I hit the ground running as a post-graduate, though not without my feet getting a little chilly. Graduate school was appealing, and I sent more than a few totally-not-anxious emails to old professors asking for advice. In the end, my mentor came through: setting me straight by gently reminding me that in my chosen profession, experience speaks louder than credentials. Well, experience which begets a fat, polished portfolio.

So, I joined LinkedIn. I joined Indeed, and even ZipRecruiter. I wrote articles to add to my professional presence, built a simple WordPress site to be a unifying place that I can link to and host my portfolio, and applied to as many jobs as I could stomach per day.

I kept the train going for several months. I knew that the economy was in a slump, but that’s just a fact of life. Even when I realized that the advent of generative AI being public meant that most low-skill, white-collar jobs and pretty much any writing-heavy job was in danger, I kept at it. (Note: when I say ‘in danger’ I’m acknowledging the fact they don’t have to be. The problem is with layoff-happy employers.)

But, I started to run out of steam. My strength is in my personable nature, and I think I’ve got a knack for interviews. Naturally, I never got any save for three, which still didn’t pan out. I broadened my search, slowly starting to abandon the idea of Froswald the technical writer. Still, nothing.

My one restriction was that I was looking for a job not based here. That’s the one thing that hadn’t changed throughout the years: I wanted out of this fucking house, out of this fucking room and out of this goddamn climate. In my defense, there just aren’t any local positions that pay more than what I was getting doing my story commissions. Considering how little I was getting for those, it should be a clue how little those jobs were paying in practice.

My mother, uncle and I went to Florida as we do each year. I did a lot of writing I had been putting off, which felt good. I did so much writing that I didn’t really experience Florida beyond the patio of our bungalow, which didn’t feel as good. We came back home, and I reminded myself daily that I’m not alone in this. Everyone’s got a fucked up job search these days. I reminded myself to not be mad at the project manager with ten years’ experience applying to a data entry clerk position—be mad at the person who laid them off, leaving them desperate enough to apply to a job two rungs below ‘code monkey.’

I of course, took advantage of my free time. I studied for the Linux+ certification, freshened up on my knowledge of IT to be better prepared to pivot to that industry. I joined a nonprofit as a volunteer grant writer and later, director of web development (it’s admittedly a small nonprofit). I also played an unhealthy amount of video games, watched a few movies, watched some sweet-ass anime both old and new and in general, enjoyed myself. Once my daily obligations were taken care of, of course. I even joined a gym, and after a rocky start got a routine of three times a week, from 2AM to 3AM followed by a nighttime drive where I think about life, bullshit, and listen to The Pillows on loop.