To Anyone Who’s Been There Unemployment shaped me in ways I could not predict. It broke me, humbled me, and built me. It taught me how to survive with nothing, how to rebuild without a map, and how to see clearly when everything felt dark. For a long time, I thought I was the only one struggling this hard, but the more I shared, the more I saw how common this pain is. We just do not talk about it, and when we do, we sugarcoat it. This series was never just about me. It was about you: the one silently scrolling in the middle of the night, the one staring at rejection emails wondering what went wrong, the one pretending everything is fine while carrying the weight of being unemployed and unseen, the one between jobs trying to figure out what is next, the one hunting for a side hustle that might actually work, the one craving change but stuck in place. You are not lazy, unlucky, or failing, but you are in a season that tests everything and teaches even more. I learned that struggles revea...

Not having a job for a long time, whether it is months or years, makes one lose their confidence. Contrary to what is expected, the e-mail box does not bring good news all the time. Thus, the tedious thing about opening e-mails and seeing the same results initiates. Deficiency is a feeling that, along wit h time, gets stronger. At some point, one can no longer rely on traditional application methods and understands that the change has to come from within. What You Already Know Might Help In many cases, the aforementioned skills (writing, design, tutoring, administrative work, and social media management) are considered by their owners as self-evident, and this is why these are often overlooked. However, these skills can open a world of doors to anyone who has them. The first step in realizing that you know a lot and that what you know has value is by asking different types of questions: What do people most often ask for your help with? What h ave you done to a high standard even if y...

Being​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ without a job for a long period of time can break down your self-assurance and make you doubt your abilities. The time is passing by in the same way of looking at the mailbox, wishing that this time there will be a different outcome, but the truth is rejections are what we are greeted with or the fact that no one has replied to us. The sorrow weighs more and more each week, and as a result, a great many people decide to quit the quest, throwing in the towel and experiencing the feeling of being stuck and without any ‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌power. However, change is not coming from us; we are waiting for someone else to bring it to us. It is actually coming from ourselves. The very first step of looking for other means to have the first question of what to ask differently: what skills do you have that other people might need? What work have you done that you were paid for only in your formal education? Writing, tutoring, clerical work, and social media management are skill...

Losing one's job is not only the loss of money, but also the loss of that taken-for-granted confidence that rent will be paid, groceries will be bought, and the small certainties of life will stay. Every choice turns heavy; can this be afforded, should it be? Things that used to be a part of the daily routine, such as commuting, meals, and social plans, suddenly require negotiation.  Coffee is skipped, subscriptions are cancelled, walks replace rides, and meals are rationed. In areas without strong support systems, pride gradually erodes as dependence on others becomes inevitable, and the act of asking for help brings along the feeling of guilt. However, needing support does not equal failure. It simply denotes the management of a crisis with limited resources.   Experiencing unemployment changes one's life in a manner that is not limited to financial aspects only. For people who are just on the verge of a career, it is a puzzling loop: experience is needed to get a job, but w...

Breaking down emotionally can be costly. When the situation becomes so dire that the walls seem to close in on you and the weight of it all becomes too much to bear, the urge to ask for help is strong and almost overwhelming, like an emergency. However, when you look at your bank account, the numbers seem to answer back, and it is not the answer you were expecting. One therapy session costs what used to be two days of buying groceries. A gym subscription that could help you sleep is now something that only a few can afford. Even if the thing you want to do is simply meet a friend for coffee and talk over your problems, you still have to think it over, and negotiate with yourself whether you can afford that small comfort. Being without a job is not only the thing that takes away your income but also the one that dismantles the system that supports you to be together and in one piece. When you have a job, the taking care of yourself thing is something that is done in between or at the en...

The worst thing about not having a job is not always the lack of money, but rather the other things that come with it. The weird invitations that you have to pretend you didn't see, the lies that you start to tell to your face, and the slow, invisible weight of the sensation that you are falling while the world is just spinning.   You start to think of the price of every outing as if it were a math test. Friends talk about going to brunch, and your mind immediately goes to your bank account. You hear someone saying, “It is just coffee, “ and you think of what it must be like when coffee is not a sacrifice.   People think that you are free because you are not employed. Free to do errands, free to do favors, and free for emotional labor. It is not only the requests that upset you, but also the way they are made, the way they advise as if they were making a judgment: “Have you tried X?” “So, and, so is doing Y, maybe you should do that.”   You agree, smile, and get away with...

Losing​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ a job is a heavy blow that follows you long after the money is gone. The impact of the loss affects the funnel, starting with relationships and eventually affecting personality and social status, with these changes taking place gradually. It is, in fact, the change of others' and your own perception, which is shifted, i.e., a professional change of your circumstances.   Relationships that you considered strong may gradually become weak without you or your friends realizing the change. Nobody answers the text you send. Nobody invites you to their event. These little absences accumulate and finally, distance becomes apparent. There is now less interaction between two people who once could talk for hours. The shift in group interaction you belonged to changes as a result of others filling in the space you left, and they seem confident and stabilized, while you feel unsteady.   It becomes even more painful when the feeling of guilt takes the blame. You feel ...

Rejection, for a long time, builds up in a manner that is not very apparent. Every rejected application or left without an answer email takes away a tiny bit of the confidence of the person until the hope that things will get better loses its glow. Going out and meeting people seems to get more and more ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌difficult.  Gatherings turn into minefields of potential questions, especially the one that always surfaces: "So, what do you do?" The instinct becomes deflection, redirection, anything to avoid acknowledging the gap between where you are and where you thought you'd be. The weight settles in gradually. Self-doubt finds every opening, suggesting that failure is personal rather than circumstantial, that capability was never really there.  After enough applications vanish without acknowledgment and enough silence follows outreach, reaching out stops altogether. Numbness feels safer than bracing for another polite rejection letter. But perspectives can shift. W...

There are often images of freelancing as being a life of freedom, which consists of having no obligations in the morning, being able to follow your own schedule, having coffee in your own company, and clients appearing as if by magic. This picture depicts an easy-going lifestyle where one can set their own rhythm, and this seems achievable by anyone willing to give it a try. The fact is that it is a different world: work that always follows you, deadlines that knock at your door even when you are not prepared, and silence that hits you especially when you need to have an answer.   Many people opt for freelancing after their traditional career paths have closed to them. Their applications get lost in silence; they don't receive interviews, and the waiting period stretches into months. Finally, the frustration of seeking someone's approval gives way to the decision of creating something on your own, even if the roadmap is unclear.   The job slowly becomes a round rather than...

Unemployment is a term that denotes the absence of money in bank accounts. However, it also affects a person's self-confidence, self-identity, and social relations, and these changes are not visible to people who have not experienced such a situation. The hesitation with which one answers the simplest questions about work, the anxiety that one's opportunities are fading away, the building up of rejections that are becoming heavier with each passing day, this is how millions of graduates and job seekers all over the world live their lives.   For many university graduates holding degrees and having high expectations, the gap between academic achievement and the employment reality causes them a deep sense of confusion. After graduation ceremonies, the party ends, and the job search begins. The time that follows can be very long, and even years can pass: applications are sent without getting a response, rejections are received in a cold, automated language, and the feeling develops...