post #33 - control what you can, forget the rest

Happy Thursday 💙

I took this picture on my walk to the park this morning. This park is farther away from my home than the one I usually walk through so I had a lot of time to think.

The job market right now is brutal for job seekers like me. Companies and recruiters have the upper hand and they know it. And they're taking advantage of it. It's up to candidates to start pushing back.

I've seen many posts from job seekers complaining about being ghosted. About not getting feedback. About being rushed to interview and then finding out that others had rescheduled theirs. About doing projects that took a lot of time and then have been told the role is on hold. About another round of interviews being added. The list goes on and on.

And I get it, it's frustrating. I find myself commenting things like "until candidates stop doing free work, companies are going to continue to ask for it" and "you have the option of bowing out anytime you want". I don't say those things to be contrary, I say them to try to help candidates take control of what they can. I realize some don't have the luxury of pushing back (and I've acknowledged that in my comments), and I know some job seekers are dangerously close to losing their homes, and I feel for them, I really do. But job seekers need to start taking control of what they can, don't allow the system to push you around. If a company treats you like a commodity during the interview process, how do you think they're going to treat you if you're hired? The interview process is a window into corporate culture, look at it. Study it. If you are only given one choice for an interview time then find out that other candidates were allowed to reschedule multiple times, that's telling you something. This company doesn't treat people the same. Do you really want to work someplace where you're given a hard deadline but a coworker's moves? I wouldn't.

Hang in there, job seekers. I know it's tough. Take control of what you can and forget the rest.

#freelancer #FreelanceWork #FreelanceLife #WorkFromHome #RemoteWork #KnowYourWorth #JobHuntingChronicles

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