Frustrated by your hiring efforts? Jobseekers often just as discouraged

The labor shortage is an everyday lament for employers struggling to fill positions. Employers limp along short-staffed and baffled they aren’t attracting suitable applicants. But jobseekers are equally frustrated. While help-wanted signs seem to be everywhere, many people—especially those looking for professional positions—feel they can’t buy a job. They have been led to believe it’s a jobseeker’s market, but they’re feeling overlooked. What’s wrong?

What the job market is really like

Everyone talks about the “great resignation”—the phenomenon of pandemic-stressed people leaving their jobs in search of fulfillment, safety, or something else undefined. Many think they can stroll right into greener employment pastures only to find it’s not as much of a candidate’s market as they have been led to believe.

Résumé writing consulting company Resume Builder released a report in February highlighting what skilled jobseekers are experiencing. The company defined skilled jobseekers as those having a technical, university, or postgraduate degree who are either looking for a job or have just started a new one.

The company asked 1,000 jobseekers about their search experience and found half said their job search was going badly or very badly. Sixty percent said they had been ghosted by an employer, and 61% believed they would have a better chance in a less skilled field. The research also found 29% said they received an interview less than 10% of the time.