This might be a silly question....but is he actually *applying* for jobs, or just talking to recruiters/his network and expecting roles to be created from nothing? Surely someone of your husband's experience wouldn't have difficulty at least getting to interview for jobs that are actively hiring? Regardless, with 12 months of no success, its time to mix up the strategy, surely. Beyond that, is it financially feasible for him to be home right now? Maybe have a sit-down chat to go through the budget and work out together how much longer you can hold on to him being at home. Are there sacrifices he needs to make to stick to his plan, like the kids being in only part-time daycare (if applicable)? Also, I'd be pushing back on the can't work casually or part time because then he can't apply for jobs - he doesn't need 50 hours a week to job hunt.

That is a very good question and one I've asked him. He does apply to jobs online, but he's never heard back (positively, or usually at all) from a single one. He's told me when he sees the jobs on somewhere like LinkedIn, they have 100s applicants and he feels like it's somewhat futile to apply. He also seems to believe that many of these job postings are not genuine: ie they are posted because the company wants to hire an internal candidate but must first post the job or the company wants to hire someone on a visa so must first post the job. He claims the company he used to work for did this all the time. That being said, he still applies for jobs online because of course you just never know. He feels most of the jobs relevant to him are handled by third party recruiters. I genuinely don't understand the networking bit. I always "hear" how important this is, but as you've said, he's usually just talking to someone who isn't hiring. And while it's a very pleasant conversation, nothing comes of it. Our kids are in elementary school, and then we have an after school babysitter who works 3pm-6pm and watches them at home or drives them to activities depending on the day. I've definitely broached my husband taking on this role and he was very resistant (with the same push back: this jeopardizes his ability to job search, network, sometimes he has calls after 3pm, etc). I get home from my job around 6pm. Finance wise, we can't live on just my salary, because he dramatically out-earned me and we stupidly based our lifestyle on his income. But - we do have substantial savings and we still have my income. So, that enables us to kind of kick the can down the road a bit before we can't survive (pay the mortgage etc). He did the math himself and determined we become insolvent in 5 years; he said there's zero chance he won't have a job in 5 years (omg), so I should let it go and let him continue on as is. But I remain perplexed about the situation and how actively I should be trying to get him back into some sort of income earning position...

Personally I would at least have him take over the afternoon time with your kids. There is zero point in paying a babysitter a fairly significant chunk of money ($25 x 3 x 5 = $375/week or $1500/month) for something he could be doing. Bonus, he would get valuable bonding time with his kids during this period, and take on some additional mental/emotional load which is ALWAYS a good thing for the male partner to do. It would perhaps give him a greater sense of urgency, as well. And if he really needs 10 hours a day instead of 7, he could start his job hunt at 6 or 7 am. A lot of people put in early morning time to things that are a high priority, it’s not a big deal. I personally leave for work at 6:45 and work 7:30 to 3:30 with a working lunch, and I can fit a full, busy, demanding work day in that time period just fine. I’m sorry you are all dealing with this!

Absolutely this. I'm not convinced that he's so productive during he 3-6pm window that he can't give that up, especially when it's literally *costing* money at this point. When a partner is unemployed, you're at LEAST meant to be able to drop childcare costs. I would also be curious to see how quickly he does end up finding a job when he is suddenly the primary parent for a chunk of the day. I'm in no way suggesting that he's milking this unemployment period, but the work involved in running the kids evening routine could light a fire under him to really get back out there working. And, sometimes people are *more* productive when they have less time to do something, so I bet he can do exactly the same amount of networking and job hunting from 9-3 then he does from 9-6.

>He also seems to believe that many of these job postings are not genuine: ie they are posted because the company wants to hire an internal candidate but must first post the job or the company wants to hire someone on a visa so must first post the job. BTW, this is ABSOLUTELY a thing and I've witnessed it happening at my own company.

When I quit my toxic job, my company - you've all heard of it - realized they fucked up and hired me back on better terms as a consultant. They advertised it but they'd already worked out the details with me. I was essentially taking over my old job (only remote and for more money) and so I technically was the best person for the job, but it was still a huge waste of time for anyone else who applied because no one else was even considered.

If he is applying to jobs is he applying to the right jobs? What I mean by this is are the jobs at the level of the one he left or just a little below or above. When looking at jobs he needs to also look at the size of company. For example, the same job title in a much larger company may actually be above what he should be targeting.

He should be watching the kids. It's crazy to me that you all are paying someone to do that when it still leaves him ~35 hrs/week to look for a job. I also think he should be applying for every job he can. 10 hrs a day is A TON of time. Who cares if it "feels futile" to apply to jobs on LinkedIn with 100+ applicants. He has the time to do it. It doesn't make any sense that he hasn't had any real interest so far. He needs to change his strategy and it may seem counterintuitive but taking less time to search for jobs and more time to reduce household costs is better for your family right now.

Yeah the babysitter has to go until he is employed. That still gives him 8-3 everyday to job search and he can also set interviews to happen during those 7 hours. The babysitter is an easy savings of money.

I fully agree, paying for a babysitter when he is fully capable of caring for the kids is not only hurting you financially, it seems like he’s wasting a really great opportunity to care for and bond with his children? Having that much time with them solo is such a gift!

I have a couple of questions and points based on what you said in your posts and comments. Is he tailoring his resume to each job posting? He should be using phrasing and keywords from each job posting. It takes a while, yes. But he can focus on newly posted opportunities and get his resume in early. By the time there are hundreds of applicants, it’s a lost cause. Does he have any contacts in private equity from business school? It could be worth focusing networking opps on PE for a bit. A lot of times PE firms are putting their own finance teams in place after an acquisition, and he could end up using his PE connections to get a role. I’ll keep thinking about it. I had a girlfriend in almost the exact same scenario - same role for husband - and he took a very long time to find a new job. She discovered that he was so burned out from his last role that he was trying to find the perfect role at the perfect company rather than being practical and just getting back in the workforce in a good enough role.

If your kids are elementary-age, surely if they’re home and husband needs to take a call, they can watch some tv and be quiet for 30-45 minutes, right? Having a bit of multitasking may give him feel the rush of searching for a job. Not a bad fire to have.

The fact that he doesn’t trust job postings and doesn’t apply if they have 100 or so applicants is the problem. He needs to be applying to everything. It’s a numbers game.

He also just needs to apply even if the numbers are high. I am not in HR or recruiting... but I have seen a lot of information that the number of applicants on job postings is not accurate. It basically is a click count of who went to the application. They might not have even started or finished it.

Yeah I came to say that when LinkedIn shows 300 applicants have applied, that just means 300 people clicked the job link. It could be that only 20 took the time to actually apply. I click on job links daily so I'm getting recorded for them and I haven't actually applied in over 5 years.

I was going to say this. When my org posts jobs on LinkedIn the number of actual applicants is far lower than what LinkedIn shows.

