Anyone who has ever had to job hunt will know how exhausting and disheartening it can be.
Between the time-consuming cover letters, networking and waking up to an inbox full of rejections every day, it can be an incredibly difficult time in someone’s life.
This was the case for 26-year-old Elijah Wallace, despite having many things in his favour.
The New Yorker graduated from Northwestern University in Chicago – one of the US’s top 10 colleges.
He went on to work for JP Morgan for around two years before quitting early last year to start his own watch company.
But, like many entrepreneurs, Elijah’s business took too long to make a profit and Elijah had to start looking for a job again.
He said: ‘It was definitely a process.
‘[Applying for jobs] was a full-time job in itself, I networked on LinkedIn every day and applied for 100 jobs in finance and received rejection after rejection.
‘I thought I would be a great candidate but I kept getting rejections. I had a few interviews but nothing materialised or they hired internally.
‘It was very stressful. At one point, I had to decide whether I would move out of my apartment and have to move in with my family.
‘I didn’t know what I was going to do. I had savings but they were depleting.’
Elijah went on like this for four months before someone he had contacted at the beginning of his search – an investor who had previously backed his watch company – got back in touch with him.
The investor was starting his own travel company and offered Elijah a job as a programme manager.
Now, Elijah has his dream role.
‘I match college students to international internships in Europe,’ he said.
‘It’s fully remote and I even get to travel to Europe for the job. It’s really flexible and allows me to work on my business at the same time.
‘It worked out better than any job I had applied for so it was meant to be.
‘My advice to anyone job-searching at the moment would be to work on your network and reach out to people you already know. Eventually, you will find something.’
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