More Closely Aligned

Is the job market genuinely getting harder—or does unemployment simply make everything feel harder?

In this episode, we step back from our own increasingly unhinged application spreadsheets and look at what the Geneva numbers actually say.

In July 2026, Geneva’s registered unemployment rate was 5.1%. At the same time, the number of registered unemployed people had risen from 9,045 in July 2023 to 12,876 in July 2026—an increase of roughly 42%.

Those figures describe two different things: 5.1% is the proportion of the labour force currently registered as unemployed, while 42% is how much the number of registered unemployed people has grown over three years. The average elapsed duration of unemployment has also increased to 213 days—just over seven months.

So no: if finding work feels more difficult right now, it isn’t necessarily a reflection of your value, experience or effort.

We talk about what the data means, how to manage the inevitable freak-outs, why sending more applications may no longer be the answer, and our attempts to locate the mysterious “hidden job market.” There is also Eckhart Tolle, an unpopular opinion about musicals and a dangerously exciting kitchen torch.

Because two things can be true at once: the market can be difficult, and you can still have an enormous amount to offer.

Follow us on Instagram: @morecloselyalignedpod
Share your story: www.morecloselyalignedpod.com

How long do you wait for an employer before you decide the answer for them?

Years ago, while supporting the recruitment of a very senior hire, Bri watched one of the final candidates do something unforgettable. After months of patchy communication, she sent an email that was calm, impeccably polite and devastatingly clear: the silence was disrespectful, so she was withdrawing her application.

Bri, then in her early twenties, had one thought: one day, I want to be important enough to do that.

Now, several months into a recruitment process and weeks of silence, she has a question: is she finally boss bitch enough to pull it off?

In this bonus episode, Annabell and Bri talk about:

• Why applying for a job makes you vulnerable at every level
• The power (and privilege!) of walking away
• Whether that kind of confidence lands differently in Switzerland and the US
• The email every jobseeker has drafted in their head

More Closely Aligned is made by unemployed people, for unemployed people.

Follow us on Instagram at @morecloselyalignedpod and share your own story at www.morecloselyalignedpod.com.

Good luck out there!

How do you grieve a job you never actually had?

After four interviews, six weeks of silence and far too much time imagining the commute, the projects and the phone call announcing the good news, Bri is trying to let go of a future that had already begun to feel real. Meanwhile, Annabell recounts flying to another country for a one-day interview, only to find herself back at square one a week later.

In Episode 3, we talk about the peculiar heartbreak of losing an imagined future, the exhausting contradiction of protecting yourself while still appearing enthusiastic, and the emotional whiplash of receiving a promising recruiter call—with Asian dressing on your hands and a screaming toddler under your arm—two days after crying over a rejection.

We also mark 100 applications with precisely zero fireworks, experiment with an AI-powered job-search assistant and share the glimmers keeping us going.

Have a job-search story of your own? Share it with us at morecloselyalignedpod.com.

Sometimes, when the job search feels particularly bleak, the universe sends you a message. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always arrive in the form you might expect.

In this very short bonus episode, Annabell shares a small but exquisitely timed moment that felt either like a sign, a cosmic joke, or both. Because when you’re looking for work, apparently even the universe has thoughts.

Have you ever received a “sign” at exactly the right (or wrong) moment? Tell us your story at morecloselyalignedpod.com.

Rejection is part of the job search. Feeling as though the message was written by a robot—or by someone pretending to be your best friend—doesn’t have to be.

In Episode 2, Annabell and Bri examine the strange, careless and occasionally surreal ways companies reject candidates: awkwardly familiar language, unfortunate timing, generic templates and messages that somehow manage to say both too much and nothing at all. They ask what candidates are actually owed after investing their time, energy and hope in a recruitment process—and why a little clarity, empathy and basic humanity can make such a difference.

Plus: an update from the job-search trenches, the week’s optimism levels and a few glimmers to keep things moving.

More Closely Aligned is a podcast made by unemployed people, for unemployed people—and anyone who has ever received that email.

What do you wear to an interview when getting there involves a 4 a.m. start, a long drive, a flight, an hour of public transport—and temperatures above 30°C?

In our first bonus episode, Annabell calls Bri for an emergency styling consultation ahead of a particularly demanding interview journey. Together, they devise a plan that balances polish, comfort and practicality, from travel-friendly tailoring and strategic airport outfit changes to wrinkle prevention and the transformative power of a good lip stain.

In this episode:

• How to look interview-ready after several hours of travel
• Why you shouldn’t necessarily wear your interview outfit on the plane
• Choosing breathable, crease-resistant pieces for hot weather
• Packing and changing strategically
• Small styling details that can help you feel more confident
• Why a reliable lip stain may be the hardest-working item in your bag

Because interviews are stressful enough without wondering whether your linen suit will survive the journey.

More Closely Aligned is a podcast made by unemployed people, for unemployed people—following the strange, frustrating and occasionally funny realities of looking for work in real time.

Follow us and share your own job-search story at morecloselyalignedpod.com.

Does the world really need another podcast? Annabell and Bri aren’t entirely sure—but they do know that looking for work can be lonely, disorienting and occasionally absurd.

In the first episode of More Closely Aligned, they introduce themselves and explain how two former colleagues became unemployed at the same time—and then became accidental podcasters. They compare notes on applications and interviews, reflect on what happens when work has been central to your identity, and share the unexpected discovery that their job searches had crossed paths more closely than either of them realised.

This isn’t a podcast from people who already know how the story ends. It’s an honest, funny and unfinished conversation from inside the job search—for anyone navigating redundancy, rejection, uncertainty or the exhausting instruction to remain relentlessly optimistic.

In this episode:

• Why Annabell and Bri decided to start the podcast
• The strangely intimate experience of comparing job-search notes
• How unemployment affects confidence and professional identity
• The absurdities that make a difficult period slightly easier to bear
• Why honest companionship can be more useful than another list of career tips

More Closely Aligned with Annabell & Bri is made by unemployed people, for unemployed people.

Follow the podcast and join us for the next episode.

Website: https://www.morecloselyalignedpod.com/
Instagram: @MoreCloselyAlignedPod

*For those interested in Bri's musical, "SOUNDTRACK - Finding Home", tickets are available here.