The isolation and frustration can be overwhelming some days - riding an emotional roller coaster of emotions, from hope to heartbreak and excitement to depletion. Luckily, my optimist-at-heart side almost always wins out. But it’s not easy. Welcome to the life of a job-seeker.
Looking for a job is one of the most demeaning, demanding, lonely and gut-wrenching experiences I’ve ever encountered – and I’ve experienced quite a lot, believe me. If misery loves company, though, there are thousands of people to ride out the storm with, on LinkedIn.
There’s a place where everybody knows my name or is willing to learn it – LinkedIn. I’ve discovered this to be an incredibly welcoming world for professional networking, real job leads and support from the outside world. When you are a job seeker on LinkedIn, first connections become lifelines; second connections can open doors to career opportunities you’re dreaming about. Strangers states away can be surprisingly responsive and even go to bat for you with their colleagues.
My 900-plus connections on LinkedIn have always been there. I’ve been a frequent visitor for years, checking my newsfeed several times a day to keep up on industry news, interesting articles and people’s promotions and changes. It was always a great resource to stay connected career-wise. But, in the past few months, as I’ve been looking for a close-to-perfect job, it’s become way more than a resource. It’s an incredible support network literally and emotionally.
When a friend of a friend – or a friend of a friend of a friend – appears to work at one of the companies I am most interested in, we connect, and suddenly, my resume – one of several hundred – gets to the top of the recruiter’s pile for an interview. When former colleagues reach out to their connections at companies posting for positions I am after, they become my contacts, too. When I contact perfect strangers simply because they are also senior-level digital health communications professionals at fast-growing companies I’m reading about, they communicate back to me – and almost always reach out to their leadership or recruiters on my behalf. This has happened several times, and it doesn’t matter that I’m in DC and he’s in Miami; it just matters we have a third connection in common and they like my LinkedIn profile experience and tone of my note.
LinkedIn also reassures job seekers, on a daily basis, that no matter how frustrated you believe your situation is, someone has it so much worse. My heart breaks for job seekers posting they are going on month six of looking for work, when I’m just nearing month two. Of people who were laid off overnight, when I willingly left a workplace I loved. Of people living in geographic areas with struggling job markets, like Washington State, instead of me, in Washington, DC.
Still, I hope for the best for my fellow-job seekers, and when they post sad updates on LinkedIn, I am happy to see the hundreds of people comment, encouraging them to keep up the fight. I comment, too. I am one of them, despite years and years of success and strong progression in my career, dozens of outstanding recommendations, and a resume reflecting lots of well-known companies and responsible positions.
On LinkedIn, every job seeker is, when it comes to the emotional playing field, an equal. Sure, there are some segments of folks more like me that I relate to and root for (and vice versa) – single moms, marketing professionals, GenXers hitting unique search struggles due to their higher levels and aging selves.
But I am not alone. Recruiters post tips and words of encouragement. Professionals offer resume reviews for free. Executives share links to new positions their companies are hiring for. And total strangers are building a sense of a job seeker community that might just save people’s sanity AND lead to successful new jobs for almost everyone.
I know many studies and stories spotlight how technology and all people’s time online can be wasteful, lead to real-life isolation from conversation and disconnection from the real world. But as a job seeker on LinkedIn, I’ve found a community that keeps me connected – and cares.
I might even miss it when I graduate out into the “real” world and into a new job.
I’ll be sure to post any good news on LinkedIn.
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