Struggling to Find a Job? Build a Career Community

We are in an unprecedented job market where large swaths of career functions are disappearing. Just look at software engineers as a cautionary tale: as recently as a year ago, majoring in computer science and getting an entry-level job paying six figures was an assured path. Now in just a couple of months, AI is claiming these early stage jobs, leaving the class of 2025 with fewer options.

And as the Trump Administration has quickly and callously eliminated and forced the restructuring of a large majority of paths in government work, including jobs for highly skilled and specialized scientists, academics, and non-profit workers, the field has further narrowed. Those who have pledged their lives to curing disease and aiding the underserved are now competing for jobs in the private sector with the challenge of identifying transferable skills and retooling for a completely new type of role.

People are understandably bewildered.

What I see missing with my clients, especially those on their 20’s, is a sense of community, an inkling that they have a lot of company in these complex times. Instead of boldly reaching out to peers and those who can help with information or job leads, they hide their joblessness in shame and fear of being found out. They feel unworthy. They spend too much time on social media, feeling jealous of those with seemingly great jobs and perfect lives. They are anxious and depressed.

When I ask what their friends do for work, or what those friends struggle with, they don’t know. And because my clients are in hiding, their friends can’t help because they haven’t been given directives as to what my clients are seeking and what they have to offer.

We are in a new world and social media amplifies confusion and encourages isolation. What people need right now is a community of purpose and camaraderie, to help each other and build each other’s confidence through a process of identifying core strengths and values, and clarifying each person’s potential contribution to specific roles and organizations.

This work is not successful in a vacuum, it requires a community and a system to show each person what they can deliver and how to translate their skill story into terms organizations can understand.

Lack of community leads to lack of confidence, and job seekers today need both more than ever. Post-Covid, people crave togetherness and the personal connections and relational abilities that in many cases have been dormant for five years.

There are still many opportunities for humans in the workplace, but more than ever we’ve become independent entities with skills, aptitudes and values that require synthesis and structure to appeal to those who will hire us as we build an interconnecting web of job-ready moves. In the foreseeable future, this web will replace the career track we’ve clung to for the past hundred years.

If you are interested in joining a career community with myself and a talented HR and leadership consultant, we are building one now.

For more information, contact me here.