You’ve been laid off and no one is coming to your rescue. You might’ve not liked your job before but you at least knew how to wake up and plant your oats. Now you have an infinite amount of time, and no one talks about how difficult this is. So you wake up and do what you know how to do. You pop up open your personal laptop and start browsing the job boards for your future. The possibilities are endless. You feel a rush of hope at what could be. You are now a master of your own destiny, you WILL dictate what you want to do every day and how much to be paid for it.
You apply to a few, half dozen jobs and go on about the rest of your day. You feel accomplished about putting in the grind and you can’t wait for the new opportunities the next day will bring. The next morning there are no news. No one read your tailored cover letter, no one was impressed with your new resume tweaks - but then again, it’s only been one day. It will probably take about a week before they can finally see your application, right?
What a fool you were. It’s been 3 months of knocking on doors and your knuckles are sore from banging on the doors so hard. What have you been doing with your infinite time? Hopefully something worthwhile. The doors have led to nowhere. Some doors had nothing but a brick wall right behind them. Others have just been slammed in your face. You’ve tailored your resume and have created multiple versions, one for each main category to better highlight your skills. You’ve applied to so many jobs your inbox is now full of more unread rejection responses than you care to read. Maybe you’ve been to picky, you’ve been asking for too much.
So you ask for less, and promise on your interviews to give more. You ask for an opportunity because now you realize the job market is bad. You tell them you’re available immediately and have no upcoming vacations, just to make yourself more competitive. But still, no opportunities are given. Only rejections. You had another career path in the past and yet you chose this one. Maybe you’re contemplating if it was the wrong choice. But it’s too late now.
This time has not been a complete waste, however. Now you know who your friends are. Now you know what you are truly worth and what you need to work on. It hasn’t been easy but you’ve carried yourself. You are who has truly been with you the whole way - and you will not let yourself down!