I’m in such a bind and don’t know what to do. I have to find a job and go for interviews. I’m so scared about what they will think about my cv. There are a lot of gaps in it. Times when I felt so depressed and could really just focus on studying and nothing else. It took me a lot longer then normal students to get through my studies. Now that I have my degrees I still feel useless because the employers will want to know what I was doing while taking so long to get my studies done. It’s so unfair. It took me so long because I was having difficulty just keeping myself alive. I can’t tell them I experience depression and anxiety because then the chance of being hired is next to zero. If they hear I suffer from this disease they will find another reason not to hire me. Feels like depression and anxiety really screwed up my life. Something I had very little control over destroyed me. I don’t know what to do.
share your suicide story
Report Post
Please log in to report posts
8 comments
I know how hard this is. I would rather be abused by a rotten employer than have to look for work. It will help if you do a couple of things – remember it is better to have relevant continuous experience over a shorter period of history and with smaller gaps than to try and show a longer history on your CV. Also tailor your CV specifically for each job you apply for and highlight skills that are pertinent to the job and leave the rest off. Employers don’t have time to read about how good you are at things that the job doesn’t require. The same thing applies to the interview; talk about what you bring to the table that gives you an edge over others in the performance of the job and try to forget about things like depression and anxiety unless of course you need to ask for an accommodation that applies. If you do need to ask for an accommodation don’t bring it up until you absolutely need to; don’t gratuitously volunteer a disability unless it directly affects the performance of your duties. And most of all, remember that what someone else thinks about you doesn’t mean shit. What they know about your abilities does matter.
nozsmoking brings up some solid points of advice. Whatever you apply for, go in with the understanding that you’re job is to sell yourself. If there are gaps, discuss your studies and some of your academic accomplishments. Discuss how the time you spent in academia… and your persistence and determination while doing so… will benefit that employer.
Years back, I used to interview employees as part of my work. A gap, in and of itself, was not a deal-breaker. There are a variety of reasons that people take time off from the workforce. Some pursue a degree, like you… some start a family, some take care of elderly parents, etc. etc. etc. No doubt, you can get the job… Focus on the positive and hit that homerun.
*”you’re job is” = “your job is” …
Tell us what your area of study is, and the type of job you are looking to apply for. We maybe able to ask you questions that we have answered in the past, we can share our short comings as well as the answers we knocked out of the park. This could help build confidence come interview time, and could help you compose a solid C/V.
Well I’m a registered Psychometrist. We assess people using psychological assessments like personality, interests, cognitive tests. If you wanted to hire someone and wanted to know if they had the correct characteristics to do the job, we would assess the person for you to find out what strengths and challenges the person has. We would then write a report recommending the person for the job or not.
My problem is that work in this field is rather rare for someone who just finished their studies. Everywhere i look they want a person who studied human resources and if they are a registered psychometrist even, better. I’ve placed my cv on a series of websites. I also plan to contact some companies directly to find out if they have an opening and if they don’t to please keep my cv on file incase something opens up.
Luckily there is a place that needs a psychometrist from time to time to do assessments on less fortunate children, to find the smart ones so that they can get a chance to go to private schools. Unfortunately they don’t have a full time position.
Some times i just don’t trust myself. I can’t really guarantee how I would cope in the working environment. I’m really scared that I won’t be able to do what is expected of me. It’s really hard to sell yourself when you don’t really trust yourself.
I’m so scared. I feel horrible. Feel like i would rather be dead than to find a job. Getting my degrees and stuff was hard enough. Last year when I studied for my board exam I broke down in the middle of my studies. I had difficulty concentrating and struggled to remember what I’ve learned the previous day. At some stage I just gave up and wanted to die. I felt so bad cause I did not want to hurt my family but I did not know what else I could do really. I was at my wits end. I can remember I was just sitting in the car looking into the future not knowing what I’m gonna do. Then I just thought, well I can start over and try to write the exam. If I fail it, then i could kill myself because I was 28 at that stage and really did not know what I would do next.
It was pure hell but I started from scratch and studied from 7am to 6pm everyday. I wrote and I passed. One of the things that bother me the most is that I don’t really have confidence in my writing abilities. Our training in this regard sucked balls. Assessing someone is easy. You read the instructions and there you go. But writing the report on the results is tricky. It has to sound professional. English is not my first language. Oh my soul I feel so trapped with no direction to go in. I keep finding myself feeling like this then doing research on ways to off myself. I’m in such a bind. I make me ill. I would like nothing more then just to be done with this world. I really wish I was like the other healthy minded people who seems like they are able to cruise through life with a constant smile on their faces.
What am I going to do??
my friend, do your best! everyday! some days your best may not be as good as the day before due to limitless reasons, and some days your best will mind blowing due to limitless reasons. You can not let your self be cut down by fear. No true person would fault you if you did your best. Will you make mistakes? YES! Show me one person that hasn’t and will not in the future. Will you make correct evaluations? YES! You are not in a bind, you are just compressing that spring of knowledge inside you, waiting for the correct moment to let the full force of your experiences out into the world. How many times do inventors fail? Do they really fail or do they just prove to themselves what doesn’t work? Time for you to start proving i would say
Thank you so much for you kind words. I pray to God that that will be the case for me.
Look to God. He has people everywhere. Some of them do the hiring. 🙂
Acts 18:10
For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.
– King James Bible “Authorized Version”, Cambridge Edition