Five job-seekers in the last week confided in me that they're doubting their marketability because they aren’t getting the responses they’re used to.
What I told them applies to you, too:
It’s not you . . . it’s the job market.
(I mean, maybe it’s you, if you have a reputation for quiet quitting or loud criticism. But odds are you’re a gamer like most PR pros I know.)
If you expect interviews just for applying . . . or offers just for the right experience . . . your perspective has been skewed by the magical years after 2020.
The previous four years were objectively the best job market in a generation – maybe ever.
When I started the Inner Circle in November 2009, there were SIX unemployed people for every job opening. This chart from the Bureau of Labor Statistics will make you feel way better about yourself – if not a bit worse about the market (wince).
By 2022, the ratio flipped – two OPENINGS for every unemployed person. That’s why recruiters were cold-emailing you, and every application led to an interview.
Now it’s one-to-one, just like the two years pre-pandemic. Still way better than the previous decade.
So how do you adapt to this return to normal?
Too much work? Does any of that make you uncomfortable? That’s totally fine – if you’re content to stay where you are.
But if you’re looking for something more, you gotta accept the new (actually old) reality that the world has changed and getting a better job takes effort.
Put your head down and you’ll get there :).
This article was originally published on March 6, 2025
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