Applying for jobs is the worst

Why I was MIA

Hello!

Thank you for joining me, I’m so glad you’re here.

I apologise for being MIA for the last couple of weeks. A lovely surprise that has come from writing this newsletter has been that people actually check in on me when they don’t see anything from me on Sunday nights. I was a blogger for around a decade, and in that world nothing like this ever happened! Thank you to those who checked in.

Thursday was my last day at my job, as it was affected by organisational changes. It’s not the end of the world; I am excited to throw myself into something even better. But regardless, carrying on with my work (even at a slightly reduced rate), as well as being in the “org change” process and all that entails, as well as the mammoth task of finding a new job in the current climate…made me really overwhelmed. So I took a couple of weeks out to focus my energy.

I’m taking April out to clear my head, finish off a few personal projects and TO ENJOY LIFE. I’ve been unhappy for quite a while and feel like I’ve lost myself, so I’m taking time to work my way back before starting my next adventure in May.

The job market has been hellish. I’ve never known anything like it. I have kept a Notion dashboard of my applications, and my stats stand at around 93 applications, 35 rejections, 40 ghosts (didn’t hear back), and I’ve had the chance to speak with 15 companies in interviews. During the interviews, there have been an incredible number of red flags, and I’m really grateful to not be in a position to have to accept job offers from dodgy people.

During one Teams interview, I was looking down to write notes and the hiring manager (using what I describe as “a teacher voice”) scolded me, asking me if I was looking at my phone. Another hiring manager didn’t like my explanation of how I bring energy and positivity to my team, questioning if that’s my responsibility and what would happen if I didn’t do that. During another interview (which was my 3rd interview in the process) happened after I had taken a personality test, and the hiring manager kept referring to how the results of said test labelled me as someone who didn’t like working in teams (which isn’t true).

In a way, I’m really glad to have experienced the pain of the current job market. It has humbled me, reminded me what candidates go through (which is always a good quality in anyone who works in hiring) and has allowed me to be in a position to advise others. While my numbers are shocking (I think previously it averaged about 5-10 applications before I found a good job), there are people out there with much, much worse application/offer ratios. It’s only through understanding recruitment and having a strategy that things have been better for me (and in fact one agency recruiter called me “lucky” to have had so many interviews - I quickly corrected him that it was due to my hard work, self-awareness and skill).

Since around 2017 I’ve had a side project where I coach people in job applications, CVs and interviews, with a little bit of helping people find what they want to do for work. While I’m free in April, I’ve opened up this service again. I only charge £30 an hour (which is ridic cheap for this kind of thing) as I want to keep it accessible to those who need it. DM me or reply to this email if you would like to know more.

Anyway, let’s get onto gen z.

I wanted to stick to the theme of the current job market, as I think gen z entering the workforce (or attempting to at least) in this climate will be shaped by this experience. Just as millennials entered work during the crash, thus being anxious wrecks in the workplace, I’m interested to see how this will shape the generation behind us.

Social platform Reddit has hundreds upon hundreds of posts from people early in their career making 1000s of applications [Reddit] with no luck. The number of “roast my CV” posts has increased, with people asking complete strangers for advice. I spent the best part of a morning going back and forth with someone trying to apply for apprenticeships the other day, trying to give decent advice as no one else was replying.

A US recruiter recently wrote [LinkedIn] about the kinds of numbers she’s getting throughout the pipeline, and the numbers are just incredible. The amount of competition is crazy, and while those with experience can lean into referrals and our network to stand out in applications, some gen z are thinking outside the box to get ahead, like this young woman [Fortune] in the US who wore a baseball cap with her college on it while at her pizza part time job, striking up conversations and pitching herself to get an intern role.

The job application process has a lopsided power dynamic that requires even experienced professionals like me to sit personality tests (I’ve sat 3 this time round), verbal reasoning tests and maths tests (thankfully only 1 of each), but can also include absolutely bonkers tests [Reddit] requiring the applicant to rank “prostitution”, “a madman” and “torture” amongst other things. Despite all the tests I did, I haven’t seen any kind of report of how I performed (aside from the interview comments about my apparent aversion to teamwork).

There’s a brilliant Financial Times article about the state of the job market and young people, and while I encourage you to read it, the paragraphs where I was nodding my head the most were:

Job seekers learn nothing from this process, only that the world doesn’t care about them. After months of searching, they feel humiliated and utterly alienated from the world of work, before they’ve even started. It is the most dehumanising process I have ever encountered. And I once worked in a call centre.

