ECONOMY

Why Finding a Job Feels Impossible Right Now

The struggle is real

Photo by Saulo Mohana on Unsplash

Raise your hand if you’ve found yourself uttering the phrase, “Why is finding a job so dang hard?” while angrily whisper-yelling at your phone and frantically refreshing job boards.

Yeah, me too.

We’re all out here swimming through the job search tsunami, doggy paddling our way through crashing waves of rejection emails and leaky boats of hope slowly taking on water.

Let’s be real — looking for a new gig in 2024 feels about as fun as getting a root canal while listening to nails screeching across a chalkboard on repeat. It’s a soul-crushing odyssey that’ll make you question every decision you’ve ever made, including that regrettable frosted tips phase in middle school.

But why exactly does the job hunt feel so utterly impossible these days? Here’s the 4–1–1, fam:

The AI Job Apocalypse

Those robot overlords we were all semi-jokingly worried about? Yeah, they’ve arrived — and this time they’re after our careers. AI and automation are rapidly evolving, gobbling up more jobs faster than Joey Chestnut at a hot dog eating contest.

From truck drivers to accountants to writers (uh oh, I better wrap this up quickly!), no industry is safe. Machines are getting smarter, more efficient, and…well, cheaper than us fleshy human folk. It’s a harsh reality that’s making the job market more competitive than a hangry toddler fighting over the last chicken nugget.

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We’re All Socially Awkward Unicorns Now

In the good old days, you could slap on a fresh suit, plaster on a friendly smile, and charm your way into at least a first-round interview. But in our modern world of AI resume screeners and online applications, we’ve all become socially awkward unicorns just trying to make it.

Gone are the days of connecting with a friendly human over coffee to land that dream job. Now it’s an endless loop of uploading PDFs, checking boxes, and silently screaming into the void as your application gets blackholed into the abyss. Maybe we should all become pro gamers instead?

We’re Becoming Jem and the Holograms

Remember that classic 80s cartoon about the musical makeup where Jem was a wildly successful rockstar…but her civilian identity was just a normal girl? Well, that’s basically all of us trying to job hunt in 2024.

We’re all out here putting on our best public persona, curating our social media into a gleaming highlight reel of success and adventure. Meanwhile, behind-the-scenes Lil’ Me is eating cereal for dinner in sweatpants, with a fort built from unpaid bills surrounding the couch like a moat of shame. No wonder landing a gig feels impossible — we’re all just playing pretend!

Real Reason the American Middle Class is Disappearing

There’s a Conga Line to Get In

Thanks to a convergence of factors (economic uncertainty, pandemic upheaval, boomerang kids getting real jobs), the job market is more overwhelmed than a club on a $1 tequila night. It’s a full-on conga line just to get your foot in the door anywhere decent these days.

You’re up against an insurmountable wave of applicants, ranging from Silicon Valley tech bros to boomers angling to un-retire to that random kid you went to kindergarten with who randomly pops up on LinkedIn looking like a VP at Google. It’s enough to make you want to join a hippie commune and become self-sustainable instead.

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So there you have it — a few key reasons why scoring a new job feels harder than putting your pants on after a Thanksgiving food coma. But don’t lose hope just yet! I’ve also whipped up some tips and tricks to help navigate these choppy job search waters:

• Network, Network, Bot a Lot: Put those rusty social skills to use and leverage real human connections. Bonus points for in-person meetups to jolt the robots.
• Make Your Application Weird: Toss in some low-key typos, use regional slang, or randomly capitalize words to avoid AI screeners. “I’m totes a GrEaT FiT fOr tHe JoB!”
• Unleash Your Creative Genius: Write unexpectedly personal cover letters, record wacky video intros, or submit interpretive modern dance reels. Anything to stand out!
• Polish That Highlight Reel: Double down on showing off your best self online — just don’t forget about behind-the-scenes Lil’ You and all the hilarious flaws that make you human.

So keep on grinding! Navigating career moves may feel impossible right now, but we’ll all get there. After all, what’s life without a little hardship and struggle to build character (and give us something to commiserate over during happy hour)?

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If you enjoy my articles and would like to support my work, consider buying me a coffee at buymeacoffee.com/kaydee. Your support helps me keep creating valuable content for you!