You feel overworked, undervalued, and underpaid. Your work frustration builds up for months. You occasionally browse job postings but never pull the trigger. One day, you decide you’ve had enough. You mass-apply for jobs in the hopes of getting a new one ASAP. And it works – way better than you expected. This is the idea behind rage applying, a new viral trend that is making quiet quitting seem less appealing.
Workers Are Rage Applying And Getting Huge Raises
“This is your sign to keep ‘rage applying’ for jobs. I got mad at work, and I rage applied to, like, 15 jobs. And then I got a job that gave me a $25,000 raise. And it’s a great place to work. So, keep ‘rage applying.’ It’ll happen,” shared TikToker @redweez in a viral video.
“Rage applied, then rage negotiated and doubled my salary with a new job…I was shocked,” commented a TikTok user under the video. “Starting a new job next month. $35,000 increase in salary and they’re already treating me better than my current place,” added another.
Why Rage Applying is Better than Quiet Quitting
Amy Zimmerman, the chief people officer at Relay Payments, told CNBC that even though the term is a new trend, the idea of quitting your job because you’re dissatisfied with things like your pay or your boss is nothing new. She calls rage applying a more “aggressive evolution” of the quiet quitting trend. “It’s a more active way to respond to one’s dissatisfaction,” she said.
And that is exactly why “rage applying” is more constructive than quiet quitting. Sure, quiet quitting will preserve your boundaries and mental health. But what if you could have a job that you like more, that pays you more, and an employer that treats you better? This allows you to transform your entire professional situation for the better – no compromises necessary.
Instead of accepting that your job sucks and that you should probably act your wage to avoid burning out, your anger gives you the motivation you need to apply for new jobs. For example, TikToker @successbysajne got passed over for a promotion. When her boss told her she was not going to get promoted, she reached out to all the recruiters who had previously contacted her and told them she was on the market for a new role. She secured an offer within a week. “That was probably the kick that I needed because I was able to increase my salary by $50,000,” she said. “I also went from consultant to manager.”
What To Keep In Mind Before Rage Applying
Impressive results, right? Before you rage-apply, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. It’s important to keep track of your applications. You could find yourself in “that awkward moment when they call you and say ‘hey, I’d like to offer you the job you applied for’ but you don’t know which one because there were so many,” as one TikTok commenter explained.
Ideally, you also want to avoid rage applying during work hours. If you get caught, you may very well end up without any job at all. Your efforts will turn into panic applying, which means less negotiating power. One of the most powerful advantages is that you have nothing to lose, so you feel more confident during negotiations.
So good luck! You may end up with your success story sooner than you think.
