5 Annoying Frustrations Of Job Hunting That Make You Want To Scream
By Lina Lee
1. Job-hunting can break a person down
Job-hunting is a beast. You’re in the same boat as me if you’re going through a midlife crisis in your late twenties because you basically screwed around in your earlier twenties. You thought that everything will be ok later, well you’re screwed and the job-hunting process will terrorize you. It will eat you up and spit you back out in pieces. I would say it’s worse than being single and going through a series of online dating.
2. Job-hunting is a bad version of online dating
Truth be told, I’ve only experienced a handful of online dating but I did have my fair share of bad dates, and like all things in my life, it’s always a string of bad dates. Job-hunting is just like that but worse because it’s a string of companies judging you with their robotic keyword search function before they even meet you. Imagine being rejected by a computer program before you even get the opportunity to flash that million-dollar smile of yours. It’s utterly unfair.
3. Job-hunting makes you feel like you’re worthless
So you think you’re hot shit? You kind of are, but not. Four years of college, another two years of grad school with one year of professional experience and more than a handful of technical skills will probably get you through the robot and if you’re lucky a phone interview but most of the time, you’ll probably receive a courtesy email saying something along the lines, “We think you’re great, but not great enough for us. Keep in touch! Thanks! Bye!”
4. Job-hunting makes you feel like being yourself is never enough
Now that you got through the robot and maybe even graze by with a phone interview. Finally, you land an in-person interview. You somehow find a glimmer of hope that maybe this will be your opportunity to shine and show them what you’re really made of. Tricked ya! It’s just another punch in the stomach. The interview went great and everyone is telling you that it’s promising but a week later you receive an email saying “We think you’re great, and your personality is amazing but we found someone better. Keep in touch! Thanks! Bye!”
5. Job-hunting is mentally abusive and leaves you broken into pieces
If you haven’t noticed, there are a million motivational articles telling you you’ll be a better person after this. And that if you get through the job-hunting process you’ll come out stronger. Yes, those are all true but lets be transparent here, a part of you will never recover. It’s an emotional abuse that will linger within a person’s psyche and probably so traumatic you’ve pushed to the back of your subconscious. You’ll eventually forget how bad it was, but that tender feeling will linger and every time you think of going through it again, you speak of it with contempt like the bad ex trying to stir shit up again.