Finding a job feels hopeless and exhausting

Yes, it's true. Today I woke up with a lot of rage and desperation deep within the very bowels of my soul and I had to take it out somewhere, somehow.

I've been job hunting for about seven months and I can honestly say it's been the pain of my entire existence, on top of an already quite stressful year. The funny thing is - this is obviously not my first time on the hunt for work. But it has definitely been the most dreadful.

Let's step back for a moment. I was laid off from my last role in April and it was mostly due to a sudden mismatch between myself and the company that I was working for. The organization was moving towards a direction where (supposedly) they didn't need my skills anymore, and honestly I was also not motivated with the tasks I was being handed in the end. So I really think it was best for everyone involved to just part ways. Unfortunately the situation quickly turned into an absolute nightmare.

My contract would come to an end on April 30th and by then I was to be paid my exit package - which, if we're being honest, was quite a generous amount of money. The company representatives quickly ghosted me and became silent for almost two months. This means that up until the end of June, I spent my time between Social Security and meetings with lawyers to figure out how I could handle the situation. When they were threatened with legal action, the company eventually ended up paying me.

Let me say that I was very happy working for this company the whole time that I was there. I enjoyed my responsibilities, I adored my colleagues and we had quite a flexible working model. So in the end I was honestly heartbroken that such a positive experience had turned into an ego battle that brought me nothing but stress and anxiety. Due to the situation, I took a couple of months off to focus on myself and enjoy life before I could go back to the chaos that is job hunting.

And here we are. A few months later and all I feel is frustration and hopelessness. I truly believe that today's recruitment experience is fundamentally broken and lots of people like myself are finding themselves exhausted even before starting a new job. In this article I'm covering some of the hiccups I've found along the way and I want to further highlight that this is based on my experience only. So if you're happy with your job, I'm happy for you - but don't come for me in the comments, because I will bite you back.

AI Interviews

I partially get all those people that said robots would eventually take our jobs - or at least some of it. I was recently asked to do an interview supported by Artificial Intelligence, where a machine would ask me a series of questions and I would have to record my answers. Needless to say it was a horrible experience. The robot kept asking the same questions over and over again, and didn't show any interest in my personal experience and journey up until now. Let's not forget the most basic truth about recruitment - you need to me to fill a certain position but I also need to be interested in your company. It's a process that goes both ways. For a procedure that is under the wing of the so-called Human Resources, there was nothing human about this experience.

Introduction Videos

Similarly to the previous point, I've lost count of how many times I was asked to deliver "introduction videos" after I've applied for a job position. Sometimes they're only focused on myself and my own journey, and some other times they're meant to respond to certain questions and topics provided by the company. I understand that these can be a great time-saver for both the applicant and the recruiter, but again, I feel like there's a lot of empathy and connection that is removed in the process. Why should I be talking to myself in front of a camera when I could instead be talking to a real person and have the chance to forge a human bond? All these automations and shortcuts are replacing the real goal of hiring someone, which is to get to know a person and figuring out why they are the best fit for the role.

Work for Free

As some of you might know, I've been working in marketing and communications for about eight years now, more specifically within the areas of content management and copywriting. So it comes as no surprise that recruitment in this field usually includes a technical phase, where we are asked to respond to a challenge. I've had occasions where I had to write a blog piece or provide two to three social media posts according to company guidelines. This makes total sense. What is absolutely bonkers is the number of companies that will ask you to provide endless work just to end up ghosting you most of the times. I remember on one occasion I was asked to do a blog article, a social media calendar for the upcoming month and an SEO strategy for the website. All this within the span of a week, which makes it even more ridiculous. If you're asking me to work for you free of charge, just be honest and say that.

Lack of Response

I saved the best for last because this strikes my nervous bone and has almost led me to go insane. The lack of response from recruiters is honestly excruciating. And I'm not talking about those generinc e-mails saying "Thank you for your application, this time we are moving forward with another candidate". I can accept a one-size-fits-all response in the very first step of the process. What I think is absolutely inhumane is either ghosting your candidates or providing the same generic answer after the candidate is two or three stages down the recruitment process - especially if they've already done a case study! We are taking time and energy out of our day to show up and provide the best examples of our work that we possibly can. The least you could do is come back down to planet earth and talk to your candidates like the human beings they are. If you as an organization lack care and empathy for your candidates, you should honestly be ashamed of yourself.

Let's wrap this rant up for now before I go any crazier. But before we come to a close, let me just get one thing straight. I know that I am most definitely not the ideal candidate for a lot of the positions I apply for. Sometimes I lack technical skills, sometimes language skills or some other times there's simply someone who is better than me. I can accept that. My fundamental frustration comes from the recruitment process itself and the realization that, for a procedure that is carried on between two or more human beings, we are increasingly treating each other as disposable assets with little to no respect. And that's just sad.

In the meantime, if you happen to be a recruiter reading this, feel free to check out my portfolio here or my CV below. I promise I have dumped all my rage in this article and I will be a ball of sunshine if you ever want to hop on a call.