Looking For A Job Has Become An Alienating Humiliation Ritual

The most haunting entry in Search Work: A Collective Inquiry into the Job Hunt, a recently published anthology edited by Rachel Meade Smith, is also the most vulnerable: a collection of emails between games journalist and author David Wolinsky and anyone who can possibly help him find work. The tone and tenor of the missives will feel instantly familiar to readers who have ever found themselves in a similar position. In the messages, Wolinsky is eager, kind, honest about his situation and what he’s willing to do and, most importantly, open to opportunity, however it may present itself. Reading through the entries, which are sprinkled throughout the collection’s essays, graphics, and other ephemera, it’s clear that the process of how we find work is broken.

Wolinsky sends many followups that never waver in their tone—unflinchingly polite and casual with just enough urgency to show that he cares—toeing the line between follow-through and desperation. What Wolinsky, and the other contributors to the book, are really looking for is humanity and connection, two components that are, in 2026, absolutely necessary to a successful job search and seemingly in short supply.

Looking for work has always been tough, but in 2026 it feels abysmal. It is a daily humiliation ritual. Toggling back and forth between job boards, cover letters, and four different versions of your own résumé, tailored specifically to listings that may not even be real, tests your own fortitude and tolerance for pain. The slog of seeking employment—looking at your email, closing your email, refreshing it, repeat—is its own kind of labor that is only rewarded when you achieve what feels impossible, which is getting a fucking job.