The Lament: That Isn't Landing You a Job in This Tough Market

  Looking for employment was always an offbeat process. 

That was true even for us boomers who came of professional age in a world of corporate growth. But we were a fortunate generation in that we learned that early since we usually sought out money-making opportunities way back in grade and high school. Sure, "our education" was important and there was profound pressure to keep up our grades. However, our Depression-era parents insisted we knew how to get, keep and move on to better employment possibilites. It was all about The Job.

Currently, as Bloomberg documents, the process of landing work is just as unpredictable. The added wrinkles, though, are two-fold:

A shrinking number of jobs. For every one role, there are 14% more applicants than even last fall. In some glam fields which have fallen on hard times - think Hollywood and media - there can often be so many applicants that recruiters struggle to sort out.

Experimenting with tactics for early rule-outs. This is related to both the large number of applicants and the availability of novel screeing approaches such as those created by AI.

In response, there is on social platforms The Great Lament. That is downright counterproductive. 

At the very least it sets up the applicant to enter the process with a negative attitude. More to the point, it shuts down the motivation and creativity to game the system. For example, in my coaching I guide job seekers how to manage the AI-kinds of interviews, everything from tone to doing those video games.

The reality is that in capitalism no one is entitled to have a job or to keep a job. In addition "being between jobs" continues to carry stigma, just as in boomer times. My generation got down cold to "do something" when unemployed to create the aura of being professionally productive. That also helped us to move on to where we should be. Yes, the old adage is on the money: Nothing gets you work like having work. 

At least one takeaway is: Don't just sit there applying for jobs, do some paid work, any kind, to bring in income and brand you as "working." 

You are welcome to a complimentary consultation with Coach Jane Genova: janegenova374@gmail.com, phone'text 203-468-8579.

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