How to cope with being unemployed...

I graduated from university in June and have been unemployed since. I currently have done casual work at an auction house, and am doing work experience 3 days a week at museums and archives in my area. Still can't shift feeling of frustration about the job hunt though. It gets so agonising. I'm also feeling a little trapped in my small town away from university social life. Does anyone else feel this way? What do you all do to cope with any frustrated/panicking feelings about where your life is going? :redface:

Reply 1

Kagutsuchi

Original post by Lucia.

I know the feeling all too well - I was unemployed for quite a few months in 2011. I felt like I was lost, not knowing what I was going to do with my life or what I'd turn out to be in a few years time!

I kept myself busy. I decided on what type of job I wanted, then I did things to help me get that job. :smile:

I volunteered to learn new skills and refine existing skills, I did some freelance work, I read probably a small library worth of books (for fun) and I learned how to bake a souffle. :cute:

I think volunteering was probably my best choice during unemployment. I went with St Johns Ambulance - my current employer really liked that I was a First Aider and had learned all about team work and coping under pressure by being part of SJA. Maybe you could consider doing something similar?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 2

Lucia.

Original post by Kagutsuchi

Yeah the thought of making a decision about where I want to go is a bit scary. I'm open-minded to living just about anywhere although it'd be good to stay in Scotland. I was feeling lost for ages and then I decided that I ought to make a decision (any decision) about which career area I want to get into and that's something I have done now. Although it's a career area that's competitive to get into, I guess nothing is a sure bet.

Original post by Kagutsuchi

I decided on what type of job I wanted, then I did things to help me get that job. :smile:

I volunteered to learn new skills and refine existing skills, I did some freelance work

I think I need to make a list of the skills I want to acquire and then just go from there. Currently already doing volunteering but I think I want to develop my confidence, especially when it comes down to public speaking/assertiveness. What sort of freelance work did you do? And how did you go about getting custom? I'm curious about it myself as I'd love to use the skills from my History degree and do some freelance research or similar.

Original post by Kagutsuchi

I went with St Johns Ambulance - my current employer really liked that I was a First Aider and had learned all about team work and coping under impression by being part of SJA. Maybe you could consider doing something similar?

That sounds really good. I'll see if it's in my area.

Do you have any general tips about applying for jobs and that sort of thing? I've had 4 interviews in 4 months but I need to apply for many more jobs. Maybe it's just a matter of me getting into the swing of things. I'm definitely making the effort to get a full CV and trying to think outside the box about what I can do to stand out.

Thank you. :smile:

Reply 3

Kagutsuchi

Original post by Lucia.

It's brilliant to hear you made a decision on a career to pursue - some people spend a lifetime doing even that! Not that I blame them though, since it's a devilish choice to make.

Would you mind telling me what career area you're thinking of going into? I could recommend some possible routes which could help you. :smile:

Original post by Lucia.

Well I knew I was quite skilled at remembering things, writing and objective analysis, so I was a Mystery Shopper - I was paid to visit shops, restaurants and business outlets, sample their customer service/products and report back to respective companies/businesses - and a freelance writer on the website Constant Content.

Custom came with the job, really. For mystery shopping, I applied for job assignments, and for the freelance writing, it was more of a case of whether someone was willing to buy my work. The latter was incredibly frustrating, because I could spend around an hour writing up an advert for a certain product, only to be declined... :frown:

Those jobs were really just pocket money though - nothing to live on.

Original post by Lucia.

I believe in Scotland, the SJA equivalent is St Andrews First Aid - I talked to them quite a bit at the Glasgow University Freshers Fair... not that I randomly enter freshers fairs for free pizza or booze or anything shoddy like that... :ninja:

If you're willing to commute, I know they definitely operate in Glasgow - I'm not sure where else though.

By the way, the Red Cross is brilliant. They get involved with a lot of humanitarian work which many people don't realise - I'm not speaking of the relief effort (which is of course a massive part of their work) but their duties at home. Youth work, Core tutoring, Refugee Services, Care at Home, First aid - these are some of the services they offer. Do contact them if you want to gain skills and experiences to stand out from the crowd!

