Search, apply, be interviewed and then await that gleaming job offer that you’ve been chasing. That’s the basic application process. Seems simple enough, right? Except it isn’t simple at all. Somewhere along the way to that shining “submit” button at the end, you tripped along the path to employment and landed flat on your face.

Seriously, why is it so hard to get a job nowadays? Sure, rejection is to be expected, and that’s fine. At least rejection is closure. What feels far more offensive is silence. Today, it seems like way too many applicants are straight-up ghosted. What’s even worse is the instances where people don’t even receive a chance to become applicants at all; their applications are denied on the spot, far before resumes are considered. That’s how brutal the market is. You won’t even get a chance to turn in a literal piece of paper.

I had a friend tell me that when she went to submit her application for Chick-Fil-A, the manager pretended not to know what it was and just waved her off. Honestly, is the competition to serve chicken nuggets to hyperactive kids that stiff?

What’s supposed to be an overt path forward has become an exhausting obstacle course. Apparently, the effort will never be enough.