Published on 12, July, 2020
So, back in March, I made a post about being on universal credit due to not being able to find post - graduate / part - time work, alongside the fact that I live in the literal middle of nowhere. Since then quite a bit has changed, thanks to a family friend, I was able to do a six - week cyber security internship in Bicester, that ended a couple of weeks ago (living in walking range of a supermarket / train station / bus stop was a breath of fresh air, believe me!).
But during my internship, I started to apply for more graduate roles again, using my updated CV. Unfortunately, I have been either rejected or ignored from the lot of them, and since my internship has ended, I have been back on the job searching grind, like I was for the previous year or so. I've also gone back to applying for basic IT admin roles, because I am that desperate to move out of this place.
But because I took a couple of days off of job searching, due to burnout (writing cover letters will be the bane of my life), my parents are now accusing me of slacking off and not caring about finding work, despite the fact that my job application count has gone WAAAY above the 130s. I feel like I'm being gaslit into thinking that I'm not doing my hardest, or that I'm not networking on LinkedIn enough, even when I have been told by people in the industry that it has never been more difficult to find work in the industry due to heavy competition and that I graduated at one of the worst possible times. I'm not even too sure what to suggest anymore, besides keeping the applications coming.
What makes it even worse is seeing other people on social media (including other members of my own family) bragging about how good their life is, whilst I'm stuck in the Forest of Dean not doing an awful lot. Though, I guess it's more my fault for digging deep into social media in the first place, when I should really be using Instagram to find recipes and nothing more.
Just wanted to vent, because this has been going on for a while now, any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
I think social media platforms like Facebook can be one-dimensional. In my experience, people are quick to share all the positive things that are happening in their lives, but they will seldom disclose anything negative. It can be all too easy to end up falling into the trap that these people are living their best lives, and having an absolute blast. In reality, their lives may not be quite as hunky-dory as they would like you to think. For all we know, the person who has just been offered their dream job, or is sharing photos of their seemingly-perfect holiday-of-a-lifetime, might well have posted those things whilst in a state of emotional turmoil. Even with family members, there may be things going on behind closed doors (trauma of some kind) that they don't want us to know about.
The only advice I can offer is to try not to compare your own life with the lives of other people.
I can understand why you feel gaslit by your parents. Applying for jobs can be so time-consuming, and dare I say soul-destroying too. For what it's worth, I think few people would begrudge you for taking a break from the job-hunting.