THE SEARCH IS OVER November 15, 2024, 4:33 PM I completely spaced on this journal throughout the entire month of October. Whoops. Please don't hate me, there was an awful lot going on during that month which meant that finding a window to write something of any substance was nigh on impossible. That wasn't through want of trying, I promise! I have a couple of draft entries that are partially completed that I do want to revisit and finish up in the next couple of days. But, like I mentioned, a lot has been going on. The big news to report is that I am starting a new job on Monday. I've been out of work since mid-August, and that whole experience has been one of the most challenging periods of my life. I'm still not in the right frame of mind to elaborate on that time just yet. It's incredible, really, how much it impacted me. Some good news is that the behemoth spreadsheet I was using to track and record my job applications can finally be rested. In total, I applied for 83 jobs between 19 July 2024 and 6 November 2024. Of those 83 applications:
From those 5 interviews, I made it to the second stage on 4 of them, and from those 4, I received 2 offers - on the very same day bizarrely. That's some frightening statistics when I lay it out in that manner. The only term I can think of to describe the job hunt is soul destroying, and I think that's partly down to how insignificant it made me feel. I put time and effort into covering letters, tailoring each one for the firm I was applying for. I would tinker with my CV for each application, to make sure the relevant requirements the company was seeking were captured and highlighted. I had my CV reviewed by professionals. I had it tailored to suit algorithms and AI bots that sweep the document. I contacted recruiters, e-mailed companies directly, sought out internal recruitment contacts at the firms I was interested in... all this work was often met with not even an acknowledgement. You start to question yourself: is it me? Am I not suited for this job which, on paper, I have all the prerequisites? You go from having very enthusiastic conversations with a recruiter, to said recruiter completely ignoring your phone calls, e-mails, and requests for a simple update. I go to apply for a position through LinkedIn and see that there have already been over 400 applicants. What chance do I stand? I had heard stories that the recruitment industry is broken, and I can testify that it absolutely is. I pray that I don't have to go through this experience again for a long, long time. That said, it hasn't dimmed my excitement for Monday. I can't wait to start this new chapter. |