While ministers debate reducing benefits to boost incentives, they might consider how profoundly disincentivising the system for acquiring jobs is. It is a recipe for disaffection and rage. When young people see that society takes no stake in them, it’s a small step for them to reject any stake in society. A few candidates will know people who know people, but many parents don’t know how to help their children, so profoundly has the world of work changed since their first jobs. Watching this automated misery, they feel humiliated too.

Employers may imagine the system is efficient. In fact, it is a wasted opportunity. Every time someone applies for a job, there is a chance to build that company’s reputation. Those young people (and their parents) are also consumers. So this is a moment to polish a brand, not tarnish it. Kids will remember who helped and who treated them as disposable. No amount of advertising will persuade them that the companies that never replied will ever care, about people or the planet or customers.

Some of my worst application and interview experiences during my search had been with people who were in the same company for decades. Recruitment professionals and hiring managers who haven’t experienced even post-pandemic (let alone 2024) job markets may be completely oblivious to the candidate experience and in the face of candidates giving well considered feedback, may respond poorly [Reddit].

For those who truly want to make the experience better, there is a chance of falling into overcompensating in rejection emails, filling the template with waffle [Reddit] when all people want is useful feedback.

So where does this leave gen z?

It may or may not be related, but there is a buzz online about the rise of “trad wife” content. These are women who take pride in being stay at home wives, taking on traditional tasks like making food from scratch and supporting their husbands with anything they need.

The leader of the trad wife pack is a lady called Nara Smith [TikTok].

Aside from Nara, there are many other women explaining how their lives are so much better as trad wives - example and example [both TikTok]. It’s a good reminder that not all gen z are what we would label as “progressive lefties”.

Also blowing up on the internet this week is an article from The Cut written by a young woman, explaining the benefits of marrying richer men a decade older than yourself, including the financial stability it brings, meaning she could quit her “spreadsheet job”.

So it could be the case that a growing number of gen z women are looking to marriage as a way to get by?

With gen z men, it’s hard to see what kind of affect this is having on them, though studies show that as many as 1 in 4 gen z men believe that it’s harder to be a man than a woman [The Guardian]. We see gen z men become increasingly right-wing, and be opposed to things like feminism, idolising influencers like Andrew Tate. It may be the case that gen z men put the blame on feminism and “diversity”, and their unemployment rage grows resentment instead.

As always, I don’t like to present a topic without giving ideas about how we can be part of the solution. And this time I think the responsibility lies with those of us on the employer side of things.

Even though applications are probably at an all-time high for most organisations, I really think candidate experience should be a top priority. I have certainly felt worthless and replaceable during these processes, and I will certainly remember this in times to come. Come to think of it, I’ve not had a single candidate survey this time around.

It isn’t so hard to include application and recruitment process advice and guidance, either within the careers site or (preferably and) email communications. Assume everyone could benefit from advice and go from there in human, accessible language. Let people know up front what the entire process is, and what they can do to prepare.

If you’re not able to be upfront about salaries, at least give applicants the chance to get answers to this, as well as hybrid working styles early on in the process. I had a couple of interviews where the hiring manager was very defensive about my questions around hybrid working, though there had been no advice on the advert and no opportunity to ask questions before the interview.

As much as possible, give feedback. I know, it’s super hard with the high number of applicants. Believe me, I’ve been there in the past. But even with the clunkiest of ATSs, you can select multiple applicants and shoot off a template email that can be prepped for genres of rejection. Many assessment tools have reports and scores built in - use them!

Links

After that heavy post, here’s something that really tickled me this week. Gen z are getting excited about…digital cameras. Yes. The type we used to use in the clubs in 2005 and upload photos to Facebook the next morning. This chap is selling them on TikTok shop. [TikTok]

LinkedIn is apparently developing a “TikTok” style interface. I am a bit tired of the TikTokification of things tbh. [Engaget]

A really great conversation around comparison traps for people on grad programmes. [TikTok]

I don’t think there’s a single person out there who hasn’t seen the utterly brilliant downs syndrome “assumptions” video, but just in case, here it is. [LinkedIn]

Google (in the US, Canada and Mexico) is sponsoring under-represented students to go to industry events and conferences. Pretty cool! [LinkedIn]

I absolutely love “behind the scenes in a job” content. Here is someone who designs sets for Barbie. [TikTok]

In the same ballpark, here are Norfolk Libraries busting out some great content in the “I’m a ____ of course I ____” meme. [TikTok]

Though only 74 people voted, it was interesting to see that most companies aren’t using AI or automated scoring in recruitment processes. [LinkedIn]

Hope you enjoyed today’s newsletter - as always please feel free to comment/reply with any thoughts!

If you are also on the job market right now, hang in there. The difficulty in securing a role is not a reflection of your own worth, just how terrible things are right now. You’ve got this.

Until next time,

Charlotte