First off. This is not about me. I have a decent job. Not great but it pays the bills for now. I just need to talk about this somewhere: someone in my family has been unemployed for nearly three years. This person has two masters degrees and multiple years of experience in their field. They have networked, they have added three skills to their resume during this period, they have had their resume workshopped half a dozen times, they attend job fairs, and they are applying to jobs above, at, and below their qualification level, and they can’t even get a part-time minimum-wage job.
I am in agony watching them struggle and continuously get passed up for even the smallest opportunity. They even have had multiple professional connections enthusiastically recommend them for jobs in their own companies, but to no avail. They are starting to worry that they will never have a traditional job again, and I can’t help but think they might be right.