Gen-Z And Rage Applying

2022 was defined by quiet quitting and moonlighting, the concept of doing the bare minimum at your workplace or “acting your wage” and taking up a second job, typically secretly, respectively.

‘Rage-applying’ is supposedly taking charge of your unhappy professional life and channeling the frustration into getting back at your unfair bosses by applying to scores of vacant positions. It aims to realize your worth and attach a quantitative value to it with respect to your career. It involves channeling your anger towards your job into sending out resumes to multiple companies to find a new role and get a hefty salary hike quickly,

Last December, a Canadian Tik Tok user Redweez, a social media marketeer, shared her experience of applying to 15 jobs after being angry at her workplace and subsequently landing a job with a $25,000 hike. Garnering millions of views, many users are vouching for the trend by sharing their successful stories of securing jobs with hefty hikes and perks. Christen, another TikToker, also went viral for bagging a 20 percent raise by rage-applying.

"Rage on,” users cheered on in the comment section.

So, what is leading Gen Z and Millennials to “Rage apply”?

Low pay and higher inflation have pushed Gen-Zers and young millennials to look for new opportunities. A lack of growth, work-life balance or just losing interest in the job is enough to make young employees rage-apply.

Jill Cotton, a career trends expert at Glassdoor, said that rage applying isn’t new, but the phrase certainly captures what it feels like to send off a flurry of frustration-fuelled applications without putting too much thought into whether the role is your dream job or not

Adding to the woes, stagnancy, dissatisfaction and a poor work-life balance are forcing individuals to literally flee from their previous toxic jobs.

The people who have resorted to rage-applying have complained of being unfairly treated by managers and ignored during promotion cycles and appraisals. Coupled with less disposable income in hand after expenditures for the increasingly expensive essential items, job seekers are desperate for fat paychecks.

However, for the current generation, it’s not just about the money. According to a report by the Society for Human Resource Management, Gen Z, being the “most ethnically and racially diverse generation”, wants meaningful jobs that give them a sense of purpose, along with fair pay.

A 2022 report from Gallup, an analytics and advisory company, stated that only 21 per cent of employees were actively involved in their work while stress was at an all-time peak with 44 per cent workers saying they underwent a huge amount of stress the previous day.

Since the ‘instant-messaging’ generation is more averse to difficult conversations over phones with their bosses regarding issues faced at work, they prefer the more comfortable route of ghosting employers or quietly quitting.

So, can “rage applying” backfire?

What makes rage applying different from a typical job search is also the mass application to “any job” that will get workers out of the one they’re in now, said Greco — even if one is clearly unqualified for it.?

Other signs include submitting a generic resume that isn’t customized, using LinkedIn Easy Apply and providing nothing in the application that shows you’re excited about that specific role.