Don’t Give Up: A Note of Gratitude and (I Hope) Encouragement

I am grateful to those who have supported me on this journey, especially my wife, Jane, as well as the many friends and colleagues who served as references, sounding boards, supporters, lead sharers, counsel, and listeners. Thank you. It has been a humbling experience.

Although I am, like many of you, mentally fatigued, I am excited by this opportunity, even if it hasn’t fully sunk in yet. The psychological toll of being rejected over 200 times is daunting. I’m still processing this and I have good days and not-so-good days. I had to remind myself each time that it wasn’t an issue of my worth - that there was something wrong with me - nor that prospective employees didn’t appreciate my knowledge and experience. It simply wasn’t the best fit and the markets (higher ed, tech, & research) are extremely competitive.

I know that I am fortunate: In addition to the aforementioned support network, I have a college education. I have a partner who was able to include me on her health insurance plan. For the first time, I received unemployment benefits. I have a home, a laptop, and internet access to search for, apply to, and interview for positions. I can afford a suit, shirt, and tie for interviews. I cannot fathom how those who do not have these things are expected to find gainful employment or how those who experience bias, whether implicit or explicit, cope with rejections.

I’ve seen posts on social media claiming, without empirical evidence, that because I and those in my situation receive unemployment benefits, we have no incentive to find gainful employment. In my case, this is not true. But my case is anecdotal - an “n of 1.”

The results of a recent study, The Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED) provides data - empirical evidence - to support the notion that having a basic income grants the recipients the means to actively pursue job prospects that might otherwise be out of reach. “The rate of full-time employment jumped 12 percentage points among recipients in one year. The $500 a month didn’t discourage work — what it did was quite the opposite. The money bought time to apply for jobs, for child care, for transportation, all those other things that are important to the search for better work,” said Chris Farrell of Marketplace Morning Report. 

“There’s been this accumulation of research and data and real-world experiments,” Farrell continues, “and they tell us something in the aggregate that we already know: People living on low and unstable incomes work incredibly hard. But looking for and finding a better job is difficult, and it’s often impractical when financial resources are scarce and unreliable.

“So what a guaranteed income does is it reduces financial instability and creates ‘new opportunities for self-determination, choice, goal-setting and risk-taking.’ And that’s the conclusion of a recent report into the guaranteed-income experiment in Stockton, California.”

For those of you also engaged in a job search, keep the faith - believe in yourself. Keep revising, updating, and learning new skills for your next position. Take care of yourself, especially your health, both mental and physical. Remember, a rejection isn’t because of you personally or a judgement on your value to the workforce. It simply may not be the best fit for your skills, experience, and goals and prospective employers’ needs. If possible, find a small group of others who are going through or who have recently been searching. Knowing that you are not alone in this process and gaining others’ insights is not only helpful for practical purposes, it serves as emotional and psychological support. After a year of engaging in tasks from home, we can all use a little of that.

Please, don’t give up.

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