The biggest use of my time has of course been attempting to achieve employment. This, it turns out is a full time job. I am signed up to a torrent of job alerts which litter my inbox every morning with vacancies that bear little relation to any of the search terms I requested. Driving instructor, air steward and stripper have all been suggested in the last week along with Japanese translator and Head of a nursing unit. As time goes on I find myself forced into wondering about the merits of a complete career change. Sadly the anti-social working hours of stripping has put me off somewhat.
I have attended three interviews so far. All went very well but it seems not well enough. For two, I met the requirements completely. They were ideal matches and I knew I could have performed brilliantly in the roles. What more do they want from me, blood? My friends keep telling me that something will come up and how could they resist me, they’d be lucky to have me. I’m thinking of rounding up a bunch of them to bring along next time, decked out with pom-poms and Conortje t-shirts. You just never know, perhaps that’s what they’re looking for…
I can’t shake the idea that in Ireland a lot of it comes down to who you know and having lived outside of Ireland for eleven years I’m afraid I have an alarming deficiency in this field. I’m working on dealing with the repeated rejection but boy does it ever make a dent in your ego. I’ve come to loath the bad news e mails that invariably thank me for my interest in their organisation. It’s increasingly difficult to read that ridiculous sentence without assuming a voice dripping with sarcasm and bitterness. I’d prefer they just concluded with ‘I know this sucks but you know what, just deal with it!’.
My Occasionally Spanish Friend suggested I request some feedback after the most recent interview so I spent a morning composing a friendly e mail asking for any suggestions or advice to help with future interviews. They didn’t even acknowledge my e mail. I’ve been pondering the idea of sending them a follow up thanking them for their disinterest in Conortje.
The scary thing about unemployment is that the longer it continues the less confidence you have of ever getting a job. Your belief in your own abilities begins to evaporate and this is a dangerous snowball.
What hasn’t yet disintegrated is my optimism. When the ‘thank you for your interest’ e mail arrives I spend the following hour or so repeatedly refreshing my inbox in the ludicrous hope that they sent me the wrong message and the correct one will arrive shortly.
Perhaps I need to build on this optimism and learn to turn negative thoughts into positive actions. Should I start learning Japanese or how to remove my shirt in a titillating manner. I’ve a feeling Japanese would be easier. Maybe I could combine both or even incorporate the driving instruction too. I’m sure that’s just what Ireland needs, a Japanese speaking driving instructor who can remove their pants while shifting from third to fourth gear.
I even got one of those standard rejection letters once for a job they asked me to apply for! it was the weirdest thing ever, because they obviously didn’t read my letter. I never heard from them again either, even though I came second for that job a few months earlier.
By the way, the vision of that driving instructor scares me.
That’s mad, the fools!
It’s a terrifying vision indeed, I mean who would want their driving instructor yapping to them in Japanese
nothing more demoralizing than looking for a job. but nothing more uplifting than to land one. which you will.
fingers crossed!
Well you’re aware that the past 2 years have been very up and down for me and I’ve had to resort to low paid agency jobs until I finally got a more lucrative 2 year contract. Same here with some rejections coming almost immediately into my in box, they couldn’t possibly have had time to read my resume! It’s disheartening to say the least. Have to say tho, the last two well paid jobs I got through being a temp on site then being given full time status. Not sure what sort of jobs you’re looking for but it might be an idea.
Thanks for the tip Baino
Any temporary government contracts kicking around? A friend of mine (unemployed 5 years) took one and it keeps getting extended. Just a thought.
I know, it erodes away at the self esteem, this kind of situation. I’ve been there. But something always comes up.The timing is the issue.
XO
WWW
Thanks WWW, MVON arrives tomorrow – now THAT’S great timing
Would you consider going to one of those “job coaches”? I can’t remember the name of those people. It’s a bloody obvious name that evades me. You know what I mean though. They perform mock interviews and run give you tips. It might be a good confidence building exercise too.
It’s disheartening not getting jobs but persevere. I wish you luck x x x
(P.s. I’m back [again])
Is MVON still in NB?
(I feel like 007 talking in code to ya).
Anyway say hi – and if you’re still on Da Sod in August I might see you.
XO
WWW
I know, being unemployed can get very demoralising. I’ve had some long periods of unemployment myself and you start thinking you’re totally unemployable. You just have to stay optimistic because sooner or later something will come up, probably just when you’re at your lowest ebb. I’m sure you’ve got the right skills for any number of jobs, it just takes someone to recognise them.
I like the idea of an honest reply. It would be hilarious to get the line ‘I know this sucks but you know what, just deal with it!’. Or maybe “The fact is we were looking for a big-breasted female and we only invited you along because of this equal ops crap. Sorry about that”
Just wanted to say, I was in the same situation over 2 years ago now. I was unemployed for a year and no matter how many emails I sent out I just wasn’t getting anywhere. I started volunteering in an organisation and after a year ended up getting a full time job. Volunteering is a great way to fill time and looks good on a CV. The organisation also get to see what you are like to work with and it may end up becoming a complete change of direction for you. It was for me and I couldn’t be happier. Never give up hope and get yourself out there! Good luck!
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I hear you on this one. It is a job getting a job!! I have been looking for over a year and it’s true the longer you are out of work the less confidant you become in your abilities. I have done everything from filling out onlinr applications, rewritten my CV over 100 times, completed recruitmrent assessment days, completed briefs and even done psychometric testing for a basic role via a recruitment agency!!!!! If I go for job below my skillset, I am told I am over qualified and if I go for jobs within my skillset I get shortlisted but don’t have current experiebce. I used to get contracts one after the other until the new government started make cuts to the public sector.
Like yourself I’ve had successful interviews and have even had to complete briefs (had to come up with a digital marketing campaign for one company and idea for a tv programme for another) as part of the recruitment process but when it came to the crunch someone else always had the edge (just walked out of a job or was sill in a job). This was soul destryoing as I put so much time into this, developed great ideas and treated each brief like a professional job. They liked my ideas and me as a person but someonelse was better!
Being the proactive person I am I also did voluntary work with 2 charitable organisations but neither worked out as there was so much office politics (i was not involved) and in one organisation all the paid staff abandoned ship leaving the volunteers to run the place and the other was much the same problem where the core staff had conflicts with each other. I just gave up as it’s enough to deal with (avoid) office politics in paid working life, why would you want to put up with it when your working for free!!! I had hoped that one of those roles would have lead to something more permanant/paid.
Now it’s back to the drawing board and the only thing I can think of doing is setting up my own business where I can be the boss!! But I guess it’s coming up with a profitable idea when the country is still in a recession and with more job cuts looming.
Good luck, I hope you (and I) find something soon!!!
jo – thanks for that great comment. I feel for you. It’s so difficult isn’t it – they make you go through hoops and then barely acknowledge your existence. I just hope we’ll be able to look back at this period before long and think of it as a learning experience. The very best of luck to you!!
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