This week, I received a reader question that I cannot answer. So the smart thing is to take a step back and let you ladies answer it.
Hello Abra, I’m a longtime reader (more than 10 years!) and still loving the blog. Thanks for all you pour into it.
I was one of the many contractors laid off in February. I’ve been struggling to hear back to full-time roles since, which is disheartening and scary. The last time I actively looked for roles was 8 years ago, and things have clearly changed. Outside of my close social circle, I haven’t heard anything reliable recently about how people are finding success in this very difficult job market. Do you–or perhaps any other readers–have recent advice?
Thanks again for all the work on this blog and community! Stephanie
Until two summers ago when I left the Legislature, I had never really felt that fear of being unemployed even when I had been searching for work.
In the beginning, you feel confident it will be fine. But a few months go by, and you’re in quicksand. Every choice feels wrong somehow. Every time you don’t hear back feels like a glaring indictment of your hire ability. It’s destabilizing. And I’m sorry for this reader and everyone going through that. My hope is that readers in the federal service or who have had more recent experiences in the job market can assist.
If you have tips or support to offer, please comment below. Also, if you know of available jobs or other resources, leave those as well.
As we have this discussion, while it feels impossible to ignore the politics of why many government and private sector employees are now looking for work, please keep the comments a safe place where Stephanie and those looking for work can seek community and advice.
Not a former Fed employee, but recently laid off and yes, the job market is horrendous.
Add to that economic volatility and the fact that companies are looking for unicorns (I keep getting hey we’re passing on your application and because we found candidates that were a better fit responses to job postings that remain active for months…) and it’s a cluster@#$%.
Reach out to your LinkedIn network to make connections at companies you’d like to work at. Use Jobright.ai to help get your resume ATS and AI ready. Use ChatGPT for first drafts of cover letters. Sign up for LinkedIn Learning (often free via your public library card) and take courses/get certificates to strengthen/expand your skillset.
Okay those are some of the things I’m doing and it’s been over a month so I can’t claim success, but I’m rooting for you!
Check out your local library for resources – I promise they have a lot. And if you are in Maryland (or close by), the state is trying to help you through UMD: https://oce.umd.edu/pathways-forward-hub
Hang in there. If you are in the legal profession, the Law Mamas Jobs Group (which I found through Esquire Moms) on Facebook is a good resource: searchers can get feedback and connections for their search, and people post jobs there as well. If you are not in the legal profession, you could look for similar, industry-specific groups where people post jobs. I know you probably don’t want to pay for a job coach right now, but I have worked with one (admittedly in better economic times), and she was conscious of budget and helped me target areas I needed to improve upon to get the job I wanted. I worked with Anne Collier, who owns Arudia, based in DC.
A friend of a friend works in staffing–it’s not really headhunting. Finding a staffing company and asking if they could find a place for you may be a good path!
I haven’t gotten a new job in 4 years, but I interviewed and got pretty far by finding a job posting in local government. I would never have looked at a literal bulletin board but that’s where they posted positions in my community.
I joined a job search council with Never Search Alone. They pair you with people in a similar situation so you have a support community and give you actionable tasks to land your next job, all for free.
Detailed interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH3nzRdwYPA (also available on podcast platforms)
Where to sign up: https://www.phyl.org
It’s not just you. The DC market is horrible now and I imagine others are similar. Even IT security people – supposedly an “in demand” field – are having difficulty cutting through the noise if they don’t have security clearances. This isn’t helpful and it’s probably not something you don’t already know. But, in the hopes it helps shield your psyche, let me say again, “it’s not you.”
Keep searching for FT jobs but perhaps be also open to consulting gigs. Nonprofits like mine that are impacted by cuts are on hiring freezes but we are still allowed to bring in consultants for concrete projects.
Also: a former colleague is running free group coaching sessions and posts jobs for those impacted by cuts in international development: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7324663095711199232/
My company is fairly small but is hiring and we are in the DC area.
https://primarycarecoalition.applicantstack.com/x/openings#sthash.qgUQySoJ.dpbs
I left a job at the end of 2023 and ended up on contracts for a year and a half before I just got a new full time role. I’m grateful to say it’s a step up in responsibility and compensation, if that’s any sort of light in the darkness.
I was in government for awhile and transitioned to tech several years ago. A few things:
Bulk up your LinkedIn network. Think about people in your network who might be willing to help – I found the most helpful were often the ones I least expected. But go to them with a discrete ask, whether it’s connecting to someone at a certain company, reviewing your resume, skill suggestions, or otherwise.
Depending on your job in government and your skillset, check out the Trust and Safety Professional Association and All Tech is Human. They both host job boards that I’ve found to be better than LinkedIn’s recommendations. Otherwise I recommend searching both LinkedIn and Google for relevant job boards, just proceed with caution as many are junk.
I also echo what others have said – get your resume checked out by a resume writer, use a service like jobscan.co, or try an AI bot (WITH EXTREME CAUTION) to vet your resume for ATS and relevant terms. Also try to find someone in your target industry who can review your resume and perhaps give you advice – I found this invaluable even after months of searching. Make sure to include every.single.hard.skill. you have on your resume somewhere.
