Probably one of the most disastrous side-effects for the long-term unemployed is the attendant anomie. By and large you begin living outside of society, outside of its rhythms, outside of its collective wisdom. Your futile job hunt begins to highlight the capriciousness with which punishments and rewards are doled out. Progressives pay lip service to the way marginal distinctions can grow into yawning inequalities, but I think in the end its something you can only comprehend fully through lived experience. Each job you are not hired for creates an ever growing gap on your resume and makes it all the more likely that you won’t be hired after your next interview. As these anxieties grow, you become more ambivalent about looking for work because you know that what you should be focused on isn’t searching for a job tomorrow, but erasing the job hunt from yesterday.
What You Don’t Know About the Job Search: Responses From the Jobless
(via theatlantic)
via moneyisnotimportant
