Anyone who’s been unemployed recently will know just how futile looking for a job feels at the moment — if decent jobs are even advertised and not merely given to candidates who know the right people, half of them are probably ghost jobs, and even then, the pickings are incredibly slim. One young woman’s TikTok about the issue has resonated with a lot of people, garnering over 3 million likes in one week alone.


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In the video, Lohanny, who is based in New York City, describes feeling “the most humbled” she’s ever felt in her life, walking around the city and handing out resumes, something members of older generations literally encourage young people to do whenever we express frustrations with the current state of the economy.


She goes on to add that it’s slightly embarrassing because she’s being rejected from minimum-wage jobs that tell her they aren’t hiring, and she has two degrees (in communications and acting) and speaks three languages. She’s in tears for most of the video, and ends it by saying she just wants to be a TikToker but she realizes that’s delusional, so she’s just going to keep trying.


Many people in the comments were supportive, offering Lohanny suggestions for jobs to apply for (including working as a translator or flight attendant), although some unhelpfully blamed her “unemployable” degrees, even though people dealing with the same exact issue as her can be found across many industries with a whole range of qualifications.



Lohanny’s continued to post updates on her job hunt — she’s had a couple of job interviews since posting her viral TikTok, and was even offered a job at a coffee shop that wanted her to do 18 hours of unpaid training, which really emphasizes how difficult it is to exist under capitalism right now.


Despite initially dismissing the idea of being a full-time TikToker as a pipe dream, it’s looking more and more like an attainable goal; she now has almost 150,000 followers and is meeting with talent managers who are interested in representing her. If only becoming an influencer were an option for everyone dealing with unemployment.