Every few years we seem to hit a “jobs crisis.” Right now, graduates are applying for hundreds of positions and hearing nothing back. It feels new, even shocking. Yet for those of us who’ve lived through earlier downturns, it’s also strangely familiar.
I remember the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash, when Lehman Brothers collapsed and hiring froze across industries. Before that, in my youth, jobs were scarce too. There were long queues at job centres and endless disappointment. Each generation seems to face its own version of scarcity.
But today’s market is different. We’re not just dealing with cyclical recessions or companies tightening their belts. We’re facing:
- Global competition: employers sourcing talent worldwide, often at lower wages.
- AI disruption: automation taking over tasks once done by humans.
- AI saturation: candidates using ChatGPT to generate applications, and employers using AI to screen them.
No wonder so many people feel stuck in a loop, applying, waiting, and hearing nothing back. It’s the job-search equivalent of being ghosted in dating.
So, what can you do? First, recognise that resilience is essential. The silence is not about you personally; it’s the system. Second, don’t rely solely on online applications. They’re necessary, but rarely sufficient. The real breakthroughs come from:
- Tapping into your network: who do you know, and who can they connect you with?
- Getting in sideways: shadowing, volunteering, or offering to contribute a project.
- Standing out creatively: even pretending you’re writing an article and interviewing people can open doors.
- Using AI differently: not to churn out generic CVs, but to enhance your own voice and sharpen your pitch.
Two decades ago, I was coaching clients on personal branding. The essence is the same now: if you sound like everyone else, why would anyone choose you? The tools may have changed, but the principle hasn’t.
In a way, nothing has changed. And yet, everything has.
