A new term is emerging to describe a growing behaviour among job seekers navigating today’s highly competitive and uncertain employment market: “doomjobbing.” Much like doomscrolling, the habit refers to endlessly searching and applying for roles online, often with diminishing returns on confidence, motivation and wellbeing.
Below, Jo Ellen Grzyb, Psychotherapist, careers expert and co-founder of professional skills training company Impact Factory, explains how this pattern can quickly become cyclical and emotionally draining. The process of repeatedly scanning job listings can trigger short bursts of optimism, followed by disappointment and self-doubt, creating a loop that is difficult to break.
The idea of ‘Doomjobbing’ has the same neurological impact as swiping on a dating app: people get a dopamine hit, they get disappointed, they crave fulfillment, and the cycle begins again. This behaviour can become addictive very quickly because it’s operating alongside the emotional impact of having been made redundant in the first place.
In addition, the longer someone goes without at least a job interview, let alone a new job, all their insecurities and self-doubts get amplified. There’s damage to someone’s sense of self and their dignity. They start looking for the ‘perfect’ job and then all the reasons why they aren’t qualified. People can stop seeing possibilities and only focus on the negatives.
In terms of a modern layoff culture, our access to the internet and sites like LinkedIn make everything seem far more immediate and therefore can instil feelings of inadequacy, shame and guilt, without any ‘corroborating’ evidence: “I’m useless.” “Of course I got laid-off, who’d have me?” The economy is so volatile, and AI is becoming more prevalent, companies are making job cuts all the time and it seems the norm.
Although it looks as though they are being active in their job search, the addictive behaviour is quite passive and it’s likely that pessimism will take over and depression set in. To feel better about the depression, they seek out the dopamine hit and on it goes.
Children experience outright terror, anxiety, depression, frustration and anger. The same feelings their parents are going through. Every child needs to know their parents are OK; they need to feel safe. When they don’t, their world becomes a scary place to be and can even be a dangerous place if a parent expresses their own frustration by acting out. Some children become hyper-responsible and feel it’s their job to keep the family together and ‘happy’.
One child I know, whose father had been out of work for nine months, said to him, “Why don’t you just get a job, any job?” She had a really good point. Holding out for the perfect job narrows choices and feeds the victim. Getting any job means people are doing something pro-active and gets them moving, even for a short time.
Other positive things people can do include signing up with a few recruitment agencies who’ll do the scrolling for you. They are attuned to the job market and can help re-write your CV and highlight your best qualities, skills and achievements.
Write to companies where you’d like to work. It shows initiative, is bold and might land you an interview. Do your research first so you can demonstrate why you’d be a good fit.
Tell everyone, and I mean everyone, that you are looking for a job. This is no time to be shy or embarrassed. Other people feel huge satisfaction when they’ve been able to hook someone up with their second cousin who has a friend who may have a job opening. Essentially, people like helping other people and the more others know you’re looking for a job, the likelier you’ll find one.
As for ‘doomjobbing’, notice if it’s controlling you or you’re controlling it. If it’s the former, tuck that screen away after 20 minutes and give your brain a break.