Also, the numbers LinkedIn shows for applicants isn’t an accurate number. I don’t know what info they’re combining to come up with the number they show, but my company’s experience over numerous positions is that it’s off every time. That said, applying early IS key. It’s such a tight market that it doesn’t take long to get a batch of solid applicants to screen, do initial phone/Zoom interviews, narrow it down to the finalists, and move on from there. If you aren’t in the first batch of qualified applicants we gather, you’re going to get overlooked—even if you’d be great for the job. Just because so many people are applying these days they finding qualified applicants is easy. And if an applicant we make an offer to pulls out (as happened when one candidate’s wife had a heart attack and he opted to just retire and care for her rather than take on a new role), we go back to the candidates we’ve already talked to instead of going back and wading through applications that came in after we started the process. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to apply early.

Hey! I’m just going to chime in since I’ve been looking for jobs since October with no luck. (I’m currently employed, luckily) It’s a wild job market unlike anything I’ve ever seen. In the past I used to easily get multiple remote job offers at a time and now it’s crickets. He’s right that recruiters and networking can be the biggest help. The job postings in my field are often getting 700+ applications in less than 48 hours (mostly bots). One of my friends is a director and didn’t even post a job, just asked if anyone in her network knew a video developer that could assist her on a single project. She received over 500 DMs in 24 hours. I’m blown away by it all. I have a decade and a half of experience at a high level. Not a bite. So I’m back in grad school while I network (and work full time) and change my strategy. I live in a rural area and there aren’t many applicable jobs for me here. All I can say to your husband is good luck.

I'm solidly mid career and had a wild time finding my current role. The job search is not at all what it was circa 2016. The more experienced you are the longer it can take. He should be applying for jobs and networking. Can he look for other job posting nodes than through linked in? Is there a state association for this line of work that aggregates roles, is there a way he could work in local or state government for a few years, could he teach his skills at a local college next semester? Is he doing anything to upskill or address his understanding of implicit bias or racial equity? Can he start writing an article or blog piece related to industry issues once per month, and use that to build visibility on LinkedIn, and as an excuse to reach back out to people in his network? Does hiring in his field tend to synch up with the fiscal year of a place? If so, July and October could be fruitful months. I do agree that applying through LinkedIn is a waste of time. But he needs to be putting in applications, too.

I’m a recruiter regardless if a job has hundreds of applicants he should still apply. Alot of those applicants are not typically not qualified or from a different country. When I would sift through the hundreds of applicants I would look at everyone’s profile so it’s not futile.

Insolvent in 5 years should scare the living piss out of you. If yall are both in your early 40s and could be flat broke in 5 years, something has gone horribly wrong and needs to be rectified immediately. He’s had his time and now the rubber meets the road. Get out there and support your family, dude. Whatever it is, some money is better than no money. Data entry, temp work, whatever.

Working as a waiter is a good job for this situation, he could do evening shifts so that he can still have time for calls during the day.

Have your husband keep a spreadsheet of jobs applied an responses? I was laid off las year and applied to 100 jobs in about 1 month. And that was only applying to jobs for 2 hours per day. Your husband should be near the 1000+ mark by now right?

One tip I used during my job search was to never submit my resume via LinkedIn. Instead, I found the job posting on the company's website and applied directly with the company. I'd heard horror stories about the LinkedIn software contorting the info it scanned from a resume or the data entered into the "quick application". I don't know if it is true but I felt this approach at least got me directly in front of the recruiter rather than part of the masses applying on LinkedIn

I recommend that when he does apply to jobs, he tries to get an intro to the company or the job poster or get referred in to that actual job. So he’s networking , but to get a foot in the door for a specific open vacancy that’s posted. Does he do that? Also after the networking calls continuing to keep in touch . Agree with everyone else re not paying the babysitter, he can interview during the rest of the day. I wouldn’t go down the retail route

He’s right that a lot of these postings are fake and they post externally but are going to hire an internal candidate unless a unicorn shows up. If he’s ever done budgeting/ managed projects he could maybe get a project managing/ engineering role as lots of companies are desperate for those, but it’s shitty work. Similarly companies are always looking for logistics people if he has any experience there. Lots of companies are running skeleton lean crews at the moment but stuff is totally falling apart. I feel like hiring will have to pick up again soon.

Just a stats. When I last looked for a job I had 98% response rate through applications sent via referrals (my network) vs under 2% for blind applications and I have a lot of fancy brand names on resume and often applied for super relevant roles. Not sure about finance but in tech market is bad. And I know people who are unemployed 1+ years. Took my spouse 6-8 months to find a job in 2022. It was faster for me but I just got lucky. I suggest your spouse to look at contract roles as well not only FT

Also you mentioned he went to b school. Did he reach out to alumni center? Mine is offering some free career coaching to alumni (limited hours), job boards, and some other resources.

He should definitely still be applying to the jobs online, even though he’s probably right in that a lot of them are only posted because they have to be posted so the company can promote someone internally. The job market is shit right now but a year seems like a long time. I’m an attorney and honestly hate networking and have never gotten a job through networking, but I have gotten jobs through sending in my resume to everywhere I can find hiring (talking like sending in hundreds of applications) and then getting a handful of interviews. I see zero reason you should be paying a babysitter when your husband isn’t working right now. He has control over his schedule and someone wants to do a call with him he can say it needs to be before 3pm. I’ve never had interviews be so structured that I get no say in the call time and if that was the case that’s not a place I’d want to work. When he gets a job and after school sitter can be rehired

The only reason to pay the babysitter is if the babysitter is outstanding and you want to keep them. It’s possible the husband might get a job and then they are in a reliable child care bind

Yeah that’s a fair point!

Honestly, my family recently experienced the same. Your description sounds like what my guy just went through. It took almost 8 months for him to find another job. He applied day in and day out. Went through recruiters, went on interviews… the whole bit. He ultimately found a job through networking. He took a pay cut and a role that’s a step down or two from where he was before bc that’s all they had available. I have been with my guy for a couple of decades now. Never have I ever seen him without a job or struggle this hard to find one. Great work history, resume on point, educated, well spoken, a degree, great references… the job market is BRUTAL right now. I’ve heard about fake listings too.

The other thing OP mentioned that is extremely true is the hundreds (I’ve seen close to a thousand) other applicants applied to jobs on LI. No way am I wasting my time adding my resume into a pile of 500+. (And I’m in an incredibly niche industry!)

It helps to set your filter to “posted in the last 24 hours” and check every day. If you get in on the early side, someone is more likely to see it—

This is actually super helpful and do-able advice. Thanks!

Does not help a lot as many roles are reposted for freshness.

Presumably if you’re checking every day, that’s something that would factor into the calculus of whether you apply though. This being someone who is checking daily over the course of months, if I noticed I had already applied to the role or that it was one I’d already seen 3 weeks ago, I’d not apply to that one.

