Switching direction in my career, but it feels like no one is willing to hire me. Where do I go from here?

For context, I have a Bachelors in Psychology and a Masters of Social Work. After grad school, I quickly learned direct services was not for me. I was completely miserable at my last job (reason I’m no longer there). It took a while, but I finally figured out what path I’d rather be on. I’d really like a research position, preferably psychology focused and most likely as a research assistant to start since I only have a couple years of research experience and will need more in order to eventually get a PhD.

I’ve been unemployed for 6 months, applying to research positions as well as other areas I may be qualified for that I wouldn’t hate. I’ve had 3 interviews, all research positions and all within the last 2 months. I felt all 3 interviews went extremely well, I even had a second interview for one of the positions. Despite being qualified and feeling like the interviews went well, all 3 positions were filled by other candidates.

I have written a cover letter for every position, had people look over my resume and cover letter, reached out to connections for guidance, written follow-up emails, and utilized multiple sites to look for postings. I’m worried my masters degree is deterring employers to hire me for the research positions and I have no idea what to do next. I feel stuck. It took me so long to finally realize what I wanted to be doing and now I don’t know how I can get there if no one is willing to take a chance on me. Where do I go from here?

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