Job seeking is a challenging and nerve-wracking process. You never know how long it can take and what result you will get. Ask your friends and family about their experience in seeking a job and you’ll never hear two similar stories. Some people spend weeks or even months searching, while others never face any issues. The labor market is constantly changing, making it difficult to find the best time and approach to start applying for a new job. We will explore some reasons for a prolonged job seeking process, discuss daily challenges that arise, and provide one of the best solutions.
Some statistics
According to the Employment Situation report by the BLS in April 2024, there are six and a half million unemployed people over 16 years old in the U.S.A. This includes half a million people who have never worked before and some amount of people who may never return to the workforce. We can assume that about five and a half million people are in a job seeking process every month.
According to another statistics by BLS, the median duration of unemployment in April consisted of about 10 weeks, which is more than 2 months. Almost two million people were able to find a job in less than a month, while more than two million had to spend about 4 months or more in their job search.
As you can see, the numbers can be as varied as your friends’ experience. However, we don’t really know anything about these 6 million people. Maybe they didn’t try hard enough? Let’s take a look at some real people’s stories.
- As of April 2024, 6.5 million people are unemployed in the US.
- The median duration of unemployment is 10 weeks
- More than two million people spent more than 4 months to find a job
Personal experience
Some stories show how unexpectedly long the job-seeking process can become, even if you are an experienced professional able to compete at a high level.
Sam’s story
One man was laid off from the company where he had worked as a programmer analyst for 10 years. He was trying to find a similar job. He sent his resume to every suitable job opening but never received an interview invitation. After 2 months of waiting, he started working as a shop assistant in a shoe shop because he needed money for a living. Only 3 weeks later one of the companies where he had sent his resume invited him to an interview. He received an offer 3 months after he started seeking a job.
Context: He had sent his resume to the company where he found the job twice. The first time was just at the beginning of the job-seeking process. The second time was almost three months later, and he hadn't changed his resume. Probably, they had just overlooked him before because of the number of applicants.
Amalia’s story
Another person was looking for a job for more than 2 months trying to find one. She had a whole list of companies she had applied to work in. She is a microbiologist. At the time, she had worked in the field for 7 years and had been successful. The problem was the screening interviews. She has always been nervous about talking to strangers or taking phone calls from unknown numbers. Every time recruiters called her to interview, she couldn’t say much or show what she was capable of.
Context: Screening interviews are important but have a big disadvantage - you never know when they will take place and cannot prepare.
Linda’s story
A woman was trying to find a job as an advertising manager. She waited for 3 months before finally receiving an offer. She had extensive experience in the field and had helped two companies grow significantly. Moreover, she is a really nice person to talk to. In the end, she got the job through recommendations from colleagues at her previous workplace, who were able to describe all her strengths.
Context: Job services often provide a very limited format for resumes. Sometimes a real diamond can get lost among a pile of stones, or a great professional among similar resumes.
- Each story has a moral behind it, indicating some problems both applicants and employers face
- The first story shows that job openings receive so many responses that it becomes easy to overlook some of them or forget about someone
- The second story emphasizes how screening interviews are often inefficient
- A very badly written resume may ruin the chances for a very good professional
Every story is somehow connected to the problems everyone faces when seeking a job. Let’s take a closer look at these problems.
What can harden your job seeking process?
When we talk about hardships, it’s important to understand that there are three parties participating in this process - you, an employer, and the circumstances. We’ll start with the last one.
Circumstances matter
As we have already mentioned, the economy is unstable. It can change significantly depending on the situation in the world, as the pandemic demonstrated. There are some details we need to mention:
- The current labor market is quickly developing, leading to the creation of hundreds of new workplaces and attracting thousands of applicants. This means that over a hundred people apply for the same position.
- Some industries develop faster than others. People realize the situation and try to carve a niche for themselves. This leads to a high level of competition.