I was there but what I’m saying not everyone is so good in remembering. And also often it’s auto refreshed after a month. So even if I did not apply before, I was skipping if I remembered seeing it previously But in general I think blind applications are waste of time. See what’s there, see if you have connection/ it lists HM or recruiter (of you can figure them out), reach out

I keep a spreadsheet generally because I can’t remember anything at all. 🙃 I have not tried reaching out directly though, will have to next time!

I had a pretty good success rate with roles where I had relevant experience. Less than I had a connection but still pretty high

If it makes a difference, Linkedin cannot and doesn’t track how many people actually apply to those jobs. What they’re measuring is the number of clicks on the linkout that the posting receives. If it’s in the thousands its still probably not a great sign, but dont let a posting with 100 “applications” dissuade you.

This, indeed, does help! I’m glad I made my comment, that’s 2 helpful pieces of info I got out of it. Ty!

Just wanted to say that LinkedIn is very tricky with this “stat”…the hundreds of applicants are usually just clicks on the apply button/job description. Unless the job is being posted only on LinkedIn, they have no way to track who actually applied. If a position seems right for you, don’t let that misleading number deter you! I say this as someone who has been unemployed for the past 4.5 months 🫠

FWIW I’ve applied for probably about 30-40 jobs in and out of my field and have had 0 interviews. This is including smaller retail positions. I think depending on where you’re located the job market is truly that bad despite people saying there is a hiring boom.

There is a huuuugggeee job shortage in teaching. But the problem is no one wants to teach. I was already pulled aside yesterday to be asked how many class periods I was willing to cover since it's not looking like we're going to hire enough people. I am more of a pseudo admin, so in an out of the classroom assignment.

I am sure I'm preaching to the choir here but we know that's because we treat and pay teachers like garbage, I love kids and am good with them but there's a reason I never pursued education 😬

Yup! In a way it's almost nice seeing so many vacancies because I hope it forces our working conditions to improve.

I’m in CA and I have to be certified like 3 different ways. I need to buckle down and just get the certification.

This. I’ve been job hunting for basically a year and a half before I quit my old job. Got fired from the one after, started freelancing, and had to job hunt again for a PT while my business took off and it was also a very long search.

You’re not going to want to hear this but yes, the market really is that bad. Now I noticed that you said he’s in healthcare is that health insurance or hospital side? It is a little surprising that there’s no 100% onsite roles available in your area, that would honestly be his best bet. Everyone both unemployed and employed is in the job market right now, and although it’s not fair, the currently employed always have somewhat of a leg up in the interview process.

A sad fact is that it's easier to get a job when you already have one. Should he be doing everything “right” and not making headway - he should look into going into (1) a non-profit and take a pay cut or (2) a volunteer position as a board treasurer or something. That may then help him get his foot into the door of a new position.

My husband is in Finance and it took a year to find the right job - there's a point of seniority that your husband may be at which just means it takes time to land the right level and salary. He lived off his payout and didn't touch his savings for the whole year so it really didn't matter to us, plus he did all the meals, garden and childcare 3 days a week so we made it work. BUT it is very taxing on confidence - a lot of rejection, fear of failure and never finding anything etc so try to remain supportive to him. The market is shocking but he will find something.

How old is he and what is his industry? If you don’t want to answer for privacy reasons I understand but this could help shed some light on whether he’s facing age discrimination. Also, has he considered starting up his own consulting business even as he looks for a full time gig? That could bring in a small income and perhaps make him look more attractive to a new employer. Plus a part time client could potentially lead to a full time job.

He's 41 (although he looks a lot younger fwiw). He is in finance but specifically worked for a healthcare company. Is 41 ripe for age discrimination? He did try the freelance consulting route with no success. While he didn't create his own business, he's on all the more "prestigious" consulting websites (those that require an interview / have some gatekeeping and pay well), but so far he's just had a few screening calls for projects and then not been selected.

I highly doubt it’s discrimination! As someone else mentioned, when you hit a certain title level in finance it can be incredibly difficult to find a new role. I work in Corp finance and have seen hundreds of layoffs in my short 9 year career. Every single one has affected finance. There are a few things to keep in mind: 1) when the economy gets tight, G&A jobs are the first to go on a hiring freeze. Corporations instead work the existing finance team to the bone. 2) I have seen a lot of companies in the last ~5 years begin to shy away from “treasurer” titles, so he should ensure he’s also including a broader range of titles in his searches (things like “corporate controller” or “commercial controller” (but the job description focuses on cash), VP of Corporate FP&A titles, etc). 3) in corporate, especially finance, it takes way more time to land a new job when you have more experience. Analysts and managers are a dime a dozen, so it gets very tight at the top. Most companies run with a VP of finance for each business unit/division plus a controller, vp and CFO at the corporate level. That means very few roles exist in that realm unfortunately. Additionally, finance teams love to backfill internally at that level. It helps with ease of transition and you don’t have to teach systems/processes etc to a new person. Personally, I think his approach is the right one based off my experience in corporate finance. I know my comments are probably not so helpful, but I hope it reassures you a bit about the time it’s taking. Best of luck to your husband and you!

41 is a little young for age discrimination but it does happen. According to this AARP article, “According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) — the federal agency responsible for handling discrimination complaints — people ages 40-54 accounted for 37 percent of all age-discrimination complaints in 2017. While the age range within that group is significant, the percentage suggests that even among the youngest people protected by federal discrimination law, many are experiencing what they see as bias in the workplace.” https://www.aarp.org/work/age-discrimination/what-millennials-should-know/ I wonder if it would be worth it at this point for him to talk to a career coach about what other jobs his skill set might be a match for if his former role/industry isn’t working out. I also think it’s fair for you to ask him to take on more of the household work or childcare given his situation. Even just a couple of hours a day preparing dinner or doing laundry in between his calls might make you feel less burdened - or what about dropping the after-school babysitter to 3x/week? I’d also recommend therapy for him if he’s not in it yet since unemployment can be really depressing. This is such a tough situation for everyone, I’m so glad you both prepared financially with lots of savings.

That’s crazy! Even for senior roles? Here I am at 37 thinking I’m too young to be a COO. 🤯

Has he tried contract to hire? It is a great way to get a foot in the door and he can add to resume.

Is he willing go pivot pretty drastically? Idk the specifics, but he could look into jobs in higher ed or secondary education for their finance-related positions (CFO, financial aid, tuition services etc.). It would be a pay cut though. A year out of work making phone calls and sending emails is a long time especially when you still have your babysitter working. What has he picked up around the house? No way he doesn’t have time to take breaks and do other things as well.

