"In a crowd of thousands" is a line of a song I heard in a musical I recently saw. It made me think just that. I am just one human of the thousands that have recently graduated and are unable to find a job.
I certainly did not expect to be in this position back in December, when I graduated a top university with top scores. Young with a lot of dreams, it's a common thing to receive a rude awakening. Suddenly, you are not in school and you cannot control your success like you could control your grades. Suddenly it's all about connections, your own personal branding, and a whole lot of luck.
What baffles me the most is not the harsh competition that is out there, but the attitude of most of the companies. They advertise a job vacancy and contact you, the excited graduate. After several e-mails and questions, you seem to have made it! You proved yourself worthy of their time and the coveted first interview. You dress smartly, answer more questions and then... the wait. Oh, the wait. How it breaks you but can also make you. By this time, a month has already passed. No answer. The clock is tickling and you start losing hope. Another week and you start feeling like you're wasting your precious time. You decide to call only to be informed a decision has yet to be made. Another month starts. You then decide to e-mail only to be told the position has been filled a while ago...
Then why did they not tell you? Was it that hard to just send a generic e-mail instead of leading you on?
Other companies receive your information and application and don't even take the time to answer you back. Why post a job vacancy if they are not interested at all on answering? I get that it is most likely my profile does not match their needs, but it should be common courtesy. Even an e-mail saying something like "thank you, but no thank you" is enough. Because the silence... The silence breaks your confidence each and every single time you click that "Send application" button.
Life is hard, we all know that. As a college twenty-something human, it can seem it is even harder. I share these words to those reading not because I want to be a killjoy, but because I wish someone warned me about this. The good news is that eventually, someone will answer back. If you are searching for a job and encounter this type of behavior, just remember you are very much worth it. And if they cannot see this, then they don't deserve someone like you.
Keep your head up, nothing lasts forever and your job search will eventually end too. Just remember to take care of yourself first, don't let anyone ever make you feel like you are not worth their time.
