“It’s feeling VERY 2008 right now.”

Most recent rejection emails I have been receiving are due to companies not following through with the job openings they had posted, not because I personally didn’t land the job. The trend I’m experiencing right now is: companies will post a job, collect applications, hold interviews, then send an email saying the hiring process is on hold or that the position no longer exists. It’s had nothing to do with my skills, experience, or how well/poorly I did in an interview. It’s either companies doing huge design portfolio pulls to see what other companies have been working on (not likely on the scale it’s happening), or it’s due to massive systemic business/finance issues (more likely).

It’s feeling VERY 2008 right now -- I was laid off from a large international corporation, who has been doing billions of dollars in stock buybacks, with 3 months severance and 3 month access to LHH. I have now been unemployed for 15 months. I had to sell my house, leave my home state, and move across the country into my elderly parents’ apartment where I have no personal connections or professional network to help me get my foot in the door. Out of necessity, I may end up leaving the professional design industry altogether, but creative work has been my life and entire career so I don’t even know where to even begin with a full on career change.

At this point, I have widened my target job search area to unreasonable commute time (90 minutes one way, driving without traffic) and have started applying for jobs in a neighboring country with better worker rights.