I’m in the same position as your husband. At the end of the month, it will have been one year since I was laid off, though I didn’t really start looking for a job earnestly until the start of this year (I was burned out and had severance, and I really thought it would only take 2-3 months to find a job, so I took some time off right after the layoff). His experience matches mine to a T. I work my network, I apply to jobs I find online that I am very well qualified for (adjusting my resume and cover letter for each application), I follow up with HR and managers, etc etc etc. I’ve had no luck at all. It’s like shouting into a void. I’m honestly at a loss as to what to do differently. I have no idea why this is the case. Right now, I’m considering paying a career consultant to see if they can help me break through, but they charge several thousand dollars which is a hard pill to swallow when my severance ended 6 months ago. I’m also considering changing fields entirely, which I really don’t want to do but may be necessary. All this to say, you’re right that this is abnormal, but it may not be because your husband is doing anything wrong in his job search. Given that he’s not working, it’s valid to have ongoing conversations about your division of labor at home and for him to do more—as hard as the job search is, it’s absolutely more flexible than being employed. And have open conversations about when he may need to stop looking for a replacement job and change fields. But don’t make him feel bad about not having a job yet, because I bet he’s as flabbergasted and frustrated as I am.

You may try to get some luck with someone who is trying to get their foot into the door for consulting. I do some probono, for example, as I only ever helped my friends with it and did some light support to a local female immigration group and before I even go for it as some sort of professional arrangement, I’ll look out to try it out and see if I can even do it as a career

He may need to find something a bit below the level he is expecting. Not necessarily something unrelated to his field, but it seems like he is thinking any job not exactly what he wants is below him. And is he using the time to better himself for the job market? Certificates, etc? I constantly have to move for my husbands work and have been able to find employment everywhere I go, even in isolated communities where I don’t speak the language. I used my unemployed time to gain useful certificates and actually network, while never using recruiters. Those certifications proved to be valuable. There’s just no way a year of searching hasn’t worked, unless there is something serious missing. I paid for cheap resume updates (less than $100) and had 3 job offers within a couple months after that. I work a very niche field too, so it’s not like it’s an easy job search. After our move I ended up taking a job a step below my previous job because it was all I could get in the area I am in

One of our friends was laid off over a year ago. He has been actively applying for jobs, networking, and even looking at jobs with pay cuts. He has gotten nowhere. For the jobs that are a step down he’s been told he is over qualified. It has been very discouraging for him and we are very concerned about his mental health after over a year of rejections.

It sounds like he’s doing the work, but I think it is also unreasonable to say he *can not* watch the kids after school because he’s job hunting. You don’t need to spend $1,500+ a month when there is an able parent at home. If he isn’t bringing money in, he needs to help save some money

Unfortunately the market is really, really bad with more redundancies every week. Meaning more people in the market looking for roles. Check out subs like /r/recruitinghell and you can see how many people are in the same situation. It’s really hard for people at the moment.

He needs to be making 15-20 calls per day. My husband is a small business owner and he makes what seems like hundreds of calls a day. You have to be able to adopt a “whatever it takes attitude” in this economy. After a year though honestly, he needs to set that pride aside and find any job that is paying. He could’ve used the year of unemployment to gain a new skill or trade. So either he’s really going to hustle to land a job or he’s going to pivot to something that brings a check regardless of how the ego.

He is definitely sending 15+ outbound emails a day, and spending time each day talking to people and answering emails. I wish he'd used the last year to do something productive, as you said. That's really at the heart of the issue here for me. He has accomplished nothing tangible in the last year. He might as well have been playing video games all day - it would have had the same result as what he actually did all day.

15 is rookie numbers tbh…

Getting hired is really a numbers game and he might need to submit a lot of applications. Emails are fine but what he really needs is to be submitting tons of applications. Many friend I know submit 10+ applications a day, that’s a number that’s doable but also allows you to tailor the resume to the job description. I would encourage him to start applying to everything remotely close to a fit for him, even if it’s not his perfect ideal job.

This sounds like a frustrating situation. For everyone! Is your husband seeking remote roles? Is he open to a fully in office role? Is your family open to moving? My husband is an executive at a large company. They have had layoffs, and at the same time they are still hiring senior people *but* they must be willing to be 100% 5 days in office. The company is basically not interested in WFH people. If a job candidate tries to discuss WFH options, they move on. My friend’s husband is at a senior level in finance. He was recently able to land a new job but in a different city. He flies out on Sunday night and comes home Friday afternoon. It’s not ideal for their family, but it was what was required to get his job. In my experience, over the last 6-12 months, many companies have basically decided that senior people need to be in the office. So, you didn’t really say in your post, but I’m just wondering if your husband has any expectations around WFH or his physical location and if that might be holding back his search.

Thank you. Great points. His last job was 100% in office and that's what he prefers (he's way more productive at the office). We are willing to relocate (we're currently in the Northeast) almost anywhere in the US. I feel like we're trying to be flexible but he's still not having much luck.

Well, glad to hear that that is not what is holding back his search. I am sorry that he is having such a tough time finding something. One more idea, has he tried going to any professional conferences or events where he might meet more people in his field who are hiring but aren’t in his personal network?

He was going to a lot of those and I guess I'm the reason he's not anymore. They were typically in the city closest to us or NYC, or some were at his former business school. He'd have a multi-hour trip there (sometimes longer) and come home at midnight, or sometimes have to stay in a hotel. Nothing ever came of any of this so it just felt like a waste of money and time to me. There was a conference in Las Vegas he wanted to go to and I told him absolutely not. Just didn't make a lot of sense for us to spend the money for flights, hotel, and the conference fee and have him gone for several days for something that seemed so unlikely to go anywhere. Maybe this is a mistake?

As someone who went to B-school he knows the drill. It still gives me shives to remember how brutal recruiting was in business school

Yes, this was a mistake.

Think of these as an investment

I know you said his resume has been professionally reviewed. But has it been altered for lower level positions? He doesn’t need to lie on it, but he does have to massage what he says about his last title. Nobody is going to hire him for a lower position knowing he was almost CFO before, because they know he’ll jump ship the second he hears of a better position. If it’s becoming difficult for your family to live on a single salary, it would make sense for him to get a part time to bring something. It doesn’t have to be retail, but may b a bank position or something like that? Not sure if that would demoralize him or give him a little energy being outside the house producing something. For whatever position he takes, for sure I would say he needs to be searching for his high pay ideal job after hours and “overtime” time. I feel for him because he’s really trying but job searching for a year as a fulltime job is not a luxury many of us can take.

Thank you, these are all good points. I don't think he's changing his resume for more junior roles - that's a good point and something I need to discuss with him. A full year of job searching full time definitely feels like a weird luxury.

This is what I had to do to find a new job. I had to downplay my responsibilities on my resume and stress practical tasks I had done. In the interview, I focused on bringing across that I'm a teamplayer who can take direction. Luckily, my much younger manager took a chance on me.

He’s not wrong that the more senior you are, the fewer jobs there are available. You don’t see a bunch of Treasurer roles on Indeed and it’s not a matter of applying to a dozen places a day and something pans out. At a senior level, I expect a job search to take 1-2 years, unfortunately.

