If you’re asking, why am I still unemployed and what to do about it, you’re not alone. Asking these questions is the first step towards finding a job. Unemployment is a situation that almost everyone, if not everyone, will at some point experience in their working life. Being unemployed describes someone who is actively looking for work but has not yet been able to find a job. Being unemployed can be attributable to socio political influences, general state of the global economy or structural changes, which aren’t in your control. Not being able to find a job, however, could also be linked to your personal context. Like where you chose to live or your current skills set don’t match what you want to do.
The reality is that not all unemployment factors (reasons) are within your control, however your response and what you do while you’re looking for employment is. And how you approach things mentally and practically can be key to finding a job.
Three Primary Reasons for Unemployment:
- Economic Factors
- Structural Factors
- Personal Factors
It’s easy to feel discouraged when you don’t get the job opportunity you want. The reality is that the job market is highly competitive, and you won’t get offered every job you apply for. It’s not necessarily a reflection on yourself, rather it means someone else was more suitable. Therefore, what you need to do is persevere to find a job that’s right for you.
“While we might not be able to control being unemployed, we can control how we react to it.”
Allan Pike, CEO, The Key Recruitment Group
This article explains how these three factors could relate to you being unemployed and what you can do to better mitigate their impact. As well what you can do to make yourself more employable while you’re looking for a job.
Reasons for being Unemployed
When considering why I am I still unemployed there is an additional reason to the three primary factors that should be taken into account. There is the country or the local economy’s natural rate of unemployment which is also known as frictional unemployment.
The Natural Rate of Unemployment
The natural rate of unemployment is how much unemployment can be expected to be present in a healthily functioning economy. It’s expressed as a percentage of a country’s total labour force and exists even when an economy is operating at a full-employment potential. Which means, sometimes finding a job just takes time and you need to be patient.
However, in reality the unemployment rate is dynamic and it’s unusual for an economy to operate at the natural rate of unemployment. It’s notable that in South Africa the unemployment rate is extraordinarily high and regarded as expanding and persistent. This means that while you’re looking for a job, you need to continuously ensure that you’re increasingly more employable while using the best job seeking strategy.
Economic Reasons for Unemployment
There are several drivers of economic reasons for unemployment. For example, economic recession, government policies, changes in labour and market demands and competition. You can’t control economic factors of unemployment. Within a context of decreased labour demand, networking is key to increasing your visibility and thereby improving chances of finding a job. Proactive networking means building strategic relationships, finding a mentor, attending job fairs and networking events.
Structural Reasons for Unemployment
Structural factors that influence unemployment include outsourcing, technology changes and a mismatch of job-worker skills. These explanations cause shifts in the economy’s structure and is therefore influenced by more than expected cycles within an economy. Consequently, you need to find out what’s happening in the industry you want to work within. Then adjust what you’re doing while waiting for a job accordingly. For example, if there’s been a technological advancement. You need to work on expanding your skill set to align with potential employer’s adjusted job requirements so that your skill set matches.
Personal Reasons for Unemployment
Unlike economic and structural factors, personal reasons for unemployment are often ones you can partially or fully address.
7 Personal Factors for Unemployment
- Negative Mindset and Demotivation
- Personal Circumstances
- Lack and/or miss match of Skills or Education
- Job Search Difficulties
- Geographical Location
- Voluntary Unemployment
- Employment Track Record
How to Combat a Negative Mindset and Demotivation
Having a negative mindset can perpetuate unemployment and feeling demotivated can immobilise you. The challenge is the longer you look for a job and the more times your application is unsuccessful, keeping positive becomes increasingly difficult.
“If you remember one thing”, says Allan Pike, “remember this, landing a job offer can often be a bit of a lottery. And like a lottery, you will not get every job you apply for. So, when it doesn’t come off, think of it as a lottery and you simply apply again”.
To combat feeling anxious and depressed, it’s important to keep a perspective of the prevailing market conditions and that you are not alone. Also, it’s helpful to have a daily routine that includes self-care, regular exercise, good nutrition and enough sleep. As well as meeting up with friends and continuing to do things you enjoy.
Another key aspect to preventing a negative mindset as well as buffering against demotivation is how you frame and phrase your unemployment.
