i saw someone on twitter saying to “leverage your network” i’d sooner leverage a shotgun into my mouth jesus fucking christ
plus all this is meant to be done at a time when you’re likely at your lowest confidence, most insecure, and most desperate.
just the idea that it’s my job to sell myself to these sorts of business goons who ENJOY seeing people desperate and on edge is so sick. i have nothing to sell, i am not a commodity, i am a human being. and everything’s ran thru some shitty AI now i’m sure. like the applications weren’t demeaning enough.
can’t we all just be assigned jobs by the government? it’d build social cohesion. like the hunger games. maybe you can opt out but I’d rather take my chances than answer these fucking personality tests or get so hopeless i’m actually applying for something with hours I hate with a miserable commute with a terrible wage which ALSO won’t hire me
“Have you tried applying on LinkedIn? Messaging recruiters or hiring managers on LinkedIn?”
“Oh no don’t use LinkedIn, everyone ignores those because of bots, apply directly”
“Put keywords from the job listing in your resume so the algorithm will rank you hire”
“Oh no don’t use words from the listing in your resume or you’ll be flagged as a bot”
“Hire a headhunter to apply to many positions for you”
“Avoid headhunters because when they spam your resume, you’ll get flagged as a bot”
“Complete a tedious and time consuming project for the company and post it on your personal site so they see you’re not a bot already qualified”
“Oh they didn’t even open the link to look at it? Well do one for the next company and the next and the next…”
Looking for a white collar job today is basically an arms race with the net result recruiters spend the bulk of their time weeding out bots, and applicants spend the bulk of their time trying to not look like bots. It’s ridiculous and I kind of wish places just accepted in person applications again.
yeah, people shit on the boomer ‘firm handshake’ thing but at this rate, even as a card-carrying introvert i’d rather take my chances and at least get a feel of the place rather than filling out another godawful application that no one will ever read
“Leverage your network” is just corporate word salad for an otherwise good idea.
Throughout your life, you’ve studied, been friends with, or worked with people who knew you and you had respect for their sensibilities. That might mean as little as texting or emailing a couple of people and saying you’re looking for work and asking if they have any suggestions for you.
I’ve been working for over 20 years and in my experience, the type of people who are doing the gross version of “working their network” by pretending on LinkedIn are NOT any of the people I would ever want to work with again. They’re either fakers, insane, selling something, or never learned how to properly interact with people. Once you can smell them from their online activities you can learn to avoid them.
I’d say most quality job opportunities come from people you know, and it happens quietly. Nobody’s posting public garbage on social media - they’re having direct conversations with people who are able to connect them with a single person who needs to hire somebody and also doesn’t want to sift through thousands of resumes submitted by bots.
All that doesn’t really address your frustration, though. The game is gross, and it sucks that we have to play it.
Sell yourself! Create a brand! Research companies!
No, fuck all that. Create one good resume and shotgun that into every open role you see. If you really like a role, put in some time to tweak the resume.
Play the numbers game. They are.
Have you tried lying on the floor, curling up into a ball, and giving up all hope? Always worked for me
I’m sorry you’re in this position. I hope things improve for you soon. I hope things improve for all of us soon because it feels like most people are getting shafted hard.
A coworker I really enjoyed working with is leaving in two weeks and it made me realize how I’m being severely underpaid. But the stress of job hunting has my stomach in knots.
just the idea that it’s my job to sell myself to these sorts of business goons who ENJOY seeing people desperate and on edge is so sick. i have nothing to sell, i am not a commodity, i am a human being.
This hit me hard. I’m in a similar boat. All I can say is do your damndest to stay positive friend. It’s a fucked up game that only some are forced to play.
i saw someone on twitter saying to “leverage your network” i’d sooner leverage a shotgun into my mouth jesus fucking christ
…why?
Isn’t that the most reliable (and arguably easiest) way to find a new job?
I love helping my friends if I can. If I know a place looking and someone I know is at least vaguely reliable it’s an easy win win.
I’m currently working the best job I’ve ever had by far, and I got it because I had a friend who worked there. Not even in a high position, he was just a regular employee. I’d spent months sending out resumes for positions I was qualified for, but one resume handed to my friend to be put directly into the hands of the hiring manager got me a better-paying job that I wasn’t even qualified for. It was 2 weeks between printing the resume and showing up for my first shift.
It’s annoying, but, these days, any resume submitted online to be added to the pile is just a waste of your time. Find a way to get it directly to the hiring person - even if it’s just physically going there and handing it to the person at the front desk. If you submit it the normal way, it’ll never be seen.
assuming you have a “network”, yes. the way the person here words it, it sounds like they do have connections but just refuse to take advantage of them. in which case that seems a bit absurd, most people don’t even have that to their disposal.
but of course the comment has no context so it’s not my place to make assumptions. maybe that’s not what they meant.
not everyone is a social butterfly.
There is a huge gap between “social butterfly” and “I’d rather commit suicide than asking my friend if their workplace is hiring”.