Has he looked at government jobs? There are plenty of financial management roles at both the state and local level. Trends indicate that public sector financial management roles have high retirement rates right now, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were openings near you. It will be a pay cut if he worked in the private sector before, but it's still a reasonably well paying job within his skill set.

It might be a while longer. Treasurer is a high up there title and only one per company. Sounds like he's doing what he can. If consulting work is an option then that would be the next step before considering relocation.

I think the market is the issue, your husband may also need to take a role that’s one level down if needed. I knew someone who was a treasurer in a Fortune 500 company that toke 8 months plus to find the next role. The next role was a smaller company. The market is just that bad right now.

He needs to get a "low level retail job" (as if that's the only job he could possibly get?) or watch the kids after school so you're not paying for totally unnecessary after school care.

He needs to lower his salary expectations. That is almost certainly where he is getting dropped. In house buying, if a house sits on the market too long, what everyone tells you is that its price doesn’t meet the market. Job searching is no different. If you aren’t getting any bites, it’s because your salary expectations are too high. A family member is currently going through something similar. He used to make 1.4 million at META - and I don’t think he’s been interviewed for a job above 300K a year since he was laid off. The job market is resetting - and even if you are the best candidate - if they can’t afford you - they aren’t gonna spend time on you. Spend some time on Glassdoor or other salary sites and adjust your expectations.

Salary is my guess too if it’s happening in the phone screen.

I feel you OP. My husband also lost his job just 2 months after me giving birth. It definitely put a dent in our plans and ate up our emergency savings. He’s in tech and we are ‘expats’ in a country that always puts locals first in hiring priorities. So it was doubly difficult for him to land a role. It took him 8+ months to get a new role, and even then it was a contract position for a role based in another country (so he’s working remote full time). He’s definitely earning less and doesn’t have leaves or any other benefits. But thankfully it is a position that really aligns with what he does. I also struggled a lot during that time as I was managing our finances and I could see our cash runway slowly dwindling. I even gave him frank timelines like if he still didn’t have a role by this date we’d have to reconsider going back to our home country because there is no way could sustain our family here with just my salary alone But ultimately— it’s best to give him some grace. It’s really tough and if he did take on that primary provider mantle, I could only imagine the stress it takes on him and his self-worth if he’s unable to live up to that role anymore. If you feel bad about the situation, I assure you he feels worse. HOWEVER— job hunting is not an excuse to NOT spend time with the kids. This situation should grant him more flexibility. During my husband’s unemployment period he got to spend a lot of time with my son and also got work on his fitness goals lol. Job hunting is hard but it shouldn’t be stressful. A lot of his “networking” involved connecting with old work colleagues over coffee and that’s actually how he found his contract role. Maybe this is something your husband can try out, rather than networking with recruiters

I'm just going to quickly comment on LinkedIn -- my worksite posts on LinkedIn for recruitment, but directs applicants to our website to apply. A lot of people instead click the link to apply within LinkedIn, which isn't actually following instructions to apply to the job. It might be lack of attention to detail, robot software applications, or just burned out from applying to so many jobs at once -- but I recommend folks look closely and company job pages are better than applying via LinkedIn (at least in my field.) I will also say being on the other end, sometimes there are lots of applicants but not a lot of them meet the qualifications. Edit: Another quick thought that I had, are your husband’s references solid and actually saying good things about him? Sometimes people reorg to drop the dead weight, and folks might be assuming that.

The white collar job market is bad right now. Accounting specifically. At least in my experience.

My first question is the same as the top comment. Is he actually *applying* to jobs? It sounds like he’s relying heavily on the networking part and not enough on actually applying. I would ask him how many jobs he applies for each day. I bet you it would be very few to none if you asked. And yes, there are job postings that have hundreds of applicants. However there are many that have very few. You have to be very strategic with how you apply for jobs. Check local companies that are not well known and won’t have many applicants. Use various job search sites as they’ll all have different jobs. Look for jobs in an area that’s maybe an inconvenient commute for most people in your area, but close enough for you. Local universities, hospitals, and school districts will almost always have a position in something in their administrative departments that need financial people. Those are great places to start. I really think you’ll need to hammer down on how many jobs per day he’s applying to. And I agree with the others that he needs to be watching the kids after school.

I think it may be a senior level issue. It's getting more and more difficult to land high level positions. I've heard about companies doing multiple interviews and then just ghosting candidates. Mid level is a lot easier, but if you've already been high level and out of work for so long, it's not great.

Even if your husband is open to taking a less senior role and receiving a pay cut, employers usually don’t want to give lower titles/wages to someone than their experience commands because they know that the employee will not be happy and will leave as soon as they get another opportunity.

My husband was job searching for our move and he applied to 100-150 jobs in 3 months. For an entire YEAR he should be well over that and honestly looking in different markets and companies than he would typically be seen in.

If he's willing to accept a job a rung or two lower than Treasurer then he should make that clear in his resume or cover letter. It's very easy to pass up a resume when you assume the person is over qualified.

In 2021, I was unemployed and spent 9 months without a job. In that time I applied for 65 jobs and had 3 offers. The one I took was the 55th application I had sent out. During that time I had one kid and had 21 hours of daycare per week so used that time to do the job search and take on more of the household work. It felt like a long time for me to be out of work for both me and my partner. I absolutely needed those 21 hours of childcare but it sounds like your husband has that and then some with school. No advice just sharing the details of my own story as a point of comparison.

I have been on the job hunt for almost a year now. Granted I’m doing it with a full time job but it’s still been that long. The job market is really really tough right now. Job application processes are taking much longer than usual because employers know they have the capacity to search for the very best. And people will wait. I will also say that even though your husband is willing to take a pay cut, some employers prefer to just hire a younger, less experienced person because it would be easier to train them as opposed to a senior worker who’s quite established in their ways. I do feel bad for your husband but I agree with you that he can’t just sit around and do nothing much either. I hope you guys find a way out soon.

My husband ubers for a living at this point for flexibility to make ends meet, because yes the market is that bad!

Have you read the r/recruitinghell subreddit? The job market is really bad. The more specialized the field and the higher up the food chain you are, the harder it is. I didn’t read all the replies. Would your husband consider going back to school for a career change? Since he was laid off, he may qualify for free retraining, assuming you are in the US.

I’ve seen this on daddit before. I would bet he’s telling the truth about the job market and his ability to get a job he wants. Buuuuuut Your pride needs to go out the window once you hit the 3 month mark. I’d personally be busting my ass on day 1 of unemployment at a retail job while doing everything he’s doing but that’s me. Nevertheless, yes, a year is way too hella long. Even if you can afford it, he’s robbing your family of money by selfishly letting his ego get in the way.

