This is me validating your frustrations with job searching

Hello Reader,

How long does it take to get a job? Is it harder now than it was a couple years ago, or a decade ago?

These are questions that came up in my live small group session for members of my PhD Career Clarity Program yesterday. There aren’t easy answers, not without more info and checking with specialists in different career areas.

“My friends told me I’d get a job in 3-6 months no problem. But now I’m five months in and frustrated.” Relatable?

The thing is, it might well take that long. It can take much longer. The devil is in the details.

This client has been doing what I’d consider to be a strategic job, emphasizing networking and select applying to roles in her target areas. And she is getting interviews.

There’s a lot to celebrate here even if the ultimate goal remains unmet.

Here’s something to remind yourself of: There’s so much you don’t know about what’s going on in any hiring process. Budget issues, shifting company priorities, unexpected staff departures, lack of clarity about what kind of person they even want to hire. None of this is known to applicants.

My point? You rarely have enough information to judge whether not getting an offer has anything to do with you at all.

You can only do your part. Clarify your goals, talk to people, get strategic, and apply, interview, and negotiate like you deserve to have a great career and life, whatever that means for you.

“I know it’s nearly impossible to get fully remote jobs but it’s what I need to avoid an hour+ commute.”

At least two of my clients in recent memory got fully remote positions, one just last month! She’s quitting her faculty position, starting a great role in a new industry, and—bonus for her and her family—not moving anywhere.

So, hey, yes, remote positions may be less plentiful than we’d like, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get one if that’s particularly important to you.

“How hard is it going to be to get a job in a place I don’t live?”

I’ve got a client story about this too.

A postdoc is winding up her work (earlier than expected) and moving to where she wants to live and then beginning a new job in a new sector she’s excited about. All that’s happening this month. Yay!

Let’s end on that positive.

If you’re frustrated by what’s not happening, please acknowledge what you are doing right, whether it’s in your professional or personal life.

If things aren’t working, it may help to check in with trusted friends and colleagues, to get a sense whether you’re missing something or this is just the way of the world, keep at it.

Sometimes validation that this isn’t your fault, that you’re doing what you can, that in the meantime you might want to cut yourself some slack and go do something fun for yourself is the thing you need right now.

What’s Happening

Free Wednesday co-working continues; sign up on my website.
Want more co-working? Sign up for Flow Club, where I’m a regular host. Use my link to get a free two-week trial.
A few professors have booked 1:1 sessions with me lately, so let me remind you that this service exists: Schedule a consult with me (1 hour; US$225). If the full PhD Career Clarity Program isn’t the right fit for you but you still want to work with me, we can do that. And it can just be a one-time thing; no long-term commitment required or expected.

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Pulled toward trumps pushed away from

In politics as in job searches →

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On using (or not) our doctorates

Share your perspective →

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The value of referrals for job seekers

Great advice in the replies →

What to know something totally unrelated to my work that I’m appreciating lately?

A few weeks ago I discovered an app called Too Good to Go, which aims to reduce food waste by partnering with stores and restaurants to sell off food that’s still good enough to eat, but no longer in a condition where they can or want to sell it at regular price.

That means you can buy food for less (as long as you’re prepared to eat, freeze, or cook it pretty quick).

The catch is you never know exactly what you’re going to get because you’re buying “surprise bags.”

Personally, I love this. It’s fun. It forces me to get creative with what I bring home, but in a way that feels energizing instead of draining.

For example, last night’s dinner was a delicious homemade mixed mushroom soup. I haven’t even bought mushrooms in years. But I got some in a bag and enjoyed the process of figuring out what to make with them as much as I enjoyed eating my soup!

Tell me about your new hobbies or distractions, if you want 😄.

Thanks for reading this week,

Jen

P.S. Want to explore working with me? Visit my Services page to learn about options, or reply to this email and let me know what you want my help with!

Jennifer Polk, PhD