Community in the Job Hunt

The job hunt is challenging.

When we are underemployed.
When we are fully employed but looking for something else.
When we are unemployed and seeking work full time.

Even if we had been taught at one point in time how to apply for jobs and write resumes, the world is changing so quickly and what was a sure fire option 5 years ago, might not get any traction now. Add in the variable of industry or geographical location and it is easy to feel like we are all out here on our own just throwing darts in the dark until we get a bulls-eye (or maybe even just a high enough score to take an offer, best or not).

In addition to these kinds of "know what works" kinds of challenges, the largest challenge I have found in a season of "job hunting" is a bit of isolation.

If we are employed and looking, we don't typically tell our coworkers that we are looking (certainly not a great move to inform managers, and even telling trusted co-workers can get messy real fast). If we are not currently employed, we aren't just separated from others who are in the job hunt, we are often separated from everyone. Not having a team or community at work can be very draining socially and emotionally.

What would a Community even look like?

I don't have anything nailed down, but I can see a lot of opportunities that a community might bring resolution to:

• Shared experiences about what worked and what didn't work in the job hunt
• Discussion around goals, game plans, defining for ourselves how we plan to achieve those goals
• Brainstorming tactics to achieve specific goals
• Building a community of knowledge, connections, and know how

There are plenty of logistics, frequency of connection, location (virtual or in-person), specific geographic or industry focus. These are things that can be sorted.

How about you?

If you are on the job hunt, what is it that you are looking for? What is it that you have noticed you are lacking in your process?