You do what you can
Although you may be competent enough to apply for a certain position, you are not always able to show that. And here is why:
- Most people use job search services these days and that’s understandable. However, there is a problem: they make all candidates look the same. Yes, you fill in the forms with all your work experience and skills, but other applicants do exactly the same. Some of them don’t hesitate to lie. There is no room to shine.
- Screening interviews do a lot, but they can also lead to the loss of a potentially great employee. Sudden calls might catch you at the wrong time, especially if you haven’t quit your job yet.
- It may be really nerve-wracking. Some people just can’t talk about themselves confidently on a phone, although it is a necessary step before the in-person interview, which can help you introduce yourself to the company.
Employers are affected too
Recruiting process isn’t easier than job seeking. Employers make a lot of effort to find a good employee. There are several problems they face:
- Again, the number of applicants. It takes too much time and expense to look through all the resumes thoughtfully and interview each candidate.
- Recruiters are humans too. Maybe they’re tired at the end of a long, hard-working day. They can accidentally forget to call you back or simply skip your resume.
- The fact that resumes are quite similar influences employers too. It is much harder for them to see your personality through restricted forms to fill in.
- It may happen that a recruiter knows nothing about your work and just asks common questions you’re not really sure how to answer. Are they competent enough to evaluate?
Summing up the above, it is important to say that all these problems are serious and not always within your control. However, there are aspects that you can influence to increase your chances of finding the best job in a shorter period of time.
- The unstable state of the economy creates a situation where there are more than a hundred applicants for one position
- From the employer's perspective, the process is no easier: hundreds of candidates, lack of time, huge expenses, and other related problems
- Job board application forms, screening interviews, and typically written resumes make it too hard to find a real human being behind all of it
What can you do to speed things up?
As you can see, there are a number of difficulties that may arise on your way to a new job. What can you do about it? Firstly, accept that you’re not almighty. Yes, that’s sad, but you can’t totally control the situation. Secondly, don't be stuck in the same place. And here is some advice that will help you with it.
We share some tips
It seems like you have your resume and everything else you need. What’s wrong? Sometimes you don’t realize that you are not open-minded enough. These tips will be helpful for everybody, because they are mostly about improving.
- Look at your resume one more time, proofread it, and then give it to 2-3 friends to read as well. Together, you’ll be able to notice some inaccuracies and questionable points.
- Be open and don’t be scared to try something new or unexpected. The dream job that you are seeking may look different from what you first imagined.
- Improve yourself. If you've been seeking a job for more than a month, it doesn’t mean you are tied up hand and foot. Look for opportunities to become a better version of yourself: take courses, read books, and make new acquaintances.
Although these tips are undoubtedly useful and important, as we’ve said before, not everything depends on you. There are several problems that both you and an employer face when trying to find each other. We have decided to revise the job search process, and therefore, we propose a completely different method - video resume.
Video resume by uhired
Video resume is a more open method of presenting yourself, your work experience and skills. Through a video resume, you’ll be able to translate your thoughts clearly and freely, making a deeper contact with an employer even before the first interview. You can finally show your personality, attitude toward work, and demonstrate soft and hard skills in action - all in one video.
A video resume is your unique chance to make a strong, positive first impression. By recording your own answers, you can gain more control over the situation and boost confidence. This allows you ample time to consider your responses in a relaxed and non-manipulative environment.
- Always proofread everything important, especially a resume
- Don’t be inflexible – be open to all opportunities you may run into
- ‘Unemployed’ does not equal ‘powerless.’ Continue to improve your skills and knowledge to stay updated on trends in the field
- A video resume can help you solve many of the problems candidates face in their job search
We provide a platform that will boost your start
On uhired, we help you create the most effective video resume. After you fill out your profile, our AI generates a list of questions based on it. Then, you record several videos with answers to these questions. You don’t have to answer all of them; choose only those you have something to say about. uHired is a tool to help, not control. From all of your recorded answers, we compile one video resume, saved on the platform. You’ll be able to copy a link to it and share it on other services if you want.
Creating a profile both on the website and by downloading the app will be available very soon. Stay updated on the news, read uhired blog and follow uhired on LinkedIn.