sucks when it sucks. Tell them I’m sorry when things don’t work out. Just be there because when someone is facing constant rejection, it’s important to help them see they’re accepted by the people who matter the most.

And to you, the Mid-Pandemic Job Seeker, if you opened this post with the anticipation of me telling you how to get a job, well, you’re probably pretty disappointed. Obviously, I don’t have any of those answers.

I just wanted you to feel seen, heard, and understood. Or maybe I just wanted to feel seen, heard, and understood and all I’ve done is project all of that on to you. Either way, I hope you got what you needed. I hope you’ll stay the course. I hope that your dream job is right around the corner.

I’m praying for you, I’m hopeful for you, I’m excited for you.

May your next interview be your last.

With love,

Your Fellow Mid-Pandemic Job Seeker.