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Stories to help you stay positive on the job hunt, from women who’ve been there

image via @mollyysalmon/INSTAGRAM

words by Daisy Henry

“Do the best that you can, then go have fun with your friends and talk about something else.”

Job hunting is a humbling experience. You spend weeks scouring LinkedIn, perfecting your cover letter and submitting endless CVs into the digital void, hoping for a reply.

Even if you do finally hear back, you’re not totally in the clear either. You often need to go through a gruelling interview process, with some companies opting for additional writing tests and tasks. In many ways, looking for a full-time job is, in itself, a full-time job.


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Of course, there are many positives in this as well. It builds resilience and helps you connect with new people. Plus, if you’re lucky, it can mean working somewhere you really love. But in my experience, it’s mostly the trenches.

While it starts off motivating, the feeling is often fleeting and you’re often stuck with unsolicited advice from friends and family who just don’t quite understand what the current job market is really like. Thankfully though, there are people who understand the struggle.

Though they might have landed their dream jobs now, I know a number of friends and colleagues who until fairly recently, were trawling job adverts and booking in Zoom interviews in the hope that something might land. Their advice comes from a real place of understanding and their stories will hopefully help you feel a little more seen.

Sohani Goonetillake, journalism Cadet

 

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Last year, I broke a cardinal rule: never quit a job without another lined up. Leaving a stable position wasn’t easy, but travelling and studying in New York over the summer was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. Your twenties are for taking risks and I fully embraced that.

That was until my adventure ended and I felt the immense weight of uncertainty – a tough reality for a type-A personality with back-up plans for back-up plans. After tweaking countless cover letters, I spiralled into self-doubt. Meticulously tracking applications like packages I desperately needed wasn’t helping my sanity but with all the time in the world, what else could I do?

In hindsight, I fell into the trap of equating job rejections with personal failure, as repeated knockbacks chipped away at my self-worth. I can’t emphasise enough, that much like dating, job rejection isn’t a measure of your worth. It’s vital to resist the narrative that hard work guarantees success, as this belief falsely ties self-worth to career achievements.

Struggling to find work is not a personal or moral failing and hiring isn’t strictly merit-based; even strong candidates face rejection due to factors beyond their control, like budget constraints or another applicant’s niche skills. While optimising your resume matters, nothing is more important than prioritising your mental health and resilience. Visualise success and pursue side quests to nurture your self-development.

After a few months of side quests, I’m happy to report that I’ve landed a Cadetship at the ABC, beginning in February. And I’m even happier to confirm that all those people who said, “It’s the economy, not you,” were absolutely right.

@sohani.jpg

Allie Daisy King, freelance social producer and writer

My path to working in media is quite unusual. Until October 2023, I was a kindergarten teacher undertaking a master’s in early childhood education. During my lunch breaks and commutes to work, I was writing articles and editing videos for publications like Fashion Journal, Frankie and Refinery29 Australia. In October of that year, the boss at Refinery29 Australia asked me to apply for their social producer role and within a week I had the job. I was there until my 25th birthday in 2024 when I was made redundant as the publication shut down. This was also great timing for a quarter-life crisis.

I’m in a privileged position to live at home with my parents, so I had the space to wallow in the sadness and allow myself to feel the loss. I had probably ten business days of scrapbooking, watching My Lady Jane and indulging in many sweet treats to make myself feel better. However, I was still productive at this time. I was responding to emails, pitching articles and videos to other publications, and chatting with friends who had been through the media ringer of redundancies and budget cuts.

I think by continuing to write and make videos, I was keeping my name out there and showcasing my tenacity. I think you need to allow yourself to feel every emotion but not get stuck in the trap of feeling sorry for yourself because that doesn’t help in the long run (as soothing as it can be in the moment). Keep on doing what you love and if you keep backing yourself, the right job will come to you.

Within a month of my redundancy era, I was hired at Missing Perspectives to be a part-time social media producer and I have been a regular contributor at Fashion Journal. I think what’s important at this time is to trust that good things are around the corner. If you had told July Allie that by the end of the year that she would have met and interviewed Julia Fox at the NGV Gala, she would have pissed herself laughing. By riding the wave, I was able to find work that I love and find joy in my work again.

@alliedaisyking

Molly Salmon, customer success manager

 

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I’ve always felt quite in control in my life, or at least when I’m not, I tend to ‘trust’ in the universe that all will be well. However, with my career, I could never accept that it would just ‘work out’. I struggled to juggle the pull and tug between creative, academic and corporate pathways when I left university. I wasn’t sure where it was I wanted to end up. I felt like I had all of this passion, willpower, ambition, and drive with nowhere to direct it. I tried to do so many things at once as if it were a process of elimination, and in all of them, I felt detached.

