Finding a job in this economy feels like its own full-time work—except it doesn’t come with a paycheck, benefits, or any clear sense of progress. After nearly five months of unemployment, I’m realizing how emotionally draining a prolonged job search can be. Even after narrowing my focus to social impact jobs, mission-driven organizations, and public sector career opportunities, I’m still struggling to find the right fit. The current job market is competitive and unpredictable, and the silence after submitting applications has become its own source of stress.

There’s a strange irony in my situation. As I prepare to welcome a new baby, I keep hearing how important it is for new mothers to take the first three months to heal, rest, and bond. That part society understands. But being unemployed during pregnancy? That part is met with awkward silence. It comes with a level of financial anxiety, job search burnout, and economic uncertainty that few people talk about openly.

Every day, I’m balancing the emotional weight of preparing for motherhood with the reality of not having steady income. I find myself doing the mental math—sometimes literal spreadsheets—trying to project how long I can stretch my savings. My mortgage doesn’t care that the job market is slow. Groceries, doctor visits, insurance, and everyday expenses don’t pause just because the economy is tight. The truth is, if I don’t secure meaningful employment soon, my resources will run out by May. That looming deadline feeds a constant undercurrent of stress.

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Why My Job Search Feels Especially Hard Right Now

It’s not just me — the barriers in the current labor market are real.

Recent reporting highlights how the Washington, D.C.–Maryland–Virginia region has been hit especially hard by federal workforce reductions and decreased government spending. The region now has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, due in part to federal job cuts and lower hiring activity across agencies and contractors (AP News, 2024).

Analysts also note that many of the new jobs being created don’t match the skills or backgrounds of displaced federal or public-sector workers—making re-entry even more challenging for applicants with specialized experience (AP News, 2024).

Compounding this, national hiring indicators show stagnation. The hiring rate remains around 3.2%, one of the lowest levels in two decades, illustrating how tight and competitive the job market has become for knowledge workers and mission-driven professionals (WUSA9, 2024).

So when I’m sending out resumes for social-impact roles and chasing interviews, I’m competing not only with many equally qualified people, but also in an environment where fewer roles are available, fewer postings align with my experience, and fewer organizations are expanding.

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This tension—between nurturing a growing life and trying to stay afloat financially—shapes my days. I know my professional worth and the impact I’ve made in past roles. Yet navigating the world of remote job applications, nonprofit hiring, and social-impact recruiting while pregnant has carried its own emotional toll. There is something uniquely humbling about putting yourself out there again and again and hearing nothing back.

Some days I’m hopeful. Some days I’m overwhelmed. Most days, I’m a quiet combination of both—trying to stay grounded, trying to stay focused, and trying to believe that the right opportunity will come.

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References

AP News. (2024). Federal job cuts and economic uncertainty strain Washington region’s workforce. Retrieved from https://apnews.com/article/trump-washington-federal-takeover-economy-5a81e02a246995a066db375eb47c5692

WUSA9. (2024). Laid-off federal workers face a difficult job market amid stalled hiring rates. Retrieved from https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/politics/federal-fallout/laid-off-federal-workers-job-market-struggles/65-d6879eae-2b8e-4619-92e4-475827adcac7