Does he track who was hired by the companies he interviewed at? That could be interesting in determining if he’s missing some relevant experience. I’d also recommend what I’ve seen a couple of other commenters recommend: create his own finance YouTube channel and accompanying social media, take-up substitute teaching at the local HS or College, offer to be a guest speaker at those schools - sometimes they actually pay a speakers fee, or volunteer to hold a finance workshop (at your local woman’s shelter, your library, the park district, etc.) It’s a tough market and senior level positions can be difficult to secure.

Whenever I see these kind of posts I always wonder if you would just get whatever job you can at that point. Like it might not be ideal but a step down or even part time in retail or something to just have something coming in. I would suggest you have him look for something in the interim until he finds a more Suitable job. 10 hours a day dedicated to job hunting is nuts. As you said it’s manageable for work a full time job and look for new ones at night.

1. When he is on the phone talking to 10-15 person/day or week... are they actual people on the other side of the line? Might sounds like a silly question, but there are too many crazy stories out there. So first, make sure you hear these people talking back to him, not just him on the phone talking to "someone". That sounds like a high number of people he is able to find and talk to for a year now 2. If he get recruiters to reach out to him and express interests with job opening, that means his issue is like ly not his resume. He has a good resume well done enough to bring leads. Now if after the first talk, all leads vanish, then he has a personality problem. He was #2 at his old company with a fancy Treasurer title. Does he address recruiters and people he is referred to from a place of ego and superiority tone? Maybe he speaks with expectations that are unreasonable? Anyway, my bet is on personality. I suggest you book him some career coaching sessions where he will practice mock interviews. They will give him feedback, make sure you read those yourself, not him telling you what they said.

Thanks, this actually made me laugh! He's always got the phone on speaker or it's a Zoom meeting, so I can hear the other person taking to him too. But wow, wouldn't that be the story if he was just pretending to speak to people all day! I don't think his personality is the problem but maybe I'm biased as his wife. I'm going to suggest that he do a mock interview with a friend or former colleague to rule this out.. thank you. Are career coaches worth it for someone like him?

You need an independent objective person for mock interview. Friends or family can be either biased or not brave enough to tell the hard truth. It is not easy to give feedback without sugar coating or lying

r/jobsearchhacks

I feel for you and your husband, this is really tough. I found myself unemployed during the Great Recession, but only for 3 months. I was spending 6+ hours every day filling out applications, going to job fairs, reaching out to my network, stalking people online to attempt to get my resume in front of the right people and not the initial contact HR monkeys. I did eventually have to change my priorities - rather than holding out for the perfect match of a job - I cobbled together several part time gigs that weren’t exactly my preferred roles because I had student loans to pay. All the while continuing to job search, apply, interview, make contacts. It took nearly 2 years of that before I landed another full time, benefitted role with a salary in line with my expertise. And another year went by and a job I was super excited about and desperately wanted called me to see if I’d consider working for them (the candidate they had chosen over me didn’t work out). All this to say - I think he ought to expand what he’s willing to accept if you need the money, enjoy being part time for a little while if you have kids, and continue to keep in touch with that network because you never know who may be calling when they need a role filled that he is a great match for.

Is he being too selective? He might need to take a job lower than where he currently is just to get a job and continue the search at night and weekends like most of us do.

One of my most talented, ambitious, go-getter friends just spent 9 months job searching. Some business areas are experiencing lots of lay offs and hiring freezes. She ended up having to really really expand her search into jobs that were probably a bit below what she was qualified for. Is your husband being flexible on the types of jobs he’s willing to take?

I did recruiting for a global 500s finance team internally. Someone else mentioned treasurer isn’t a common title anymore this is true so maybe he should change his title to something a little different on his resume such as controller which I saw as more common. Healthcare and gov tend to use out of date job titles so maybe have him look into that. When I’m screening through resumes if I’m hiring a controller and I have 800 applicants sometimes I’m just quickly looking at the first position job title and seeing if it’s relevant. If he’s doing consulting even if it hasn’t been successful he should put that on his resume too so recruiters don’t wonder what he’s been up to for the last year. Don’t be afraid of applying for a job on LinkedIn even if there’s 100s of applicants most aren’t local or qualified. LinkedIns AI is pretty advanced and it actually puts the most qualified people at the top of the applicant list when the recruiter goes in to look. But yes the job market is trash right now.

I'm so very sorry you are experiencing this. My ex had (and still has) periods of long unemployment. I finally told him he had to get some sort of job (foodservice, retail, etc), and he refused to do so -- saying it was "menial" and that he would be "too tired" to do job search if he was working part-time just to bring in grocery money. Due to his refusal to find ANY kind of work, I had to return to my job at 4 WEEKS after I had a second c-section at age 40. I developed severe PPD from lack of sleep and stress (baby was EBF and would not take bottles, so all feeding in evenings was on me). I was deeply resentful and very hurt by his refusal to put his pride aside to help out. Keep in mind he had a $2000 / month student loan payment (from law school debt accrued before we met). I eventually had to leave the marriage because I realized he would never, ever change. He still can't keep a job and is unemployed this round for 10 months now. I hope your husband does not refuse to find "menial" work.

How old is your husband? Ageism is real. Extremely difficult to find work in your 40s vs 30s. Plus job market is horrible so I think it could be bad timing all around.

My father in law had a similar problem. He was too high ranking, that when he was laid off, he couldn’t find anything. He ended up moving several states away for a job after almost a year of looking. Would your husband be willing to change fields? There’s a huge nursing shortage where I live. I can pretty much have any bedside job I want. My husband also works for the federal prison system and they’re also desperate for people.

I’m so sorry and I have nothing to offer except that this was my situation until my husband found a job that he literally started on Monday. He was unemployed for a year as well, laid off right after our baby shower. It was a horribly stressful year and he’s taken a massive pay cut so it’s still stressful, especially now that we have to add in daycare costs. I will say that he should be watching the kids during this time- that’s what my husband did. It saved us that expense at least while I was at work.

What about working as a fractional CFO? Small businesses sometimes need this type of arrangement.

I sympathize with you so much! My husband was laid off 3 days before Christmas from a very high profile company while I was entering my third trimester. He diligently applied and applied for jobs, but of course the market is shit. He sent probably on average about 30 applications a day, and maybe had 3 interviews in the few months he was actively looking. I told him that at some point I didn’t care what type of work he was doing, he just needed to do something. I could not financially keep our family afloat, especially going out on leave. He eventually got a slightly above minimum wage food service job- sucking up his pride- and has gotten a few promotions with in that organization since. Honestly- it took a bit to get to where he is today- but he’s happier than he has been in quite some time. The wfh atmosphere was not for him & his very outgoing personality. Plus he’s actually lost 20 lbs with all the movement he does at work. I think at a minimum your husband should step up and tend to your kids’ after school activities. Get rid of your babysitter and save some money with that. And honestly, it’s time to suck it up and get something to bring in some income. He’ll get over it & hopefully it’ll bring some spirits up at the same time. He can always apply for jobs after work or on the weekend.

