So it seems since my last post life decided it needed to go through its four seasons again and boy oh boy is it going through the seasons. Somehow it feels like it is stuck in winter and spring just really doesn’t want to show up at all.
I had so many great financial challenges set for myself. Naturally all of that has gone down the tube. What to say about 2023. I was very motivated. Had loads of plans. Set loads of little saving pots up for my goals and dreams. Trying to start to be responsible.
Then the first bit of bad news arrives in March. My mother is diagnosed with terminal stage 4 cancer. It was a complete shock to the system as she was so well and healthy that literally no one expected to hear this news what so ever. That was really hard to digest. Still is.
But we tried our best to just deal with it day by day and things seemed to have gone well for a while. Then the second bit of bad news hits. My wonderful company I worked for lost a huge legal court case in the USA and went bankrupt. So they had to close their doors and let everyone go. The sheer shock of this news…. Completely blindsided by it. What made it worse. I just bought a house right next to my parents in order to be near them and help and support them with my mother that is sick. I received the termination news on a Friday afternoon and the Monday afternoon I got the call to say “congratulations you are officially a new home owner!”. The amount of things going through my mind.
Here we are, mom being sick and I just lost my job towards the worst time of year – year end.
Then I decided, well look I am confident I will be just fine. Loads of personal development done over the years. Loads of Tony Robbins, Bob Proctor and any one else really that would provide you with the motivation and life tools to help your mindset and to set you up for whatever comes your way.
Now we are in the beginning of February 2024. I am still job seeking. 3 months down the road and still nothing. Still calm, however the worry and pressure is starting to build as naturally one only has so much savings to take you so far then you have a problem.
What have I learned over the past 3 months between trying to be strong for my mother and at the same time looking for work?
Mental strength, positivity, clarity on what you want and your future is critical to the process. To really try and trust the process no matter how much you would like to just give up. Having a strong family and friends network of support to carry you through the good and bad days. To keep you motivated and positive. Without it you might not make it.
The other side of this coin. Well…. let me tell you I have never been a fan of job seeking. In all honesty, I saw myself with this company for many, many years to come. Clearly that was not my path to be. Does it always have to happen in such a dramatic way though I wonder sometimes? Why can’t I just be head hunted? Transition smoothly from one job to another without any worries or concerns? Not that I am asking for an easy life or easy pass while others are dealt the bad cards, but heck less that 5 years ago I was unemployed for a whole year. And that almost broke me.
To the point where I almost feel like being unemployed is like having PTSD. It is almost a legit fear for me. Well let’s get the next bit off my chest.
The part where you have to start job seeking. Oh my goodness. I am trying so hard to keep my emotions, feelings and thoughts in check about this topic because I do believe in the law of attraction and if I were to allow this to go, well I could go on a full hours rant about this whole experience in itself.
I suddenly feel extremely old for one. I work in the tech world and I just came to learn that I hate every ounce of this process and experience.
The new age tech, AI and everything else attached to this. Let’s list them shall we?
- Updating your resume
- Job seeking platforms
- Networking
- Fees
- AI
Now let’s start with no. 1. Depending on where you would like to get employed, your own country or abroad your resume needs to fit the “country standards”. So now you contact a professional resume writer to give your resume a beautiful makeover. However, nowadays, it is not just a resume makeover you need to do but also buy a package deal. This will include the resume, cover letters and LinkedIn profile makeover. Great so you spend the money which you really and truly need to save to get this updated as you need to be ready to go with bouncing the applications out.
No. 2 – Job seeking platforms. Oh my goodness so you pay a membership fee to be on the platform as it provides more options. To help you stand a better chance. But then you discover a whole other side to the industry.
No. 3 – Networking. Not only do you need to have your profile set up correctly with key words for algorithm purposes, but you need to start to use the platform almost like social media (just as toxic in my opinion) and do posts. Interact to get “noticed” by recruiters and scouts. Network. Be seen.
No. 4 – Fees. Then people starts posting things like “I have a whole network of connections up to 300 000 followers etc. Comment if you need help getting noticed or to help you so that you get noticed”. So you message the person to ask what would the process entail to get help and be promoted for recruiters? Oh very easy they say, just look at my website to see all the options. Click the link, have a read and here we go, $100 for 2 weeks of promotion. $110 for 3 weeks of promotion etc etc. And that will maybe guarantee you one interview a month. Then you think, okay so we just close that down as I don’t have that kind of money to spend on this even though I desperately need all the help I can get. Then another post comes up on your LinkedIn feed about remote work websites. The wonderful sites you can use to look for work. So you think, dang almost 20 sites listed. First you start to get overwhelmed and think do I really have to go and register myself on all of them? How many do I need to keep track of? Okay let’s try one. Click on the link. Surprise surprise. Membership fee. Different levels allow different levels of features and benefits. Close the window.
No. 5 – AI. Oh where to start. Now you can use AI or ChatGPT to help you create cover letters, followup emails and or even to rewrite your own resume. Or to use AI to private message the recruiter that posted the job posting.
Dear job seeking world, out of everything I’ve listed above. The only thing I could see is how people are extorting job seekers out of money when all these people are so desperate to find work and to turn around every little dime they have to survive. Including myself. Now you have to treat the job seeking platform like social media. To sit and write posts, interact and do who knows what else on there to get noticed. Write articles, blogs and and. Then you need to compete with algorithms and AI.
I just want a job. I don’t want to spend my days and hours doing all this crap. Excuse me for being so blunt. I am not interested in spending my days doing posts about who knows what as my world is so small right now being focused on a sick mother who is in intensive care at hospital for over a month now.
The psychological strain of all the above sh*t just to try and find a job and keep head above water. Now I am not looking for any sympathy of any kind. I have managed to not completely crack… yet. I have tried to be strong because of my mother. And I will continue to do so.
However, I think I am quite disappointed in this job seeking industry. The experience has been horrific. Frustrating. I just saw and still just see $ signs no matter which direction I look. And it is not for the jobs I’m trying to apply for. It is for all the “services” out there supposedly trying to help you land that interview and or job you need. It still turns my stomach.
Well it seems this was more of a venting session than anything else. Here we are, still unemployed, trying to continue the financial goals I’ve set for myself and to keep the prayers going for that new opportunity to come along.
All I can say for anyone else out there that might be going through something similar. Stand tall every day. Keep your head up every day. Think positive every day for as often as you can. Know what you want. Focus on what you want. Feel it. Dream it. See it. Put all your emotions into it. It will materialise and manifest when the time is right. Don’t give up. Never give up. Keep fighting.
As Tony Robbins says, life is like 4 seasons. You might be going through the winter season but the spring and summer must come. It cannot be dark forever. It needs to rotate. It is almost like the circle of life. There is hope. If you can get through the winter, you will thrive during the other seasons. Don’t give up. Never ever give up.
Cruisin Through Life 