Let’s face it, finding a job is not as easy as it used to be. Gen Z is in the midst of one of the most uncertain economic environments we have seen in a while. This, along with many other reasons and factors, makes finding a job without developed skills from a previous job very difficult, causing feelings of stress and hopelessness for some young adults. But fear not, finding a job isn’t impossible yet. Let’s identify the best ways to do it.

Before entering the job market, we must first understand what happened to the job market and the factors that make it hard for Gen Z to find work. First of all, the market is much more competitive than it used to be. Not because there are more people, even though there are, but rather because of a large increase in college graduates and a decline in entry-level job postings. Between 1993 and 2023, there has been an approximately 75% increase in college graduates aged 25 and older in America. This is likely due to people seeing more value in a degree for getting a good job and good money, as well as more jobs requiring a degree to get a chance at the position. Another factor affecting the job market that everyone is talking about is artificial intelligence. AI is already being implemented and taking jobs, such as customer service representatives, data entry clerks, anything accounting-related, assembly line workers, bookkeepers, warehouse workers, graphic designers, software developers, and sometimes even basic journalists. This makes it easier for companies and employers to focus on cost-cutting and makes them more cautious when hiring staff, which in itself is another factor making it difficult to find a job. AI also sometimes screens job applications and automatically rejects applications that don’t have specific keywords.

A larger factor leading to fewer job opportunities is the state of the economy. The economy itself is very complicated and affected by many factors, but we’re going to make it simple. Currently, economic recessions are leading to a decrease in demand, causing businesses to lay off workers and provide fewer job openings to save money. We’re also suffering from inflation and a lack of wage increases to balance the rising prices, which ultimately leads to a slower economy. This, in turn, leads to job cuts. Additionally, we are having a lack of economic growth, which is necessary due to the economy needing to grow to keep up with the population growth; when it doesn’t, there won’t be enough jobs for everyone. All of these factors combined make for a very competitive and crowded job market.

Now that we understand why the job market is so competitive, it’s time to learn how to actually become employed. We can break down getting a job into 3 major steps: finding a job opening, preparing an application, and acing the interview. First, finding a job opening. Despite what I’ve just told you about the job market, you can probably find more than one job opening in your area, and there are many ways to do so. You can start by looking at online job boards from your home, such as Indeed or LinkedIn. You can also contact other recruitment agencies to find opportunities. If you want to get more hands-on, you can attend job fairs in your area to talk to businesses and employers in person. You can even walk into local businesses and ask them if they have any openings, especially if there’s a sign saying something along the lines of help wanted. After you find a job opening, you’re going to want to have a solid and strong resume or application. You should start by reading the job brief and using all the key words you can to get through systems that automatically deny applications without said key words. Make sure it looks professional, uses the appropriate font, and don’t let it be more than a page. Make sure to focus on your accomplishments and not your responsibilities, and when doing so, try to use percentages, numbers, or statistics if possible. Try to stay specific and not general. You must include your email and phone number, or some sort of contact information. Use active words over passive words. Make sure that you do not ever use personal pronouns, abbreviations, slang, or inconsistencies. Include a picture, age, and your gender. If you want to, you can utilize ChatGPT to help with your application, but only in certain ways, such as formatting, ordering, and identifying grammatical errors. Do not copy and paste anything from it into your application; you should build it in your own words, although it should be fine if ChatGPT rearranges your sentences or paragraphs if that’s something you struggle with. After you believe you’ve built a strong application targeted towards the job opening you’re pursuing, you can submit it to the employers and hope for an interview. You should also have multiple applications going out at once instead of waiting for a reply to the one you submitted. Now, once you get an interview, you should try to be ready for it in all ways possible. Arguably, the most important thing is to make sure you are well rested. Getting enough sleep affects us and our thinking in huge ways that we often don’t see. Do some basic research on what you think you might be interviewed on, if you have any idea. Interviewers will likely ask you some weird questions that you don’t really know the answer to because you haven’t worked the job yet, but that’s ok. It’s very important to stay calm and professional, no stress. It’s normal to be nervous, but try not to make it obvious if you are. And of course, make sure you say thank you at the end, whether you think you got the job or not.

With all this knowledge in mind, you should be prepared to effectively find and secure job opportunities in the modern market, despite its difficulties. Your most important takeaways from this should be to avoid stress and fear when looking for a job; do this, and it’ll work out.