Welcome to week 2 of The Unemployed Diaries!
After over a month of being unemployed, I can say that being a housewife has never sounded more appealing. While I love the field that I am in, having someone else take the stress of being financially stable off my shoulders sounds delightful.
But I am a working-class girly and that life is not mine. For the moment. So, that brings us to the joy that is job hunting. Strap yourself in, it's a long one.
I have applied for well over 100 jobs in at least 4 different fields but there are only so many times you can write out your experience before you begin to go insane. Match that with having a hell of a time getting redundancy pay...it has not been fun.
Searching for jobs, rewriting my CV, working on cover letters, updating my LinkedIn profile, and trying to understand what the hell recruiters actually want is enough to send Steve Jobs spiraling.
In the beginning, there was nothing happening. And I mean nothing. No interviews, just rejection after rejection. Or ghosting. To the point I was beginning to think I was back on Tinder.
Now, we are finally hearing some noise. A few writing assessments, some interviews, and even a few phone calls. While all of these can mean absolutely nothing, they do wonders for confidence.
As time goes on I am beginning to realise that job hunting, in all its glory, is a mind game. With most people giving me advice that is already employed, it takes a lot to scream and just block out the world (melodramatic, I know). But once you have your pity party, pulling yourself up is a lot easier. Especially, if you have a chilled glass of sauvignon blanc in hand.
Throughout this experience, one of the best pieces of advice I got was "Take this time to enjoy life before you are dragged back into working for someone else". And have I ever. So, the main focus is to relax, keep applying, and most importantly, sleep as much as I possibly can!
Don't forget to keep track of the jobs you apply for and life will sort itself out. I hope.
Much love,
Emma