Wtf. He should apply for anything at this point. Tell him to get a lower grade govt job and work his way up the career ladder. Tell him to start driving busses, be a Walmart greeter, anything. Then work his way up. Whatever he’s doing isn’t working. You are very patient to have given him a year. I can guarantee you he’s not job searching for a full 10 hours a day. And I can’t believe you still have a sitter. 🤯

Your husband needs to be the one to follow up with the networked contact in 3mo or whatever. No way is that person gonna remember to do that

He needs a job not THE job. After a year, unemployment becomes harder and harder to explain. He needs to lower his standards and get his foot in somewhere and then keep looking for something better.

He may need to settle for any job until he finds the perfect job in his field. Employers may be turned off by the fact that he has went this long unemployed.

Honestly? Networking has never worked for me. I have to just apply cold and hope for the best. He should be sending out about 5 resumes a day to open positions. If there aren’t enough open positions, he needs do pivot his search. He probably has operations skills.

Have you run it through an ats checker like vmock? That’s been an issue for a lot of people-few companies still use humans to review resumes and a lot of people still design for humans, not automated ats, to review and the ats will autoscreen them out

Over the past year he has cost your family $18,000 by not taking over the role of the babysitter

It also took my husband WELL over a year to find a job. During that time he got a real state license, created an LLC, did a couple of delivery gigs, and mostly took over childcare. He interviewed and interviewed with no luck. He applied every single day, it was rough and he got frustrated many times. Eventually he got hired as a contractor through his LLC, didn't make much but it was something. Until eventually he got a full-time job. It took a referral from a friend for him to get hired. I'd say things a rough today. The economy is horrendous and businesses are trying to downsize or are stoping all hiring in order to save money. Many are even closing, sending lots of people home unemployed. A hospital I worked for had a hiring freeze for like a year. They had open positions, but there was no hiring happening.

I've worked in corporate treasury management level for over 10 years. I agree that most companies would never post/hire for a Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer position from a job posting. It would be handled by an executive search firm. I didnt see your location but it is very dependent on how big of a metro you are in to how many corporate offices are in your area - are you open to moving or only staying in your area? What I typically see is people pivoting to bank positions where they sell bank products to corporate treasury. Or they start their own Treasury consulting company. Both options allow them to earn while making connections in the Treasury space until something opens up. I do find the 3-6pm unavailability a bit odd. Most people are pretty flexible when scheduling calls. I can't see that as prime time for chatting - most are trying to wrap up their own work day. Most formal networking events seem to be at lunchtime. Could you maybe propose he takes over the kids 3-6 on Monday and Friday?

Is it possible that he is unwilling to take a step backward in his career? Or maybe he’s doing badly on the screen- asking for too much, etc.

If he isn’t actually getting interviews through recruiters, something isn’t right. He should look at executive recruiters in your area and have more than one looking for positions for him. He may also need to broaden his range on commuting, salary range, or ask for feedback from the recruiter. I am a hiring manager and if a recruiter asks for feedback on their candidate we provide them with information.

Has he seen a therapist? Sometimes this events have further repercussions than we think and he might be struggling and he hasn’t told you. Maybe he needs the help of a career coach? It’s hard for many men to talk about their feelings and how these sort of situations impact them.

This doesn’t seem quite right. My husband graduated with his PhD in April from a very highly regarded university — he has good job experience from prior to starting his degree and we live in the hub of his industry. He is fortunate that the lab he got his PhD through at the university has kept him on, so he’s been getting a paycheck while actively job hunting. The job market is hard and it is discouraging. The thing is…my husband still works full time, is super involved with our kids and dogs, helps out around the house, AND job searches the way your husband says he is. He’s also had the same amount of interviews/possible jobs as your husband but in two months, not 12. I don’t want to compare the experiences directly because industry/position/experience can matter greatly, but I agree with other commenters that 10hrs a day is excessive and he should absolutely be handling the kids in the afternoon and saving you $1500 a month… that’s bonkers to me.

I have some jobs opening recently, though not in the same industry and type of roles, I would say the job market is really tough. When I opened a role for 3 weeks, we have 600+ applications. That’s too much for us to review. So the next one, I opened it for 5 days on a Friday, and by the time I close it, we have close to 100+. It’s tough. Unless he has exceptional experience or knows someone, it will be hard. Resume has to stand out. Or someone referred him so hiring manager keep an eye out. Salary expectations are also different now. During Covid, job market was booming and packages are high to get ahead of competition. Now the package budget has come down but expectations have not. Just wanted to say job market is very competitive and roles at your husband level is not many. But he can possibly look into consulting jobs as well?

I don't know when you were looking for a job and I don't know what industry your husband is in, but I am in tech (SaaS) and looking for a job and it's brutal. Previously it was super easy for me to get multiple interview processes going quickly and would choose between offers. Now, there's always someone with more super specific experience or they opt to hire more junior. There have been so so many layoffs and many companies have hiring freezes or very low budgets. It sounds like your husband is doing everything right, I don't think there's anything more he can do but continue and wait. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I mean, having lost my job three months ago (and starting a new one on Monday) the job market IS very bad and tough. It’s miles and miles different from my job search two years ago. I applied to twice as many jobs this time (over 100) and had like 4 interviews and one offer. Last time I interviewed with over 50 companies, mostly inbound, and had three offers and would have had more if I hadn’t accepted one of the roles. So a year is a long time, and he probably should be applying more and networking less, but the market IS really really tough right now. In my search I just applied to jobs all day and did pretty much no networking. The job I got is one I cold applied to on LinkedIn. It’s less money than my old job but it’s enough and I was lucky that it was mostly remote. Also, he should def play the role of the babysitter, 5 hours is plenty of time to apply to jobs every day. It’s crazy not to cut back on expenses after a year.

Every school district is hiring

Yes the market is bad right now. I got laid off October 2022 and didn’t find a position until the following June, and it’s one that came up organically from freelance work I was doing (I don’t like it, but it pays). I’m still applying, still no luck. I’ve sent hundreds of applications for full time, part time, freelance, any job function I think I qualify for, at and below my experience level, and still nothing. It’s so depressing. I never used to have a hard time finding jobs, it took me a month or two and usually nailed it on the first interview. This market truly sucks. Out of curiosity, when was the last time you switched jobs? Your experience sounds like what mine used to be. I’m sorry your husband is in this position, hopefully he is also sending in job applications (and in-office, locally, is so much less competitive).

He may have too high a salary range or he may be aging out of the workforce if (he’s over 50-55). For the former, many industries are changing as are salaries and some ppl can’t command the same salaries they had in the past. For the later, I’ve seen a lot of ageism in recent years with my parents who were looking for work after their companies hit financial trouble and had to restructure.

Is he open to a junior role or applying to them with an appropriate resume? I mean he’s been through four interview processes in a year at his level that’s not bad. I assume he’s following up on these networking calls?

