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Looking for a job

LavenderPiano

This is mainly a rant about my job searching situation and a bit of background.

I've been looking for a stable job for a few years now, since graduating from uni, but it's such a struggle. I managed to work as a barista for a few months and my confidence improved a lot, but I just couldn't communicate that well with others, and I still can't. I basically got fired from the job but the manager said that it was a 'temporary' job and that it was in my contract even though it was blank. I should have really asked about it at the time but I didn't think it was that important. I was kind of sad from it but also a bit relieved because I hated most customers lol.

I got another job after that as a technician on a casual contract at a theatre, as I thought I wanted to work in the music industry. However, I only ever worked one shift in a year and I hated it. As a short, skinny girl in her early 20's I wasn't really built for it lol.

Anyway, I decided it wasn't for me and I did a short office admin course, because I like making schedules and to-do lists, and thought a career in admin might suit me well. Turns out you have to have experience working as an admin assistant and you have to have 'excellent communication skills', yay (sarcastic). I'm not even sure if I would enjoy it, but I'm sick of not having a stable job. I'm worried about my future and I need to get out of the house.

In an ideal world, I'd love to have a stable, remote job where I can travel the world and learn different languages in my spare time, while feeling comfortable enough to live on my own. When I look anything up about this, it says about being a freelancer but I don't really want a heavily creative job, or it says about going into education, but I feel like I've been in education enough and now I'm just ready to be stable. 

I also worry about not being able to do the job properly and misunderstanding what I'm supposed to do, as I have made many mistakes in my previous jobs. 

I'd love to hear about other people's experience with looking for a job or some advice.

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  • It’s hard not to write about this topic without sounding in any way vexed. I think what I’ve noticed since graduating (25-&15 years ago) is that a lot of roles advertised as permanent really are not. From a company perspective it makes sense to have a younger workforce as they are more enthusiastic and energetic, they are also naive in many ways. Because companies are perfectionst (unrealistic) and also ageist in who they employ and use to represent them. Both these things are discriminatory but seem to silently make it through when recruiting teams. I'd say most of the jobs I havent got were because people expected someone else from looking at my cv. Visually you have to be a fit for the organisation. 

    the wake up call for me was going to an interview in the centre of the city in my suit. I arrive, there are 20 other people all wearing suits. Guy comes out gives us all a map and walks us to the train station. We were expected to travel go door to door in an area and sell their products, for no pay. I told him I was not going to work for free. No doubt next day they would do this with 20 more unsuspecting graduates. This is called churning, this is what annoys me so much about big companies that advertise their success because they burn so many people growing their business this way. Think of all the unpaid and low paid workers that made Apple or Amazon into trillion dollar companies. 

    my advice is to find something you enjoy doing with your time and don’t panic about the money part. This could be charity work or helping in your community. Volunteering can help you get out and talking to people during the day. Searching and applying for jobs need only take 30 mins in the morning. 

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  • It’s hard not to write about this topic without sounding in any way vexed. I think what I’ve noticed since graduating (25-&15 years ago) is that a lot of roles advertised as permanent really are not. From a company perspective it makes sense to have a younger workforce as they are more enthusiastic and energetic, they are also naive in many ways. Because companies are perfectionst (unrealistic) and also ageist in who they employ and use to represent them. Both these things are discriminatory but seem to silently make it through when recruiting teams. I'd say most of the jobs I havent got were because people expected someone else from looking at my cv. Visually you have to be a fit for the organisation. 

    the wake up call for me was going to an interview in the centre of the city in my suit. I arrive, there are 20 other people all wearing suits. Guy comes out gives us all a map and walks us to the train station. We were expected to travel go door to door in an area and sell their products, for no pay. I told him I was not going to work for free. No doubt next day they would do this with 20 more unsuspecting graduates. This is called churning, this is what annoys me so much about big companies that advertise their success because they burn so many people growing their business this way. Think of all the unpaid and low paid workers that made Apple or Amazon into trillion dollar companies. 

    my advice is to find something you enjoy doing with your time and don’t panic about the money part. This could be charity work or helping in your community. Volunteering can help you get out and talking to people during the day. Searching and applying for jobs need only take 30 mins in the morning. 

Children
  • in reply to pietro_21

    Oof that sounds terrible. I would not do that work for free if other people get paid for it. 

    I have noticed that I would much rather do something I enjoy than spend most of my life in a boring, high-paying job. I think that's also why I struggle a bit though because I don't really know what I would enjoy unless I try it myself, so the volunteering thing sounds like a good idea.