Don’t give up on your career in international development. Here’s how to stay motivated, find a job and succeed in the most difficult job market.

If you are a young professional and you chose international development as your career path, you will find that it can be more difficult than rewarding. I say this because you are probably smart, motivated, driven by a desire to help people, and, above all else, to make a difference — but you still need to survive. You are fully capable of being successful if it weren’t for the economy, so you may feel frustrated by all the blockades to success. If you can beat the competition and get a job at an ideal organization, chances are you probably settled for a low-paid, entry-level job that didn’t seem to lead anywhere. That is the mistake I made coming out of graduate school.

Perhaps, like me, you got a job in international development but watched friends and colleagues around you lose theirs. Perhaps you are unemployed or working outside of your field of study. Sixty percent of Millennials are cutting ties with what they thought were their dream jobs. In fact, many are checking out in three years or less. Then again, maybe you are lucky and have a job, but find yourself underemployed and unable to get promoted or move upwards in your company.

I finished graduate school in 2007 and spent most of 2008 looking for work. Since then, I have been in and out of unemployment and underemployment, and so have most of my friends. When I finished graduate school, I thought I would find meaningful work, like my friend who meets with rebels groups in the Central African Republic and negotiates the release of child soldiers, bringing them home to safety and rehabilitation. Instead of reaching my career expectations, I was passive about asking for promotions or help, and went about everything the wrong way without knowing it. Here are several career and life lessons I wish someone had told me:

1) Stop obsessing over your resume and cover letter — I get why so many articles are written about this, really. I worked in recruitment and sifted through hundreds of CVs. You wouldn’t believe how many highly successful people can’t put together a coherent CV and manage to still get hired. At the end of the day, your CV doesn’t have to be perfect if you have excellent experience and connections. Ask a recruiter to send you an example and use that formatting; they know best. Stop trying to be perfect and get back to being productive.

2) Don’t underestimate the value of small organizations — What will attract people to you are buzz words. Getting a big name organization on your CV is great. Large and well-known organizations have more clout and more room for upward growth. But beware of the downfalls. Opportunities for mid-level professionals are scarce and very competitive. The career paths that once existed don’t exist anymore. You have to demand promotions and think ahead because, like our economy, there is a bottom and a top but not much of a middle. Another route to take is to work for a no-name. The chances are greater for being offered a higher salary and better title, and your application competition will be fewer. Plus, small organizations often have an “all hands on deck” culture that will get you valuable experience which can take you to your next job. There may be fewer opportunities for promotion but you will feel better being a bigger fish in a smaller pond and you can quickly become indispensable to your organization which will help you get promoted or ask for a raise. Just make sure you like the people you work with!

3) Get promoted or move on- If you find yourself underemployed at a big name organization and struggling to get ahead, then ask your boss to help promote you. Be persistent and show you have the ability to go somewhere else. A high turnover rate not only costs companies more money — between $15,000 and $25,000 to replace each lost employee — but it also doesn’t look good. Your boss will likely not want to go out of his or her way to help you because promoting you means increasing the budget, but they always find money when it is convenient for them, so make yourself be as necessary as their business class “humanitarian” trip to Bhutan. The people I know who get promotions are direct, vocal, persistent, and often threatened to leave for better-paying jobs. You deserve a promotion and a raise. Most successful young professionals move up every 1–2 years in the first ten years of their career.

4) The hidden job market- Seventy-six percent of jobs out there are on the hidden job market (57 percent of applicants get them through a personal connection and 19 percent by applying directly to the company). And up to 80 percent of all jobs end up going to someone who did not apply for a posted opening. That’s right! That means that while you are sitting at your computer for days on end searching websites for jobs that hundreds of other people are applying to, your career-savvy rival just called a few people and got a hidden job without trying very hard.

5) Network- Thirty percent of people get jobs from a referral (followed by 22 percent from the corporate website, 13% percent from third-party job sites, 8 percent direct sourcing and the rest are a waste of time). Even more interesting news is that acquaintances are more powerful than friends and family when searching for a new job. Fifty-six percent of people using connections with moderate ties get jobs and only 17 percent of people with strong ties get jobs. That means that your friend-of-a-friend is worth getting to know. I find career networking groups to be awkward and full of unemployed people and suggest you join less deliberate networks and interest groups like sports clubs, bowling teams, religious groups, culinary classes, book clubs, etc. It is particularly important to network with older folks, they are often more powerful and persuasive in making HR decisions. But don’t forget the power of the intern or office assistant either. They know what it is like to need help getting jobs and might be able to refer you to the right people. You have a 2/3 chance of getting a job if you ask 10 people for an introduction at their company, but your chances of getting a job by applying online are slim. Why? Because chances are you are not exceptionally unique so your contact will be the only element you can count on to get invited to the interview stage, where you can truly impress them with your winning personality.

6) Learn how to ask- This is one of the things I struggled with most. How do I ask for help? How to I ask for a recommendation? If you seem like you are “networking” then that can turn people off. Focus on making connections with people that are real. Someone you meet today might help you out 10 years from now. So while it may be frustrating to meet people who can’t help you today, keep that relationship going in a genuine way. The more effort you put into real relationships the more people will like you. And the more people like you the more they will be willing to refer you to a job. Here is a great TED presentation to watch on the art of asking. Be direct with people. My wise older sister told me years ago to email everyone in my email address book and tell them exactly what I am looking for. I did and I was surprised to see who wrote back! Some were my closest friends but others were my parents’ friends and my former college professors.

7) Use LinkedIn- Every time I find a job I want to apply for, or a company I want to work for, I find out who I know on LinkedIin who either works there, or knows someone who does. This has helped me get interviews and I highly recommend trying it. People are on there to network so there is no shame in using it for that purpose. If someone can’t or won’t help you, move on. Whatever their excuses is, don’t fret, just move on. Fretting is one of the biggest blockades to finding employment. Being unemployed is a rollercoaster of emotions. Keep up your outputs and don’t give up during the quiet stage.

8) Get a job!- Not in the “I’m your out-of-touch mom nagging you” kind of way. Get a retail job, get a temp job, or call recruiters. The busier you are and the more people you meet, the more likely you are to get a job. My friend once told me to get a retail job during one of my longer periods of unemployment. It was hard to swallow my pride but things work out in time. When I was temping, I made some really great contacts and met people I could interview for my blog.

9) Host a job application party- I kid you not. The “running buddy” phenomenon works for job applicants too. I host job application “parties” occasionally and I am more productive during that time. Your friends who are looking for jobs can help motivate you — just invite them over, have some snacks around to keep up your energy and you can even provide a prize to the person who submits the most applications or referral requests.

Someday the baby boomers will retire. Someday the economy will improve. There will always be problems like natural disasters, conflict, violence or poverty to fix so hang in there and start having fun with your application process and good luck.