About How to Be Jobless

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“I am a jobless hack.”

I started How to Be Jobless having graduated with a Masters from a prestigious school of journalism, having been published in national and international publications, and as one of the many thousands of hilariously qualified unemployed people in the clutches of 2013.

I decided to play the job-hunting game for one year and in the meantime, work out How To Be Jobless  – without losing your mind. The calendar was marked, Monday February 17th 2014: “DEADLINE – KILL SELF”

…until I could think of a more appropriate backup plan.

Solidarity, not sympathy

How To Be Jobless started because I was becoming despondent, and not much fun to be around. Newspapers, magazines, blogs and the like were full of dispassionate reporting of unemployment figures, lists of advice, and babyboomer head-patting half-apologies, “Sorry Gen Y, you’re screwed!” Not much to make the overqualified jobseeker feel any better.

Can we laugh about this?

George Orwell said, “Every joke is a tiny revolution”. And thank goodness, because I’d have no other idea of how to start one.

So…lol.

New to How to Be Jobless? Watch: The Video (featuring actor Gethin Alderman as ‘Jobless Hack’):
http://vimeo.com/65006896

UPDATE: Somehow, blogging about joblessness got me hired on the Guardian Digital Journalism Scheme – for one year. You can read about it in my bi-monthly series Grad Scheming on GoThinkBig. After that, I was hired as a features writer at the Guardian. I remain there until joblessness reclaims me.

Watch: The Journey to Jobfulness:

21 thoughts on “About How to Be Jobless”

  4. Pingback: The Ultimate Jobless Playlist – as chosen by you | howtobejobless

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  6. I got my BA in journalism in May 2012 and I’m still laying the jobhunting game. In that time I’ve done a paid internship in PR and some (more) unpaid journalism related placements but I can only afford to od these for short bursts and can’t afford to go to London . I did quite a few of those in the three years I was studying too. It’s getting harder to stay positive some days so that you for writing this blog and helping me remember it is okay to laugh about it.

    Reply

  7. Pingback: Featured on mediargh.com (formerly MediaMuppet) Interview: The Blogger behind ‘How To Be Jobless’ | howtobejobless

  10. I LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog. I discovered it when I was, yep, you guessed it looking for work on Mediamuppet. I graduated in 2004 in Journalism. Been working on and off as a Journo in television since 2005. But haven’t found work for a while, the reason….. Yeah unpaid interns, doing my job! Have to think of a plan B ….. But thanks for your blog, it cheered me up

    Reply

  11. Hello all unemployed graduates! We’re a TV production company currently making some short films for Channel 4 News about various youth issues. We’re looking for unemployed graduates who can talk to us about the difficulties of finding work and who question the value of degrees, especially given the cost of student fees. We’re also hoping to talk to people who have moved back in with their parents due to the high cost of renting and buying property. If you’d like to have a quick chat about this to find out more, pls email Lucy at lucysw@mandrakefilms.co.uk or phone 0208 510 9171.

    Reply

    • Hi, is it to late for this? I have just finished my Masters degree and currently struggling with the job-hunt. I definitely have strong opinions on the value of my degree and have also moved back with my parents.

      I have decided to start blogging to express my views about my current situation. My blog is unemployedhrgraduate.wordpress.com.

      Thanks!

      Reply

  12. Pingback: Young and Jobless | New Escapologist

  13. You wrote an interesting article about the need to maintain a ‘perfect’ online presence just in case an employer is watching.

    I am no longer a user of Facebook or Twitter because of this.

    The ‘rules of hiring’ mean I can’t express negative comments, mention too much alcohol use or make political comments that might offend a hiring manager.

    What a world we live in!

    Reply

    • Wow, really?! I commend your willpower!

      What job are you hoping to get? If it’s anything media-related you might be worse off without any media presence at all. I know as a journalist if I didn’t have an online presence I’d have no shot at a job, as they’ll always choose someone who has crafted and maintained their image or “brand” online. However, if you’re not looking to get into the media, you’ve found freedom!

      Remember, on Facebook you can always adjust your privacy settings so people you’re not friends with can’t see your status updates – but you would still need a profile picture that wouldn’t put them off.

      Also, if there are things you want to say on Twitter without the prying eyes of potential employers, you can be anonymous there as I used to be (@howtobejobless is tied to an email with a fake name, back when I was very concerned about keeping my identity secret).

      Thanks so much for reading and commenting! I hope your job hunt is going well.

      Reply

  14. Hi,

    Wow, I’ve only just stumbled this blog and really enjoying some of the posts as I can relate to so many of them! I am currently new to blogging and WordPress, so pretty much have no idea what I’m doing. I have completed my Masters degree in HR and Business in September 2014 and now currently having no luck finding a job, which I never had imagined, I kinda feel I’ve been screwed over in life and don’t know what to do, as I’m “over qualified” for certain jobs then “do not have the experience” for others. Most employers don’t bother getting back to me, some emails of rejection and only one interview so far.

    The job hunt is getting to me and turned to blogging so that I can have a rant and also share my journey into employment. I’ve also kept my identity anonymous as I am worried it could affect my job hunt.

    I’m going to carry on reading your old posts and hopefully cheer me up as the constant rejection is getting to me.

    I’ll look forward to more future posts, keep up with the good work!

    Reply

    • Hang in there! Come and have a moan as often as you want 🙂 We also have a “Vent Corner” if you want to write something. Feel free to message me anytime about whatever – this is a support system as much as anything else x

      Reply

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