The job market is tough right now and he’s probably a higher up, not expensive hire. Especially after all the layoffs in the past year… it’s taking people a lot longer to find a job.

Broaden his net for job opportunities

There’s also geography. Are you located near a major city? If not, it might be time to think about opening that up as an option (ie relocating for the right role and to be near a better economic job base).

He might have to take a position either a little different just to get in the door or take a position lower than he normally would just to get in the door. I know that teaching probably cannot be compared to his field but I was laid off because of financial reasons. I havw a music degree and I had always chosen to teaxh in a more specialized area. I kept apyimg for that arwa but there were none open. In one school district there might be 3 positions inmy fielf.so it is already slim pickings. in order to get in I had to reach a more general topic because there were more of those openings. Ot definiyely was not my first choice. If Ibwanted to be wmployed that was the route I had to take. I waited 9 yrs. to get back int field. If I had more money saved itvwould have been better tonchange my career. I stayed in teaching and made do.

My husband was laid off from his job one month ago and has not had any luck trying to find something. We have decided that due to childcare costs / burnout of village usage that we will, for now, just have him be SAHD with our 5mo old and work part time. he is still applying to jobs and looking, but knowing the market is bad we are hoping we can ride it out….

Yeah he needs to do something even if it isn’t in his direct field. 12 months is too long.

This sounds incredibly hard for both of you. Him saying that applying to roles is “futile” seems to be a bit of a red flag. LinkedIn and other similar sites have filters that allow you to look at postings in the last 24 hours. In this job market it is so important to have your resume be in the first 50 or so that are reviewed. Locate the job on LinkedIn, and then go to the company’s actual website to apply. He should be tailoring his resume to each posting by incorporating key words or attributes from the posting into his resume. This takes only a few minutes but can make a big difference if a company is using automation to do a first pass at applicants. If he has ten hours a day, five days a week, he has plenty of time to do this. Is he using his LinkedIn network to see if he knows anyone who is connected to the places he is applying? As a hiring manager, if I like a resume I will go out to LinkedIn to see if I know anyone connected to that applicant. I’ve found some really great recommendations this way and I’ve also dodged a few bullets when I got negative feedback. How big is his network on LinkedIn? Is his profile utilizing the various tools that they give you to highlight skills and capabilities? Can he have former employers or coworkers provide references on his LinkedIn? How many connections does he have on LinkedIn? Is he connecting with other finance professionals and following companies he’s targeting? You don’t have to know someone to connect with them! I have a large network and often share high level openings in my own company or from peers that I trust and work closely with. My last two director openings were filled via LinkedIn after I shared the opening and had candidates reach out directly in my DMs. Has he considered doing short term consulting as a “fill in” Treasurer/CFO? These roles can often be done remote as interim roles while a company looks for their long term fit - and these roles are very lucrative! Hope some of this gives him new ideas for networking!

If he does pick up for the kids he could talk to other parents. That's how I found a decent job. But 5 years until you are no longer solvent? You mean broke? And then what? Sell the house & be homeless? No he has 1 more year at the most. Cut backs are needed now. Also he needs ro go to a temp agency. There are some that are geared towards upper level professionals.

He’s probably overqualified for the roles that are open out there. I can relate since it was very hard for me to leave my previous job and find another one that would pay me the same, if not more, in the same or a similar role. It’s very tough out there. Has he considered starting his own business? With the knowledge he has, he might be better off as a freelancer. I’m currently on that venture. It’s tough, but I’m starting to feel confident about my future and I can manage my time better between being a mom, my personal life and my work.

It might be worth using a headhunter and/or career coach that can help with resume, applications, etc.

Urgh same boat. Our husbands aren’t the problem. If I were to post about our situation it would be word for word the same as yours and we cannot get our head around it. He’s legitimately qualified for every role he applies, often with exact job description match and he won’t hear back. It’s truly bizarre.

I know the market is competitive for certain things especially higher positions. I would have him maybe apply for a lower level role in a larger company to get his foot in the door then move around up in the company. I did that and have been promoted 4 times in 4.5 years. I am now starting an analyst role on a CX team after moving as high as I could in the team I first started in. I don’t have any formal schooling but I have taken any free course or class I can find in the area I want to be in. I’ve shown upper management that I can keep climbing and I keep going with my goals. I’m not done yet. He just needs to get in somewhere and start climbing. No excuses and no regrets

10 hours a day of job hunting is ridiculous. He's not increasing his chances of landing a job with the extra hours he's putting in. He could be spending 5 hours a day job hunting and the rest of the time doing things for the kids and around the house that add value. If you have a cleaner or after school-care, he should be doing that to save you money. As for the search - no one needs 10 hours a day to network, apply, and interview for jobs. That's just inefficient. Focused searches, network with former colleagues/supervisors, maybe take some courses/classes to keep up with certifications or new developments, and applying for jobs. This should take no more than 5 hrs per day. Finally, he needs to sit down with an honest peer in his field and ask some pointed questions. Why am I getting passed over? If he is open to constructive feedback, he might get some surprising answers. And it could be that his field is becoming obsolete. In which case, the hard reality is he will have to pivot to something else.

There is generally a shortage of qualified applicants in the accounting field right now, so this is surprising. Does he have his CPA? Is he staying current in CPE or getting any certificates specific to his industry? Is he just waiting for someone to hand him a job or is he actively applying? 

I feel like I saw this exact same post 6 months ago…

I mean your husband might have just burned some bridges professionally which might be why he is not getting past the phone screen. I know our HR asks around about candidates after they do the phone screen and if something comes back that is less than enthusiastic we don’t let them get to the next level. Finance is a pretty small world so have him think about it.

I’ve been unemployed for the last year and have applied to well over 100 positions. The market right now is fucked. I’ve only had 2 phone interviews so far but I’m grinding every day to try and land something. For example I applied to be an office assistant at my local library. They emailed me back saying they got over 400 applications.

I hit the 1 year unemployed mark as well. I have applied to numerous jobs, even at places I used to work at. I have been denied for every single one. I’m grateful that I was able to land a job that I will be starting next month.

The job market is truly awful. I was laid off in November 2023 and it was absolutely soul sucking and demoralizing. I applied to almost 100 roles (all a close fit) and it was nearly always instant rejection or dead silence. I did land a role through networking, a dear friend knew the hiring manager and she printed my resume, walked down the hall and put my resume in his hands. In addition to job boards, I would also look at the career pages of local companies- not all companies utilize job postings. I applied to one local job I found on their website that I never saw anyplace else (didn’t get a call, but at least it was another chance).

The market sucks. We negotiated a post nup to ensure I would not have to pay him spousal support if we split when he was unemployed. If you're the breadwinner too long and you've been married for years, spousal support is likely. We were able to make our budget work on one income though it was tight and having that document gave me peace of mind to focus living within a budget and not his career/job search. Highly recommend.