How You Say You’re Unemployed is Critical
How you phrase things while you unemployed makes a big difference to your perception and attitude towards being unemployed. It also impacts people around you. Knowing and being clear and sincere about what you are good at and what you enjoy doing in your conversations is a positive approach. Most often your attitude determines how much encouragement and support you get and how potential employers and recruiters interact with you.
Start with thinking about the focus of you saying why you’re unemployed. For example, are you transitioning? Do you need time for personal development? Are you proactively making changes in your life? The most neutral phrase is that “You’re between jobs”. However, there are more positive ways to phrase unemployment. These can start conversations that could lead to potential employment opportunities rather than create awkward moments.
Examples of Positive Words for Unemployment
- Temporary Pause (break) to recalibrate.
- Taking a Sabbatical.
- Time for Growth or Investing in Yourself.
- Exploring New Opportunities.
- Starting a New Chapter.
It’s important to be keep your rhetoric and body language positive and upbeat. Even when you don’t feel it. Therefore, two phrases to avoid when you are saying you’re unemployed: I’ve been laid off and I’m jobless.
Motivation and keeping a positive mindset re-enforce each other. Therefore, adopting strategies to boost and keep your motivation levels high is great habit to get into while you’re unemployed. Job seekers with a positive attitude who are motivated have been shown to outperform colleagues who aren’t.
5 Ways to Keep Motivated while Looking for a Job
- Set yourself up like it’s your job to find a job
- Create your Goals and an Action Plan
- Prioritise
- Reward Yourself
- Build a Professional Support System by Networking
Best Ways to Address Personal Circumstances that Hold You Back
Personal circumstances, such as ill health, family responsibilities or absence of resources, can hamper employability. The approach to addressing these types of challenges is to analyse the situation and create a prioritised list. Then start a discussion with your support network (family, friends and community workers) to explore solutions. Practically, the type of job you look for might need to be tailored to the type of support you can get. For example, remote or hybrid work, jobs that have flexible hours or freelance and contract work.
Lack of Skills or Education: How to Upskill Yourself for Free
There are numerous free courses available online. These are ideal for those who want to upskill themselves while unemployed but have limited resources. For example, online platforms like Google who has the Google Analytics Academy with analytics and data analysis courses. The Open University offer a range of courses including Money and Business, Education & Development, Languages, Science, Digital and Computing. Other courses can be attained from edX, Coursera, FutureLearn and Alison.
Combating Job Search Difficulties
There are practical steps you can take to make finding a job easier. The first step is to look at your CV and covering letters. Both of which need to be customised to highlight your skill set and experiences. One way to get noticed by a company is to have a great video CV. If you lack experience, then look at how to write a skills-based CV.
Make sure your CV accurately reflects not just “what” you are, but also “who” you are. And “remember that your education, training and background may define ‘what’ you are, but ‘who’ you are will define what you become”, says Allan Pike.
While you’re refining your CV, it’s a good idea to improve your interview skills. You can do this by staging mock-interviews with questions you find online. Practice being interviewed in front of a mirror or with a trusted friend or family member. By practicing you’ll boost your confidence and be prepared for a range of possible questions.
How do I make Myself a More Appealing Employee?
Another strategy is to expand your job search through online job boards, apps and having alerts on professional platforms like LinkedIn. You can also engage with recruiters and register with a recruitment agency. Ahead of doing this, clean up your online presence. Future employers, HR departments and recruiters are very likely to search for you online. Begin by googling yourself. Then delete any profiles you don’t want, close dormant or unnecessary accounts and review your privacy settings. Thereafter, ensure your profiles are up-to-date, professional and in line with the type of work you’re looking for.
Geographical Location: Are You Where You Should Be?
If your aim is to find remote or online work, then your priority is to ensure that you have, for example, a dedicated working area and stable internet connection. If you want a hybrid or onsite job, then the reality is you need to look at where jobs are geographically located and ensure you’re within a commutable distance from them. This might mean making tough decisions between being where your social life and support system is based versus having the job you want.