I was on a major job hunt after moving states (which was the push to quit the several jobs I had at once) and I landed a management position in a retail store. It was a great place to meet people in a new city, though it very quickly motivated me to start applying again and this time with purpose. I was applying for both creative and corporate roles, ready for anything that came my way. But soon, the job hunt became monotonous and I turned to AI to write my cover letters. I was churning them out.

Then, on Ethical Jobs, I came across a job advert for Humans of Purpose. It was a little ambiguous but something in me knew I had to put myself out there, be bold and go for it. I have never been more authentic or heartfelt in a cover letter and application in my life. I tried complete honestly and it worked.

If you’re in a similar boat, my advice is to ride it out. Something will come along and though the wait is shit, there is an end. Know what you’re looking for and stay steadfast in that. I’ve learned that when I’m comfortable enough, I might not put the necessary effort to get myself to the place I want to be. By making the situation dire, a little worse, a little more uncomfortable, dare I say desperate, you’ll haul ass to get to where you need to be.

@mollyysalmon

Lara Daly, features editor

 

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The job hunt for my current role coincided with me moving abroad from Auckland to Melbourne, so looking back it was a pretty emotionally turbulent time, with so much change in my life. I resigned from my previous role at Ensemble Magazine about a month before moving to Australia, so I was job hunting while looking for a place to live, writing a few stories freelance and working on a makeup website.

I was applying for all kinds of vaguely fashion and beauty-related comms roles in Sydney and Melbourne. A few interviews at magazines and PR agencies went well and were offered to me but ultimately, they didn’t align with my experience or values. I didn’t feel like I was ‘starting from scratch’ but I also could’ve backed myself and applied for more senior roles. I was searching for about two months in total, I felt stressed the entire time.

A friend who worked at Fashion Journal let me know about an assistant editor role coming up, so I organised my portfolio and cover letter and applied as soon as it went up. While I was in Sydney scoping out other prospects, I interviewed for the role, but didn’t get it. When I found out I was devastated! But a few weeks later, the person who interviewed me called to say a features editor role was coming up and asked if I’d be interested. This felt more aligned with my skills and experience, so of course I said yes and then I had to convince my boyfriend that Melbourne is way cooler than Sydney anyway.

The job hunt is such an emotional rollercoaster. Having your skills, talent and experience constantly questioned and compared is tiring. My advice is to make sure you don’t let it question your self-worth, the best opportunities are all about timing. Do the best that you can, then go have fun with your friends and talk about something else. I’d also suggest hitting up your connections, even if they’re acquaintances. That’s how you’ll find out if a role is coming up or who to talk to that might give you an edge when you apply for a role.

@lara.daly

Elle Burnard, news writer

 

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I’ve been working in the media industry since 2021. I’m currently working as a news writer, but I’ve also been an editor and researcher. In my experience, being on the job hunt is just as stressful and labour-intensive as having an actual nine-to-five, except without the sole benefit of getting paid.

My last job – my dream job, might I add – unfortunately, ended suddenly in redundancy and I saw myself frantically applying to anything and everything that I might be even just slightly qualified for. Looking for a new job is always a bit daunting and I won’t lie and say I wasn’t in a pretty bad emotional state (I was genuinely heartbroken). I was properly searching for about two to three months before I managed to land something, which is surprisingly quick knowing that it can take as long as a whole year before something picks up.

I landed my current job the old-fashioned way: by scouring for anything remotely in my field online and sending my resume absolutely everywhere. I feel very lucky that I managed to find something that actually interests me and that I’m surrounded by great team members.

If you’re currently in the trenches, remember that it’s okay to feel downhearted and upset about not landing a job yet. Unemployment is the pits, even without the looming threat of a cost of living crisis breathing down our necks. I would say that the one thing that got me going is knowing that countless other people have experienced this same situation and that a job isn’t all you are.

Redundancies, being let go or choosing to quit a job isn’t easy, but I promise it isn’t the end of the world! It’s easier said than done but keeping your eyes and ears open for any opportunities, even if it’s in a different field or role that you’re used to, is the sure-fire way of getting somewhere. Adding some of your own personality into your cover letter and interview is also a great way of getting noticed. Don’t just think about what the employer wants to hear, find some way to incorporate yourself into the application.

@elle._.burnard

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