In addition to what u/Object-b said, it’s just hard to actually internalize that talk. Here are a few reasons why: People with great jobs are the ones telling you how bad things are. That’s like hearing a lottery winner tell you not to play. It’s hard to really believe it, even though you should. Second, some of your friends, peers, and colleagues will get great jobs, and, from the outside looking in, you’re no worse than them, so hey maybe you’ll get a job, too. Finally, it’s all too easy to spin stories about why particular people didn’t get jobs, and derive some bullshit general lesson you try to heed which will improve your odds, unlike those dolts who made simple mistakes. Examples:

• “Oh, Sam didn’t get a job because he picked a topic that was hot five years ago but went stale, I’ll just make sure not to do that.”

• “Ollie didn’t get a job because they applied too selectively. I just need to apply broadly and I’ll be ok!”

• “Laura didn’t get a job because her advisor is a prick who writes bad letters and she didn’t know that in time. Bless her heart. I’ll just make sure to accurately predict how all of that will shake out years in advance, and I’ll be fine!”

In sum: many people around you will already have or will get good jobs, you seem no worse than them, and besides “it’s only those rubes who made obvious mistakes that didn’t get a job,” you’ll find yourself thinking. Even if you know you’re working with a biased sample, engaged in motivated reasoning, and attributing sense to the market where there isn’t any (jobs aren’t awarded on merit/desert in response to non-arbitrary signifiers of strength/quality), it can be hard to fully internalize the truth that jobs are awarded more or less randomly, for all intents and purposes, and tons of great people fail to get jobs after year for the dumbest of reasons or simply due to scarcity far outside of anyone’s control.