Unemployment sucks. FUNemployment sucks less!
On Oct. 30, 2024, my employer eliminated my position (along with several others). Before I had even left the parking lot, I knew I had approach my job search with humility, patience, and curiosity. Luckily, I had amazing friends and a supportive network to help me through what would be a 3.5-month grind.
My FUNemployment Lessons Learned
Take advantage of any help you're given. I was provided with an outplacement agency, and while at first their advice seemed elementary ("practice interviewing!" and "update your resume!"), they did have much better advice as time went on.
LinkedIn has way more tools than I thought. I thought I was using it well, and I was just a beginner. While I am not sure LinkedIn actually got me the job I accepted, I did appreciate all the lessons I took about how to improve my profile.
Track every job in a spreadsheet. I know it sounds tedious, but it helped me so much when I would get a call from a recruiter from a company/role I didn't remember applying to. And the auto-generated emails from companies often don't include the role you even applied to. So those won't help.
Create a new email address for job hunting. I didn't do this, and I wish I would have just to compartmentalize better.
Nail down your "about me" introduction. It's not a reciting of your resume. It's about 30 seconds of you explaining your professional background.
Stay as focused as upbeat as possible. I was so close so many times to spiraling, and then I remember a friend told me that there would be days when I would cry, and that's OK. That's when we phone a friend and read fellow Redditor's success stories.
By the Numbers
201 jobs applied to (temp jobs not included)
10% interview rate
Average # days until reject email (with no interview): 23.5
Number of jobs that rejected me same day I applied: 3
Average number of days in interview process (application-to-decision time): 38.4 days
Number of companies I interviewed with who then ghosted me: 7
Award for longest application-to-decision time: Mastercard at 818 days! I made this spreadsheet during unemployment. During that time, I got an email from Mastercard saying I was declined for a position I applied to. I looked in my spreadsheet, and I didn't see it listed. So I looked in my emails and searched for Mastercard. I did indeed interview there (with at least three people) for a communications manager role - in 2022. I got my official rejection from them 818 days later! That role is not listed in the 201 applications.