If someone ever told you that after you graduate from college, you’ll be able to land an excellent steady job quickly, it is most likely either selling you an illusion or they’re telling you this based on their own experience where getting a job was easier for them due to better circumstances.

I say this because the job market today has not been playing in everyone’s favor. Most individuals struggle to get a job in today’s job market, and it’s gotten so challenging that the idea of a business organization looking to hire someone feels more like an illusion than an actual concept.

“The job market in 2024 is a paradox. Every other LinkedIn post shouts, “We’re hiring!” yet inboxes remain painfully void of replies. Many job seekers are left wondering: If you’re so desperate for talent, why won’t you return my calls?” Author Samantha Gilstrap states in an article for WUSA9.

I personally never realized how hard finding a remote job would be until after I graduated from college, and I never knew how broken the system was in terms of job hunting until I came across an individual named Bryanté Craig.

Bryanté Craig, is a content creator of a YouTube channel known as Life with Bry. One of the first videos I watched was about the struggles of getting a job in the job market. One of the things she talks about is the misconception people have about job seekers, which is the reason why people don’t have a job because they’re not trying hard enough. “People don’t get how desperate many people have been to try and find a job and still have found nothing,” Bryanté explained in a video.

“People who have applied to fast food places and retail places and still haven’t gotten anywhere.” I really appreciated her saying this because it’s essential for people to understand that you can’t assume that a person’s struggle is based on what they did or didn’t do. You don’t know the person or their circumstances.

Therefore, you have no right to assume that a person’s circumstances are their fault. Then Bryanté brings up an essential example from Twitter about a man named Trevor Gripper who applied to multiple jobs after getting laid off and ended up with nothing.

“I got laid off June 1, 2023. I created a spreadsheet to track all the roles I’ve applied to.” Trevor stated. “A year later, I’ve submitted 463 applications.” Then Bryanté read a Twitter response to Trevor saying, “400 is a meager number within a year. It should be at least 100 applications a week.

That’s what I’ve been told and given great advice because if you need it, you will hustle no matter the job.” Twitter user Raymond stated. “Picking up two or three jobs even if you don’t like them. – Financial Audit, Caleb”.

This made me upset because it once again supports what Bryanté explained before about how judgmental people can be of one another when they don’t know the situation that the person is going through. Just because things worked out for one person doesn’t mean that it will work out for everybody because the job market is not a one-size-fits-all.

That’s something that I never realized about the job market until I had my own experiences of job hunting online and watching Bryanté Craig’s (Life with Bry) YouTube video about the job market.

One thing I appreciate about Bryanté is her raw passion for discussing issues that genuinely matter and doing it with blunt honesty. Yes, it comes from personal experience, but it also comes from a desire of wanting to advocate for change, which is something I admire and respect. There’s another video that Bryanté did about the job market, in which she brought up the concept of college. “People are telling me to go back to

school. Go back to school for what? If the issue is the lack of experience, I’m going to be in the same boat that I’m in now after I get another degree.” Bryanté stated in a video. “It’s going to be the same thing; more school is not going to help my problem; it’s not going to help the issue.” Then, she mentions what the real issue is with the job-hunting process.

“The issue is experience; the issue with these companies is they don’t want to take a chance on anyone new coming into the field,” Bryanté stated. “What they want to do, they want to hire someone who’s been in the field for 10, 20 years and pay them the same salary that they would pay somebody like me, it’s just trash!”

This is a good valid point to make because first, you shouldn’t have to feel like you need to go back to school two or three times simply because the job market doesn’t want to give you a break, especially when it’s bad enough that you have student loans to pay off from the last degree you worked hard for.

Secondly, Bryanté mentions how businesses want to make content for the target audience of Gen Z, but they won’t hire anyone who’s Gen Z and this is another valid good point. If your target audience is a particular group, don’t you think it’s wise to hire someone who’s from that group? They know things more than you do because they live the experience, so having that authentic representation in your organization is always the wisest decision when it comes to creating a genuine experience for your target audience.

In conclusion, Bryanté Craig is someone I respect as a content creator, an advocate, and as an individual because the things she’s saying about the job market are something that many people feel right now. With more awareness about this issue, we can do more to be a voice for the unemployed.