There’s a small continuation to the post I wrote a couple of days ago — or maybe a clarification.
I don’t think people who complain about their job-search experience and explain it through the current market situation are doing anything bad. Everyone has their own way of coping with stress, and job hunting is often a stressful process.
The real problem, the real evil, is the posts written by HRs, “industry experts,” and other unpleasant characters who write things like:
“I’ve put together a list of 3️⃣3️⃣ MOST DANGEROUS words you ⛔️ MUST NOT include in your résumé! Comment ‘spisska’ below and I’ll DM you the PDF!”
These people are doing something genuinely harmful — they’re selling fear. It’s profitable for them when people believe in a mysterious job market that magically prevents anyone from getting hired unless you delete the 33 forbidden words, wiggle your hips in the interview as if you already work there, and create 105 versions of your résumé for 52 job openings. Because when the “market is tough,” they can sell even more fear, get even more reach, and convert that reach into sales for their unique course on “How to Get a Job in 2025.”
And the funny thing is: most of your friends are currently employed. Which means that at some point — fairly recently — they managed to sell their time to a company, and continue proving that their time is still worth paying for. Yet most of these same friends are convinced it’s incredibly hard to find a job right now. Why? Because people don’t go to interviews when they’re not actively job hunting. Their only source of information about the market is:
- posts from people who are genuinely struggling right now, and
- fear-selling content from those who profit from that struggle.
When I see someone frantically rewriting their résumé after one rejection and ten fear-selling posts, I imagine a car driving from Budapest to Amsterdam — not a short trip. The driver wants to get there faster so badly that he follows every random piece of advice: moves cigarette butts from one ashtray to another, closes the windows, moves the butts back again. The car’s speed doesn’t change, but the driver feels exhausted — instead of enjoying the scenery, he’s playing ashtray Tetris. Instead of watching the road, he’s zipping and unzipping his fly, because, well, the KNOWING EXPERTS said so!
Look: job hunting is not an easy journey for most of us. There’s a lot of uncertainty and fear in it — we don’t know how each company runs its hiring process, we don’t know whether the HR will like us, or the hiring manager, or their manager. But the problem is this: unless someone tells you directly, “To get into my company you must do XYZ,” that person is also selling you a mystery box disguised as expert advice.
Afraid of uncertainty? Great. Find a healthier way to reduce it. Go to interviews even when you’re not looking for a job. See what kind of job you can always land. For example, I personally feel much calmer knowing that I can always work as a bike courier — riding around the city, bringing people good food.
Stick to one strategy for at least a few weeks — give yourself a chance to measure the results of changing it.
And screw the fear-sellers, honestly. You’re a handsome/beautiful human being, my dear.