Job search panic

Post date: 2017-12-14 04:23:05

I've been looking for a job since July. My unemployment is going to run out at the end of January, and my savings won't last much longer than that. I am living as frugally as reasonably as I can but I am panicking. With my qualifications, I thought I'd have a job by now. What am I doing wrong?

I have over a decade in professional jobs and a master's degree (albeit unrelated to the field I've been working in). I'm a business analyst with strong SQL skills and some project management experience. There are so many ads that look perfect, and yet...

I've inquired around my network but most of my local friends do not work in business/IT. I've applied to ~80 jobs online. I get calls from people at staffing companies, most of whom have submitted me for jobs that I'm well-suited but I've been rejected. I've had 3 phone interviews and two in person interviews, which I practiced for. I've had lots of people look at my resume and everyone thinks it's great. (I'm happy to send it to anyone by email.)

I have active profiles on LinkedIn, Indeed, Dice, Monster, and CareerBuilder. My public Facebook and real-name Twitter are sanitized. I've been to a couple of LGBT networking events (I am gay and trans) but I felt out of place because everyone is already pretty successful and the few leads I got didn't pan out. Speaking of being trans, I am terrified it's hurting me. I'm masculine, but I'm short and my voice is higher than most men. Men definitely react to me differently than women, both on the phone and in person. The all-women interview went much better than the mixed-gender interview.

I'm terrified I'll run out of money and I won't even be able to get a retail job because I'm way overqualified. I'm depressed and either can't sleep or sleep 14-16 hours/day.If it really just does take longer to find a job, what am I supposed to do when I run out of money? I do have a 401k I can cash out but after taxes, it won't buy me that much more time.

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