For interviews, the best advice I got was to prep your elevator pitch – why you’re unique or someone should hire you, in one or two sentences. Then hammer it home with every anecdote you share.
Good luck. Sending strength and sympathy.
I recently started a phased retirement and I have noticed an uptick of people reaching out for help with a job search.
I respond and act more quickly to those who are honest.
If you share “I’ve recently been laid off” I immediately respond and also assemble a list of open positions for them. Those who start out with “I’m thinking of consulting or considering a career change” don’t get my quick attention.
I agree with posting “I’ve recently been laid off”. Those posts catch my eye and make me more inclined to want to help. Being very specific in what you’re looking is helpful too.
Our mayor in Kansas City said the city would love to hire former federal workers. Not sure what positions are open or if you can/want to move but maybe other cities are doing the same. Sending all the positive vibes and arms around you!!
I was trying to switch sectors and job searched loosely from 2019-2021 and hardcore from 2021-2023. As you can tell from this timeline, it was not easy. My advice is to build a main resume with all of your accomplishments and roles, and then tailor each resume for the type of job you’re applying for by pulling relevant bullet points per position. I ended up having three sub-resumes – fundraising, research, and program development. I definitely recommend this if you’ve been in a role with a lot of different responsibilities and you are open to the type of position you’re looking for.
I also did a version of this for cover letters. As someone in a hiring role, my strongest recommendation is to put time into your cover letter to make the case about why you are good for the role and should be considered for an interview. I again had a template-ish of sentences or points speaking to different aspects of my roles and used that to compile individual cover letters for each position. As a hiring manager, it’s hard to make the connection between the person and the job for resumes without cover letters, or even generic cover letters.
I also kept a spreadsheet of where I applied, when I applied, if I heard back for an interview, and put a copy of the job description in a document in case they took the posting down.
Good luck. Job searching is Sisyphean and I hate that federal workers and contractors are dealing with this through no fault of their own.
I used to be a government contractor and when I left that world (10+ years ago) one of the places I didn’t think to look until a former coworker reached out to me was with utilities. If you’re in Virginia, Dominion Energy is a great employer and has a wide variety of positions posted (business analytics, IT, planning, supply chain, etc.). Good luck!
I’m grateful for this community and this post. While I would like to change companies due to salary caps, I feel locked in.
On the other side, I’m recruiting for part time staff for a project I run in Raleigh, NC. (not a sector I think this community would be interested in) It has been incredibly difficult to find legitimate applicants. My inbox is full of applicants that seem to be submitted by bots or are completely unrelated to the job posting. I highly encourage people to search for contact information for the company they are targeting and reach out directly to individuals on top of any job board submission. I always search for those people among the applicants that are sent from ADP/Indeed, etc. My second tip is to always fill out all the boxes in those job board submissions, especially salary expectations and your location. You can certainly lie if you want to, but unless your resume is a perfect fit, I will prioritize applicants I know come close to my needs and what I can offer instead of applicants that are unknown quantities.
I was a political appointee who obviously lost her job on January 20, and it took me close to five months of intense networking to find a new job that I’ll be starting next week, so I really do feel your pain and I am so sorry you’re having to go through this – non-politicals are never supposed to experience dislocation because of a change in Administration.
I know it’s stereotypical DC advice, but I do recommend focusing on reaching out to your network of existing contacts from prior work. Be honest that you’ve been laid off because of the ~waves hands at chaos ~ people are extremely sympathetic about it.
Be very specific about what you’re looking for. Have a tight pitch explaining the type of organization and role you want to land at. If you want to use the opportunity to pivot, still be concrete and tangible in your interest and asks. People want to be helpful but you really have to spoon feed them what you need.
I echo advice already given about using a spreadsheet to keep track of where you’ve applied, who you’ve reached out to about what, etc. Being organized will help you ID people you can follow up with with concrete asks to flag your resume for a job, connect you with someone else, etc.
Good luck, and remember, IT IS NOT YOU. It is an incredibly shitty job market in DC right now.
Hi! Not a federal employee, but my company filed bankruptcy in December 2023 with zero warning and zero severance. Anytime I applied to a role, I would search the company on LI and see if I had any 1st or 2nd degree connections to it. If I did, I would reach out to the person, explain that I’m looking and the role I applied for. I am NOT a networker by nature, so this was not a comfortable task, but it helped me get a couple of my interviews.
Some additional suggestions:
– If you need to pivot to a new sector, reach out to contacts working in that sector for informational interviews so you have insights before/while you are applying. Or ask your contacts to introduce you to their contacts who work in the sector. I’ve found a strong referral has resulted in senior people making time to spend 30 minutes talking to me – and those conversations have given me valuable insights into new places to look and what to do (and not do) in a job search.
– https://www.askamanager.org/ is a great resource
Echoing the points about being open to opportunities via LinkedIn. People want to help. I help anyone I can, having been unemployed for uncomfortable stretches. I received interviews not knowing anyone at the company but my best options have been through networking.
My other important tip is try to find the hiring manager rather than deal solely with HR if you can. I just hired someone, and HR just didn’t screen properly for the employee I needed.
Please hang in there. Something will come through.