The job market for strategists is terrible. Here are three ways to feel a bit better about it.

I co-run a small-but-growing WhatsApp community for Canadian strategists, and recently asked them how the job market was in an extremely unscientific survey in the form of a poll.

The answers were pretty grim, with the majority of respondents saying "terrible."

20-ish respondents is hardly a representative sample of the entire industry (though might be enough of one for my group), but definitely re-affirms something I think a lot of people have been feeling.

The discussion was even more grim.

The generally feeling was that bigger brands might be doing okay, and weathering the economic storm.

Agencies, though, are struggling. They aren't hiring talent like they used to. And they aren't working with freelancers (or if they are, they're asking a lot for a little, including always-on responsiveness on Slack).

Very few of the people I talk to are enjoying that agency work (if you're one of the few that is, then smugly let the world know in the comments here).

This isn't going to get better quickly. The agency life of yesteryear isn't ever going to come back.

And if you're currently out of work (or grinding it out at a job you hate right now), it likely feels like rock bottom. Especially if you've already sent the "checking if they are opportunities" emails and you've already had all the coffee chats with ex-colleagues at places where the grass looks greener.

The fact is, none of those are going to get you hired.

Nor is throwing your resume into the abyss of online job applications.

People don't hire based on availability. They hire based on capability for, and interest in, doing the job.

That's because people hiring strategists don't want to hire people looking for a job. They want to hire people who are stoked about doing the job, and have practiced the skills the jobs takes to do.

So what can you do? Stop treating your job search like a job search, and starting acting like a curious human. Although this is mostly for strategists (and aspiring strategists) it likely applies to almost everyone.

1.) Meet Interesting People

Meeting people doesn't mean reaching out, asking for a Zoom, and asking if that person has an opportunities, or pitching them. It means taking it as an opportunity to learn more about what they do, and what interests them. And it means extending that beyond the bubble of agencies and clients you want to work for. Go find the customers of your dream client and talk to them. Go find the people doing the thing you've always wanted to do for work and go talk to them. That guy you always see at the same coffee shop as you? Ask him to tell you about what he does for work. Then find out what he does when he isn't working. Do the same with the people at your gym or yoga class.

The world is bigger than LinkedIn and people you know through work.

2.) Join Something Bigger

Our default is to look to volunteer for organizations that are immediately adjacent to our work. For strategists, that generally means the APG, or maybe the BCAMA. Or maybe NABS, or judge at the Effies*, or be a community manager for Debrief Cafe or something like that. The problem is that in doing so you're just talking to the same people you're throwing your resume at, and you're not really learning anything.

There are tons and tons of organizations that need help, and people, and extra hands. And especially the type of help and hands that even the junior strategist can offer.

The world is in a ton of trouble and while I'm not naive enough to think that marketing strategists can save it, I do know that what might help slow our descent into a hellish combination of climate change, fascism, and technofeudalism is more people getting involved.

I can guarantee that volunteering will make you feel better about yourself, your skills, and the work you do.

As a potential bonus, you might even learn something or be able to add the experience to your resume.

*I've got nothing against any of those organization..nor would I want to deprive them of volunteers! I just think that there are far more interesting and deserving groups out there.

3.) Make Something

Strategy is creative work. That means investing time and effort in making and creating. It means learning new skills to do the making, or putting in practice with the ones you've already got. It means finding your voice, your style, your vision, your aesthetic. It means putting yourself out there to share with the world, and dealing with the feedback.

Go and make something. Write something. Start a business. Draw something.

Show the world your strategy brain is curious and capable. Show yourself the same.

These recommendations aren't mutually exclusive. Doing one of them will likely lead to the others: if you are making something you're passionate about it, it will naturally lead to more opportunities to meet interesting people, and so on.

None of these things will guarantee you a job, and that's partly the point. They're not a hack for finding work.

However, they'll will likely teach you more about what it is that you actually want to do with your time and life, which is infinitely more valuable. And maybe you'll get a job along the way.