As I see it, there are only 3 steps for getting a job:

1 - Create a tailored and refined CV. Too many people just create one generic CV and send it out on-mass to any employer - that's not the way to use a CV. A CV should be tailored to the job you are applying for, thereby not including the irrelevant matters. It should re-enforce the skills and attributes which the job requires.

2 - Say what they want to hear. You should usually receive a job description of a job prior to application. On the application and interview stage, say what they want to hear, using your experiences to back up what you say about yourself. Everything they want from you is on the job description. If you know what type of job you want, research the skills required, then get experiences in order to show you have those skills at hand.

3 - Be confident. Personally, I find this one to be the most crucial.

If you feel a bit low at any point, do feel free to have throw a good chin-wag my way. :smile:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 4

Lucia.

Original post by Kagutsuchi

Would you mind telling me what career area you're thinking of going into? I could recommend some possible routes which could help you. :smile:

I've decided I want to work in archives. It sort of suits my personality - I like putting things in order and categorising stuff. I've been volunteering at a couple of archives and the people there are really good. It also seems to be a bit of network, because they all talk to each other. So I think I'm doing the right thing by volunteering and meeting people in the sector. Other than that, not sure what else to do. The only part of the job which worries me is the public speaking side. It's not something I'm terrified of but I would have to adapt to it.

If not something in that area, I quite like the idea of exploiting my research skills and working as a TV researcher (have no idea how you get into that). I also volunteer with a local museum so that's a possibility. And I've briefly considered historic building conservation/consultancy although archives appeals to me more. You mentioned freelance work and if I could do some freelance research, that would be brilliant and ideal job for me at the moment - just don't know how I'd get into it.

Original post by Kagutsuchi

By the way, the Red Cross is brilliant. They get involved with a lot of humanitarian work which many people don't realise - I'm not speaking of the relief effort (which is of course a massive part of their work) but their duties at home. Youth work, Core tutoring, Refugee Services, Care at Home, First aid - these are some of the services they offer. Do contact them if you want to gain skills and experiences to stand out from the crowd!

I'll check it out. Seems like I could gain a lot from that. :smile:

I definitely need some updated volunteering stuff on my CV. Some of it is older stuff so I can't talk about it as freely - and I need to get into something to feel passionate about.

Original post by Kagutsuchi

1 - Create a tailored and refined CV. Too many people just create one generic CV and send it out on-mass to any employer - that's not the way to use a CV. A CV should be tailored to the job you are applying for, thereby not including the irrelevant matters. It should re-enforce the skills and attributes which the job requires.

2 - Say what they want to hear. You should usually receive a job description of a job prior to application. On the application and interview stage, say what they want to hear, using your experiences to back up what you say about yourself. Everything they want from you is on the job description. If you know what type of job you want, research the skills required, then get experiences in order to show you have those skills at hand.

I definitely need to work on tailoring my CV more to specific jobs. I had some help from the job centre with that. They told me what keywords to use for specific jobs (referred me to a website which proved to be useful). At the moment, I'm working on creating template CVs.

That too! I'm really not very adept at conveying my passion for a job at interview. I'm just not a very exuberant person so I find it very hard to get across my enthusiasm, even if I do have it!

Original post by Kagutsuchi

3 - Be confident. Personally, I find this one to be the most crucial.

Not like I have low self-esteem but that's another thing I find hard. I'm thinking about finding ways to build myself up - by doing a public speaking/assertiveness course, taking self-defence class, trying out amateur dramatics or something...I actually think the outward confidence side of things is my main issue and that if I had more confidence in various areas of my life, things would be a lot more sorted for me.

Original post by Kagutsuchi

If you feel a bit low at any point, do feel free to have throw a good chin-wag my way. :smile:

Thank you so much for your help. And that would be wonderful. I'm looking for some new friends and people who can help motivate me on job search. I need that extra push I think. :smile: