Funemployment

Job Purgatory. Life--on stand-by.

Imagine being unemployed, today, in New York City. Not only are you competing with the professionals who lost their jobs, you’re competing with college students who are just starting to look, and hundreds of restaurant workers looking to work in places where they’re already overstaffed.

Now imagine this scenario only with one change—no Internet. You’re buying the New York Times everyday to circle jobs for which you might qualify. You’re spending hours on the subway, not for an interview, but to simply drop off a resume and cover letter at one business before you head to the opposite end of town to drop off one more resume.
And that could take you an hour or more, depending on trains. For every two jobs you apply for, you probably could have applied for five or more in an hour using the Internet.

We live in a day where even Craigslist is becoming more and more outdated when it comes to finding a job; it is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Yet, in terms of patience, sites like Mediabistro and LinkedIn aren’t that better (even though I believe Mediabistro is one of the better ones). It is somewhat frustrating to just complete a profile, post a resume, and see what happens, several different times, on several different websites. It also makes it damn near impossible for someone who lost a job in a less than ideal industry to obtain a desired career.

But the good thing is, being unemployed now is completely different than what it would have meant five or ten years ago. With so many Americans collecting unemployment benefits, it sends a serious message to the government—something’s not working (and not just me--wink, wink). Maybe the people who need a bailout are everyday people like me, who only need 30,000 or so to be back on track. Also, there are so many people unemployed that social groups are popping up on Facebook, Twitter, etc., catering to this unique, demographic of media savvy jobless souls.

And really, what else is there to do, but network?

The groups with titles like Funemployment are everywhere, and I think it’s a good thing just to raise the spirits of us jobhunters. You don’t feel like your boat is the only one that’s lost in a sea of Craigslist ads. Instead, you have plenty of people who are just as bored to drink cheap beer with and spin off ideas. It makes career hiatus bearable, and saves some dignity even just to think, I’m not the only one barely surviving off of a government debit card.

So don’t lose faith, fellow jobseekers. Each rejection brings you closer to a job you’re truly meant for, and really—you’re not the only one being rejected. ;)