For around 20 years L.I. has served me well with leads for my businesses, job opportunities and educational, informational posts.  Even though my feed is too often polluted with political opinions, pet photos, memes and other things more suited for F.B., I still log on daily and derive value. Lately, my feed is packed full of sad, desperate souls sharing tragic tales of layoffs and job search woes.  On one hand I empathize.  Anyone my age has been through similarly tough times and it sucks.  However, some posts evoke a negative reaction in me.  I say to myself about the jobseeker “grow up, quit complaining, just deal with it, do the hard thing,” or I utter some profanity and scroll on.  Look, this post is not about me; I’ve finished the race, am retired, living abroad and no longer in the market. This is about you – if you’re a jobseeker posting your resume publically, blaming the ATS/AI resume screening tools, complaining about the economy or the government, etc., etc.  See if any of my tips below help or constructively move you to action.  Most are what I did when I found myself in your situation.  If you want to crap on me publically, feel free to post a comment – I won’t mind and won’t respond.  However if you want to engage in thoughtful debate, DM me instead.

1. Do you really think that green “Open to Work” banner on your profile photo is going to generate job leads for you?  Maybe. But my 50 years as both a job candidate and hiring manager tells me I don’t think so.  Every job I secured after around age 30 came from a personal referral, and a referral generated by an active (not passive) action on my part.  You’re going to need to make 1:1, face-to-face contacts and ask for referrals.  You should be spending your time and money on ‘coffee dates’ with well-networked individuals including association leaders, influencers, recruiters, HR and hiring managers in your field or at targeted companies.  I’m not saying to not use the banner; I’m saying don’t expect any results from using it.
2. No opportunities in your area?  Move!  If you live in a downtrodden state like California or New York and the opportunities are few and far between, move to Texas, Arizona or Florida.  I don’t buy the argument that you can’t up-and-move.  Maybe just the breadwinner needs to move or commute long-distance.  Staying near your extended family, maintaining a nuclear household or keeping the kids in their school are not valid reasons passing up a job outside your market.
3. No opportunities in your profession?  Switch professions!  Get certified in something new and different.  Maybe you wasted your college years on some abstract degree when you should have learned how to code, weld or repair engines.  I didn’t set out to teach ESL in Latin America… I simply aged out of marketing.  If your current career isn’t paying the bills, maybe it’s time to abandon or postpone the dream and get serious about putting food on the table.
4. “2025 is looking to be a historically bad year.”  Really?  Do you think us grey-hairs didn’t struggle with bad economies too?  And it’s been far worse. Unemployment in the US has frequently been much, much higher than it is today. I don’t think these times are nearly as bad as the crash of 1987 when interest rates and inflation went double digits.  For around six years consumers were broke and companies were crippled.  Then there was the stock market and real estate crash of 2008, which cost most of us our retirement accounts and home equity.  The Covid years were no picnic for any of us.  It could be a lot worse.
5. Have a paycheck but it’s not covering expenses? Get one or two more paychecks!  Working just 40 hours a week is considered part-time in some countries.  Having free time for your spouse and children is a luxury you can’t afford right now.  And forget vacations.  You should be driving Uber or merchandising for Frito-Lay or CocaCola, waiting tables or working retail during your evenings and weekends.  Working three jobs isn’t fun but you’re in survival mode for a while and no work is beneath you.
6. Too proud to go on Unemployment and Food Assistance?  Get over it and file.  Times like this and people like you are why the programs exist.  Receiving and using the assistance is discrete but you shouldn’t care about appearances anyway.  Some states pay a weekly of around $500 in UI and the same in Food Assistance.  Combined and managed carefully, that’s enough to put some food on the table, gas in the tank and some kind of roof over your head.  Seems to me the assistance programs last around 12 months, more or less.
7. Kid’s daycare or private school tuition eating up your discretionary income?  Well, the lowest income earner in your household might consider home daycare and/or homeschooling the kids.  And you won’t need that second car for this ‘employment.’  Sometimes the solution to negative budget problems can be solved on the expense side easier than the revenue side.
8. Mortgage payment eating up what little money you make?  Might be time to rent again.  Sell the house if there’s equity; let them foreclose if there’s not. Consider moving in with your kids or parents.  Only in the US is this looked down on.  In the countries I’ve visited, multi-generational (3 and 4 generation) homes are the norm.  Other cultures tackle chronically tough times as a family unit with a communal approach to living expenses.
9. Credit card payments at 28% interest killing you?  File for Personal Bankruptcy!  The American legal system provides you this relief, so use it.  Make the last thing you charge a full payment to your BK lawyer.  Sure your FICO will take a hit, but having little or no access to revolving credit will do you good.  You’ll only be in the penalty box for 7-10 years, but you’ll bounce back.  Go back to putting cash in separate envelopes marked electricity, food and rent.  You’re broke so you shouldn’t be acting like you’re not.
10. Unemployed… you shouldn’t have a car payment.  Maybe you shouldn’t even own a car for a while.  Turn back in any upside down car owned or leased. Can you get by with public transportation, a bike or moped?  If you do need a car, find an economical $3-5k used car and pay cash for it.  Then drop your insurance coverage down to the legal liability limit only.  Even the notion of individual car ownership is a uniquely American luxury, so give it some thought.
11. Unemployed… you should not be frequenting restaurants at all.  Yes, groceries are relatively expensive these days.  But staple ingredients are nowhere as inflated as a $4 Starbucks coffee or a $13 combo at McDonalds.  You should be preparing coffee at home, sandwiches and fruit for lunch and simple proteins and vegetables for dinner.  All at home, in your air fryers, hotpots and microwaves.  You’ve surely got the time now. Forget about table service with the added tipping. Forget about happy hour drinking, appetizers and other vices.  You can’t afford this stuff right now. 
12. Another thing… you don’t need the next cell phone upgrade.  The iPhone 10 will still get the job done.   You also don’t need the Verizon $80/mo unlimited data plan when a small effort will hook you to free wifi just about anywhere.  ProTip: check out Google’s new cell service called GoogleFi – starts at just $20/mo.  You certainly don’t need the $100/mo fastest home internet package, especially when you cancel your four streaming movie platforms that you don’t need because you’re too busy researching companies and emailing coffee date invites to your contacts.
13. Are you 50+?  You probably shouldn’t be seeking W2 employment anyway.  It’s no wonder you’re not getting any bites on your 3-page resumes.  Kids half your age will do your job for half your pay and possibly twice as good.  At your age it’s time to hang out your shingle.  You should be self-employed, starting a small business or consulting for an hourly rate 4X your W2 rate.  Or monetize your hobby.  I know a gal who’s making a killing selling homemade, delivered lasagnas from her home kitchen.  Another guy my age is building WordPress websites for all the other self-employed geezers in our circle.  One great thing about self-employment are the tax advantages.  Even a non-LLC side-hustle will provide write-offs for home office, car payments and cell phone plans.  It’s not always important what you earn, it’s what you keep.
14. Are you 60+ and thinking about retirement?  I got news for you – it’s become prohibitively expensive to retire in the US.  Why do you think there are millions of ex-pats living in Mexico, Central and South America, Portugal and Spain.  It’s because we can get by on smaller pensions and social security.  There are many lovely countries with lower cost of living and some with advantageous currency exchange rates.  Not only can’t we retire in the US, but most of us don’t want to anyway.

*Not all tips are for good for all people in every situation.  Just meaning to spark thought.