Voluntary Unemployment
Voluntary unemployment occurs when someone choses to be unemployed. This can be for numerous reasons such as they don’t like their job, a job is intolerable, the pays too little or they’ve rejected offers and are waiting for better opportunities.
If you’re voluntarily unemployed and battling to find a job, then you might need to adjust your approach. This might mean that instead of focusing on only one type of job, you consider different opportunities. Often to build the career you want you need to take a systematic approach that overtime takes you one step closer to your dream job.
Career Advancement (Ladder Climbing) vs Changing Careers
It’s important to remember that you need a different approach when finding a new job to advance your career vs changing careers.
When you’re looking to advance your career, you’re looking for a job that’s on your current level with better opportunities for growth or at a promoted level. Practically this means that you’re looking for one with similar responsibilities, related skill requirements and ideally an increased salary. However, if you’re shifting industries, you might need a more flexible view of salary or appointment level expectations. This is because, while you might have the required skills, you don’t have industry experience. Therefore, it will likely require some learning-on-the-job before you’re proficient. Furthermore, while getting up to speed you might even need to start at a lower level, for example junior management as opposed to middle management.
If you’re changing careers, it’s a good idea to adjust your expectations and be flexible in what roles you apply for. Absolutely, apply for your ideal job! But know that you’re essentially starting with a skill set that might align but not be a match. Additionally, you won’t have industry experience. Practically, this means writing a skills-based CV that helps the recruiter link your work experience to job requirements and ensuring you have a good cover (motivational) letter. You may also need to look for a more junior position than the roles you’ve previously occupied and accept a decrease in salary. However, take heart often people with different industry job experience coupled with a drive to excel build a new career quicker than those freshly starting out.
Boosting Your Employment Track Record
The type of job experience you have can count against you almost as much as a lack of job experience. Allan Pike, CEO of the Key Recruitment Agency, cautions that while there are good reasons for a short job stay, a pattern of doing so raises recruitment red flags. Accordingly, he advises those looking for a new job to bear in mind what their employment history says about them.
For example, that those who frequently remain in a job for less than two years bring on questions relating to their skill set and ability to successfully integrate into a new work environment. In contrast those who remain in a job for between 3-5 years do not attract unusual attention from a recruiter. And people who remain in a job for 5 years and longer either do so because they find their job fulfilling. This latter group often only look for a new job if they desire a change in career or new challenges. Alternatively, it could be for personal reasons, such as a need for better work-life balance.
What to Do if You have Little to No Job Experience or Your Skills don’t Match
When you start looking for a job, or haven’t had many jobs, your lack of work experience might hold you back. It’s a reality both qualified and unqualified job-seekers face. However, having no work experience can be addressed while you look for employment.
5 Ways to Gain Job Experience
- Volunteer
- Internships, Apprentices and Work-learnerships.
- Part-time work.
- Temporary Jobs.
- Freelance or Contract Work.
Why Networking is Important when Looking for a Job
Professional networking can provide additional avenues to explore when looking for a job. Not all jobs are advertised. Instead, a company may rely on word of mouth, employee referrals or in-house promotions. All of which mean that to be able to apply for the position you need to actively connect with people within the industry. This means reaching out to previous customers, suppliers, senior managers etc and to let them know that after having taken a short break, you’re now exploring opportunities to re-enter the market. It means attending seminars, webinars, training sessions, expos and industry meetups. Being active on social media business focused platforms such as LinkedIn is also a good networking strategy. Effectively you need to put yourself on as many people’s radars as possible.
Contact a Recruitment Agency
Recruitment agencies can be a valuable partner in your job search journey. They connect job seekers with companies that have active vacancies and can provide guidance on how to improve your employability. However, it’s important to understand that recruiters focus their time on filling specific positions for their clients. This means they may not always be able to meet or interview every candidate personally, especially when there isn’t a suitable role available at that time.
The best way to begin your engagement with a recruitment agency is to ensure your CV is up to date, accurately reflects your skills, and is submitted to their database. You can then browse through available opportunities on their website and apply for roles that match your experience. If a suitable opportunity arises, the recruiter will contact you directly to discuss the position.
While waiting, focus on refining your CV, improving your interview skills, and upskilling through online courses – this will greatly enhance your chances when the right opportunity comes along.