So far, in 2024, the job market has been getting tougher. Layoffs are up, wage growth is slowing down, and unemployment has ticked up to 3.9%.
Frustrated job seekers have taken to social media to share their experiences in this market, including one woman who holds two degrees and speaks three languages but is at the point where she's applying to minimum-wage jobs just to try to make ends meet.
Recently, 26-year-old recruiter Kourtlynn Faith (@Kourtlynn_) has been going viral on TikTok for sharing what she's seeing on the hiring side and why some companies are currently so slow to fill open roles.
In a video that's been viewed over 1.4 million times, Kourtlynn begins by sharing her own tough journey in the recent job market. She says, "I was laid off three times last year. It took me seven months to find a job."
According to Forbes, over 305,000 American workers were laid off in 2023.
She continues, saying, "I was not the only person in recruiting or HR that was laid off. If you have a company that has 300 jobs listed, you might only have five recruiters for all 300 of those roles."
Not only are there fewer recruiters at many companies, but Kourtlynn says they're also being bombarded with résumés. "If you have 300 roles posted, you have 2,000 people applying to each role. How long do you think that takes? Of those thousands of people that apply, maybe more than half of them apply to roles they're not qualified for."
Kourtlynn explains that in the past, it was easier to get hired for jobs where you're not a perfect match to the qualifications. However, now, she says, "Companies are not willing to spend the money or the time to train people."
Kourtlynn told BuzzFeed that she's never seen hiring take this long: "Companies are very slow to hire. They're more strategic and have smaller headcount, which results in spending more time to find the best hire so they don't have to spend more money on resources, training, and high turnover repair."
So, what's a job seeker to do? Kourtlynn shared four things she would do if she were unemployed right now:
1. First things first, Kourtlynn says she would go through her résumé and make sure it aligns with the skills in the job postings she's applying to. "If a job posting lists something that I know I can do but I don't have it on my résumé, I will add it. I have multiple resumes saved because my résumé is not one-size-fits-all for the positions posted."
2. Next, she would network, network, network. "At every company I've been at, all referrals must be contacted or interviewed at some point. The referral may not make it past the recruiter to the hiring manager, but you will speak to someone."
3. Kourtlynn also recommends being intentional in your job search and targeting only roles you're certain you're a fit for. "At one point, I was applying to every role I saw on LinkedIn — it wasn't until I became strategic that I was able to land a job."
4. She suggests applying with temp agencies and staying off the beaten job-board path. "I would go to temp agencies. Research companies and apply on their websites, not through sites like LinkedIn or Indeed."
And Kourtlynn shared two key tips for anyone who's currently employed who might be job searching soon:
1. "Job security is not all that secure right now," Kourtlynn says. So she's constantly updating her résumé and building her network, she says, because you never really know where your next exciting opportunity might come from.
2. She also encourages people to occasionally apply for new jobs, even if they're pretty happy where they are. "I have screened countless people who are currently in a role and are considering other options. It's smart to stay abreast of openings and to keep your interview skills sharp."
Finally, she says that since the job market is tough right now, it's important to keep having conversations about the challenges job seekers face. "The field is flooded with people who NEED a job, and because of that, someone is willing to take a job for less money (I'm making less than I ever have in my career) because we have to survive. I hope that candid conversations around the state of employment and the hiring process will bring about change."
"We have to help each other, those that we see on LinkedIn, our network, our friends, and family."
Are you in the job market right now? Share your experiences with trying to get hired in 2024 in the comments!
