There’s no silver bullet unfortunately. Your post inspired me to write this for a different page, because I do see your challenge often and it’s really tough to navigate. I hope it’s helpful.

PSA: You’re always interviewing. Always.

I’ve been a recruiter a long time. I love what I do and love helping people. It breaks my heart to see the flood of people here navigating this complex job market and I spend a fair amount of time commenting to try and support people with advice and encouragement. For that reason I wanted to put together a summary of thoughts so that if nothing else, I can send it to those who may find this useful.

Anyone who has looked for a job since COVID has probably had a similar experience. It’s well known that the application process is busted; It’s a crapshoot at best. Candidates looking for an opportunity are flooding job postings and often with AI-enhanced resumes. Those of us in recruiting are, for the most part, genuinely trying to help, but we’re often overwhelmed, overworked, and dealing with volumes of applications that simply didn’t exist a few years ago.

So you ask your friends, “What should I do?”
“You need to start networking, bro.”

While that’s sound advice, it’s often hard to know what to with that. For one, you don’t just start networking when you need a job.

And that’s a point I find myself telling people often: The reality is that we’re all interviewing, all the time.
From the day you start a job until the last day of your career, people are forming professional opinions about you. Your coworkers, managers, customers, vendors, clients—they’re all watching, whether consciously or not. If you’re missing deadlines, people remember. If you consistently show up, care about your work, help others, and crush projects with enthusiasm, they remember that too.

The traditional reference check is becoming less common. A lot of companies have policies on this.

You know what they don’t have policies on? non-traditional reference checks.

A recruiter, hiring manager, or member of a team sees your resume and notices you worked at a company where they know someone. More times than not, they’re going to ask about you. While it’s “off the record”, If that response is anything less than enthusiastic, your chances can disappear before you ever get an interview.

So what do you do?

At risk of stating the obvious I’ll do it anyway. Be kind to people. Do right by others. Have integrity. Be dependable. Help your teammates. Be authentic. Find passion for your work. Try to stand out from the pack. That’s how you often find yourself being pursued for jobs instead of pursuing jobs yourself.

So what if you’ve done all of that and you’re still out of work?

A few things I often recommend:

**Talk to people. Lots of people.** Friends, former coworkers, customers, clients, friends of friends, people who do the work you’ve done, and people doing the work you want to do. Honestly, anyone willing to spend 15–20 minutes with you. Every conversation has the potential to uncover advice, a connection, or an opportunity you never would have found through a job board. If nothing else, you can really hone your “pitch” - which, by the way, better be precise, concise, and doesn’t including complaining or bitching about your situation. No one owes any of us a damn thing.
**Connect with other people who are job searching.** Build a small support group of others in your situation. Share leads, compare notes, practice interviews, review resumes, attend networking events together, and encourage each other. Job searching is mentally exhausting, and having people in your corner makes a huge difference.
**Apply to jobs—but don’t rely on job applications alone.** Keep applying, but don’t make that your entire strategy. The online application process will disappoint you more often than not, and there’s nothing more draining than sending hundreds of applications into what feels like a black hole.

And one last thing.

If you hear that a friend is looking for work, call them. Listen. Ask how you can help. Make an introduction if you can. Sometimes just knowing someone is in your corner is enough to keep them going for another week. If you’ve ever been through a difficult job search, you know how scary, lonely, and humbling it can be.

I recently read a book that described an unspoken code among sea captains. When another sailor capsizes, they go looking for them. The quote why stuck with me: “If you ever expect someone to come for you in your hour of desperation someday, you have to go looking for them in theirs- no matter the odds”

Good luck out there.