Laid-Off Woman Goes to Extreme Lengths to Find Job, Shocked by the Response

Two things are certain. One, a lot of people are finding the job market pretty rough right now and two, having an online presence or some degree of internet clout can open up a world of new opportunities.

However, in the current labor market—where more people are being laid off from heavy-weight firms—is the millennial and Gen Z currency of 'exposure' enough to land you your dream role?

For Marta Puerto, it certainly could be. The 29-year-old marketing professional based in Spain was lain off from her full-time corporate role in October 2023. Lay-offs were significantly high in 2023, according to Forbes; at 198 percent more by September than they had been in all of 2022. And the job market has only become more competitive with fewer job openings as the post-pandemic years have flown by.

Puerto was faced with this difficult reality and, after months of searching for a new position, was still getting nowhere. She soon grew accustomed to watching rejection letters flood her inbox on a daily basis.

With over six years of experience in her field while still in her 20s, Puerto was once the dream catch of most recruiters—but she worried that her CV was now lost in a sea of shiny new graduates or older professionals with bucket loads of experience. Her four-month-long job search was moving on with little to brag about, that is, until a video she created to market herself to employers went viral.

That video has received over 140,000 reactions on LinkedIn since it was posted to the platform on March 1. Ironically, the surprisingly cinematic clip that details Puerto's quest for a face-to-face interview, has unlocked virality on the very site that the advertising and public relations graduate was using to apply to, and subsequently get rejected from, job opportunities.

"The only thing I wanted was to kind of get noticed and to stand out. I expected to get reposted by some people in my network, which is what happened at the beginning," Puerto, whose videographer partner shot the short film, told Newsweek.

"I did not expect to have such a huge response to and appreciation for my post. It's really lovely, but I was so surprised! When people I don't know started reacting to the post, I was, like, 'Wow, this is really going viral,'" she added.

The views soon turned into invitations to apply for roles—in some cases as a fast-tracked applicant—across multiple continents, with some firms offering the opportunity to relocate. Puerto, who is from Barcelona and now lives in Madrid, suddenly found herself in the eye-line of "multiple" U.S. companies.

The marketing professional became so inundated with offers that she had to create a brand-new email address, rather comically titled 'hiremartapuerto', to house the swathes of requests.

Puerto now has over 600 emails in that inbox, with around 500 and counting from hiring companies. While she has not yet secured her dream job, she's in a much-better position than she was in four months ago. The marketing professional is ahead in the application process for around 20 roles that she really likes, but understands that recruitment procedures take time and is waiting patiently for verdicts.

Puerto recalled the internet frenzy around her video: "I'd published the video on a Wednesday and by Thursday, it was viral! Thursday was just crazy. Over the end of the week, and even at the weekend, I made sure to read all the messages I was receiving.

"I replied to the relevant people that I wanted to interview with and I've spent the last week doing a lot of interviews. I've already advanced to the second or third round with some of them," Puerto added.

The experience has been bizarre for the 20-something to say the least. While her cohort are usually bending over backwards to pitch themselves to the firms they aspire to work for, Puerto now has companies trying to court her.

She told Newsweek that she has been "feeling a bit like the interviewer" as the roles have somewhat reversed.

"A lot of applicants wish they had all these people asking them to join their company. It's a bit overwhelming, but I'm privileged to be in this situation and now I can have more deciding power," she added.

While no deals have been closed yet, the virality of her 'application' has eased a lot of pressure off Puerto's back. But is this really the length that young people need to go to in securing a job offer in 2024?

The State of the Labor Market

If you are applying for new work, or are in a stable role but have been browsing the job-hunting corner of TikTok and Instagram, you will have noticed that the current labor market is not for the faint of heart.

Despite slowing inflation, which has prompted the Biden administration to hail the market for its strength, lots of people are being laid off, and there is generally less demand for workers than there had been in previous years. While 2024 has generated a relatively healthy labor market so far, especially in comparison with the turmoil businesses faced during the pandemic, the government's mood is not comforting for everyone.

The year has kicked off with layoffs from firms like Google, Citigroup, Vice, and Amazon, and the labor market, which was tilted in favor of workers during the post-pandemic recovery, is now coming into balance.

Although the U.S. welcomed 2.7 million jobs in 2023, while battling concerning interest rates, nearly 70 percent of job seekers say that their current search is "more difficult" than their last one. A 2023 survey from staffing agency Insight Global determined that recently unemployed full-time workers had applied to an average of 30 jobs, only to receive "an average of four callbacks".

The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics says the number of job openings counted on the last business day of January were down from a "series high" in March 2022. The database also reported that the unemployment rate rose slightly in February.

The number of job seekers with degree-level qualifications, or that have bolstered up their resumes by taking advantage of social media, hasn't helped the situation and has only made the market more competitive.

The trend has sadly led to a "lack of motivation" in many unemployed Americans. Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, have been hit the hardest, with 66 percent of unemployed job applicants of that generation reporting that they feel "burnt out" after spending so much time looking for new work.

In the U.K, the unemployment rate for "16s and overs" sat between 3.8 and 4 percent in 2023, which is above estimates from one year ago.

'The Current Job Market Is Competitive'

Michelle Holahan is the vice president and head of employer brand for HireMinds, a boutique executive search firm specialized in marketing and biotech.

"There are a lot of words to explain the current job market: tough, wonky, painful. But most importantly, competitive," Holahan told Newsweek.

"It isn't just a perception that the market is harder, it is. There are a few reasons why. Firstly, there is now high competition for fewer open roles. There have been a lot of layoffs, hiring budgets have been squeezed or frozen, and there is great talent actively looking. With fewer roles to fill, and more candidates to consider, many people are being passed over."

"There are also more eyeballs on every hire. Leadership is watching the bottom line, and a case has to be made for every hire. More people are being pulled into the interview process, and with more stakeholders, opinions on the need often get diluted," she added.

Holahan said that evolving technology has also made a big difference, with single-click job applications being so easy to complete that "almost every open roles now has hundreds of applicants within days, some in hours."

"Social media has made it a lot easier to refer candidates, too. Open LinkedIn and you will see it on any job post in someone's feed. A qualified referral will be considered over an inbound resume most any day," Holahan added.

Lawrence Ng is an entrepreneur, investor and the CEO of SideHustles.com, an informational website and job platform centered around side hustles in the States. He told Newsweek: "The job market has seen increased competition owing to a multitude of factors. The trend of outsourcing labor to lower-economically developed countries for cost efficiency has impacted domestic employment opportunities at home.

"The rapid advancement of AI technologies are reshaping the job availability and requirements landscape, presenting new challenges and opportunities. A survey conducted by us at SideHustles.com, with 340 Americans, in Q4 2023 revealed that 74 percent of side hustlers stated they needed extra cash to combat the rising cost of living," Ng added.

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