The Career Waiting Game

The Workshop

Plugged In Network’s latest session tackled a part of job hunting nobody prepares you for: the wait. Once an application goes out, control shifts to someone else’s timeline, and that gap is often the hardest part of the whole process. Participants worked through an interactive game covering every stage of applying for a job, then discussed real coping strategies for managing the anxiety, restlessness, and self-doubt that show up along the way.

The group also compared strong and weak follow-up email examples, and one participant shared a personal story about turning a stalled, aimless job search into a completed internship and a clear next career step. The session closed with a shared takeaway: the wait is normal, it’s rarely personal, and there are concrete tools to make it easier to sit through.

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The Game

The Career Waiting Game is a choose-your-own-path activity that walks players through every stage of a job application: before you apply, right after you submit, the waiting window, following up, silence or rejection, and deciding to move on. At each stage, players identify what’s actually in their control, name the feelings that tend to come up, and pick up a coping tool to try.You applied for a job. Now the waiting starts. Make a choice at each point and see how it plays out.

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Join Us Next Time

Plugged In Network meets monthly for Tech Unlimited alumni to connect, learn from guest speakers, and build job and college-ready skills. Here’s what’s coming up:

• Work Without Burnout: Wednesday, October 14
• Paid to Create: Wednesday, November 18
• Money Moves: Wednesday, December 16

Visit techunlimited.org/plugged-in-network to register.