JOBLESSNESS AND BROKENESS ARE EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL

The Question

Advisor Owen Katongo Kabanda, what is your advice to people who are frantically searching for jobs for the first time or those who have been terminated and are desperately hoping to get hired?

Joblessness is Real

Well, you could be at a stage in your life where you finished (or did not finish) your schooling be it secondary or college/university and you are hunting for that seemingly illusive job for the first time.

In other cases, you could have worked somewhere before but for whatever reason, your job finished and now you are on the streets desperately looking for a job in order to feed yourself and your family.

With all the high populations in many countries and so much competition for the very few available jobs, looking for employment can become a nightmare and an almost hopeless endeavour.

Sense of Desperation Could Kick In 

Sometimes, when you sit to reflect on everything happening to you, you cannot help but start to ask yourself so many questions that you do not even have answers to.

You start wondering just why life chose to be so unfair to you of all the people. You continue asking yourself as to what you did to deserve such a type of life of suffering when many of your mates are appearing to make it in life.

Yes, for some reason it may appear like the heavens have simply forsaken you, your family and friends do not appear to be too helpful, and everything seems to be pretty much not working out as you might want.

You might be a young lady with almost everything including some level of education, the looks, and all except a job. In desperation for a job, you end up even making yourself vulnerable to all sorts of situations.

The joblessness situation could become so much to a point that you even give in to some unscrupulous persons masquerading as Pastors who tells you that they can remove the bad spirit of joblessness in you by touching your voluptuous young body and sucking your boobs.

You might be a young man and due to being jobless, even your sense of self-worth is altogether reduced that even the lady you had engaged dumped you for another man telling you that she cannot wait for you and she cannot eat your “potential”.

You could be a woman desperately looking for employment so that you can provide food for your children who are languishing in abject poverty because you are a single mum or married to an irresponsible man who spends his time at some cheap local tavern.

You might be a man who is the sole provider and the suffering and cries of your children and wife as well as your ailing parents keep ringing in your ears yet you cannot provide what they need. Sometimes even your wife leaves you for another man taking the children too.

Well, whatever might be your unique situation, one thing is for sure, simply not having a job and no other source of income is bad for anyone. So, you resolve to fight on and go around making applications.

Job Application Experiences Could Be Bad

As if the pain that is pushing you from home to go and apply for jobs walking around in the scorching sun with finished dusty shoes, hungry, and thirsty with dried white lips is not enough, you come across some people who might make your life even more difficult.

Yes, you come across the first obstacle, the Security Guard at the gate of the company. He stops you rudely and tells you to back off saying, “There is no job here!” One would think he is indeed the Recruitment Manager.

But maybe you may have to forgive the guy he is also just doing his job under clear instructions and he would not want to lose his only job. The guy could be working under very difficult conditions, he is lowly paid (and payment comes after several months of waiting), and is generally frustrated with his job and life.

Did you get a chance to get past the Security Guard? Congratulations! Now you are inside the company and have to deal with the next very annoying person (in your view), and that is the Receptionist.

As you enter the front office, the Receptionist looks you up and down with utmost disdain on her face like you are an absolute nobody who does not even in the remotest of sense, deserve to be in front of her. She makes you feel like you are a total disgrace to human kind.

To drive the point home of her thinking of you as a nonentity, she even continues to “work very hard” on her computer or phone where she is Facebooking or playing the all very important computer games.

Without even looking at you, in an almost robotic tone she asks, “What can we do for you?” You say, “I am looking for a job.” She then asks, “Has the Security Guard not told you that we are not hiring here? Put your envelope there on that pile in that big box there.”

As if that is not enough, she continues, “You people are so annoying. You must learn to follow instructions. If someone tells you there is no job here, it means there is no job!” With those supposedly very helpful and comforting words, she continues “working”.

At other times you might have some access to the internet so you try your best with online applications. Sometimes you receive a response on email like, “We confirm receipt of your application and shall review it. Successful candidates shall be contacted.” End of story.

You try your luck with all sorts of online platforms, company websites, LinkedIn and still nothing. To cut the long story short, days and months go by without a job in sight and hope starts to dwindle.

At certain times with all the pressure you have and all the disappointments you are getting in your job search, you start to slowly if not quickly give up and start to approach the very gates of depression and in extreme cases, you might start entertaining suicidal thoughts.

Things to Do When You Are Jobless

Well, your job search situation might be gloomy with little hope of anything tangible coming your way, here however are a few things you might want to consider:

(1) Never Give Up

Yes, your job search situation might be and could be bad by all reasonable standards but one thing is for sure, NEVER GIVE UP and never lose hope. If there is one thing that helps to make human beings remain sane is HOPE.

Believe like you are crazy that one day your situation will change. Sometimes things might turn out in ways that you might not even have expected. The key thing is, do your level best and leave everything else to God (or any of your chosen high powers you might believe in).

(2) Do Your Part and Be Overly Prepared

One of the biggest mistakes that you can do as a job seeker is to think that after a few applications here and there the job will come and be handed over to you on your laps. No, you have to do your part.

That means, prepare your CV, your accompanying letters, and all the education qualification documents or references or Certificates of Service and your national identity card among other things.

Invest heavily and appropriately like no man’s business in perfecting your interview skills. The time you spend on Facebook, playing games, drinking and all sorts of things, you could be researching and perfecting yourself.

One of the things you should probably blame yourself for a long time to come is you being unprepared when chances present themselves to you. It is not uncommon to find one being asked to bring papers and they start saying give me some days to prepare, really?

At other times, a chance is given to you to go for interviews and what do you do? You go drinking the night before in the name of wanting to have “Dutch courage”. Really? Being irresponsible is bad for you.

(3) Try out Some Business

Whilst you are applying for jobs, do not be embarrassed to try out some business. Really, there is no shame in that as some people might want you to think.

With the same passion you have for finding a job, you can use the same to try and start a business of your own.

Of course no one should lie to you that it is going to be easier, but then, what could be worse anyway? So, just do it. If you fail you learn something, if you succeed, bang, you are now an Employer.

Closing Remarks

Job search in many instances is a challenging endeavour that many people loathe but it is a necessary step to you to get employed and start earning a salary. It can only be hoped that your job search journey is shorter and you find a job faster.

Whatever might happen in your job search, do not give up hope, one day everything will turn out just fine. As J Wooden once said, “Things turn out the best for those who make the best out of the way things turn out”. Have that etched at the back of your mind and do your best.

Remember to reach out to those who can help you, and be thankful to your family, friends, and any of your support system who gives you comfort and love during the difficult job search times.

You can only be wished all the best and when you finally get that job, remember to be humble, treasure the job, do it well, and do not fall into the natural trap of becoming big headed, forgetting your struggles and soon becoming arrogant to your colleagues, bosses, and clients.

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The author is a Business & Human Resources Advisor. Visit his LinkedIn profile or simply search on Google for Owen Katongo Kabanda to access more professional insights and articles.

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For all your Business, Employer, and Employee matters, do not hesitate to get in touch:

Owen Katongo Kabanda

Business & Human Resources Advisor

Skype: Owen K. Kabanda

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