By Hezron Ochiel
Securing a decent job after graduation is the dream of many young people, and I had the same expectation.
After college, I wanted to build a career in journalism, preferably with a major media organisation in Kenya. For nearly two years, I struggled to secure even an entry-level opportunity as a correspondent or reporter.
Bills still had to be paid, so I turned to online writing. At the time, I saw it mainly as a way to earn income. I did not know it would become one of the bridges into the career I had been trying to build.
When the job you want does not come
Unemployment after graduation can be emotionally draining because you leave college expecting the next stage of life to begin, only to have months pass without the opportunity you hoped for.
That period taught me that career progress is rarely as predictable as we imagine.
For me, freelance writing became the opportunity that kept me moving. Armed with a desktop computer and internet bundles, I secured my first meaningful assignment: a 1,000-word article analysing the economic situation in Africa.
The client paid me about $50 (Ksh 6,450) per article, which helped me meet immediate needs while keeping me writing and sharpening skills that later became useful in journalism.
A temporary opportunity can become a bridge
Online writing strengthened skills that were directly relevant to journalism. I had to research unfamiliar subjects, organise information, meet deadlines and communicate clearly, so every assignment became part of my preparation.
Looking back, that period taught me a lesson I still carry:
A temporary opportunity does not have to become your final destination. Sometimes it becomes the bridge to the work you were trying to reach.
Six months into freelancing, a friend recommended me for a writing opportunity with The New Humanitarian.
I got the chance to demonstrate what I could do and was eventually offered a stringer position. That opportunity became an important step in my journalism career and later helped open the path into public relations and strategic communication.
The network lesson I almost missed
The opportunity with The New Humanitarian also changed how I understood professional relationships.
For a long time, I had focused mainly on applications. One of the opportunities that moved my career forward eventually came through someone who already knew what I could do.
The relationship opened the door, and the skills I had continued developing helped me walk through it.
A network can introduce you to an opportunity. Your preparation determines what happens next.
Professional visibility works best when people can see evidence of useful skills, experience and consistent work.
It is one of the ideas behind my article on how to turn your career experience into a knowledge business: experience becomes more valuable when you document it, structure it and make it visible to people who may need it.
Keep building while you wait
You may not control when an employer responds. You can still keep developing your ability to do the work.
For me, freelance writing became that preparation.
The same principle matters today because communication careers are changing quickly. In my analysis of 948 communication jobs, I found growing demand for digital, data, AI, measurement and strategic capabilities alongside traditional communication skills.
That finding reinforces a lesson from my own experience: Keep building while you wait.
A useful skill, portfolio or body of work can prepare you for an opportunity that has not appeared yet.
Stay open to a different route
I had a clear picture of how my journalism career was supposed to begin. My actual route looked very different.
Online writing started as a way to earn income and ended up strengthening the same skills I later needed in journalism.
That experience taught me to pay attention to opportunities that move me closer to the work I want, even when the route looks different from what I imagined.
Career plans provide direction while still leaving room for discovery. You may eventually reach the same destination through a route you never planned.
Build relationships before you need them
My friend’s recommendation became one of the most important moments in this story.
It taught me that professional relationships are built long before you need someone to open a door. People are more likely to recommend someone whose work, character and reliability they already know.
That is why networking should go beyond collecting contacts.
Do good work, stay connected and be useful where you can. Over time, those relationships can create opportunities that a cold application may never produce.
Protect your energy during the difficult period
A long job search can affect confidence and motivation.
After enough silence or rejection, it becomes easy to question whether anything will eventually work. During such periods, give yourself enough space to recover and continue making useful decisions.
That may mean stepping away from applications for a while or spending time with people who help you regain perspective.
The goal is to protect enough energy to keep moving.
Five lessons unemployment taught me
Looking back, five lessons stand out.
1. Keep developing useful skills
Use the waiting period to become more prepared for the opportunity you want.
2. Treat temporary work as a learning opportunity
Short-term work can give you experience, income or evidence of what you can do.
3. Build genuine professional relationships
People are more likely to recommend professionals whose work and character they trust.
4. Stay open to a different route
A useful opportunity can move you closer to your goal even when it was not part of your original plan.
5. Take care of yourself while you search
Protect enough energy to keep preparing, applying and making good decisions.
What this experience taught me about career resilience
My period of unemployment taught me that career resilience is not about passively waiting for the right opportunity.
It is about staying active enough to build something useful while the future is still uncertain.
For me, that meant writing.
For someone else, it may mean developing a portfolio, learning a new skill or taking on a short-term assignment that creates evidence of what they can do.
The principle is the same: Career momentum can begin before the formal opportunity arrives.
That is the part of the experience I think is most useful for anyone feeling stuck.
Career paths are rarely straight
When I was unemployed after college, online writing felt like a practical way to survive while I continued searching for journalism opportunities.
Over time, it became much more than a temporary source of income. It kept me writing, helped me build useful skills and positioned me for an opportunity that eventually moved my career forward.
Looking back, I can now see how stages that once appeared disconnected were building on one another.
If you are currently unemployed or feel stuck in your career, your next step may not solve everything immediately. It can still move you closer to where you want to go.
Sometimes the opportunity that changes your career begins as the thing you did while waiting for your career to begin.
Hezron Ochiel is an award-winning strategic communications and public relations professional with over 15 years of experience in media, digital communication, and reputation strategy. He serves as the Deputy Corporate Communications Manager at the government-owned Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) and is the founder of Hezron Insights, where he writes about AI visibility, Digital PR, SEO, GEO, and digital authority. His work has appeared on platforms including Reuters, The New Humanitarian, and The Standard.