Tag: job search

What a job mentor has given me

MiaLeave a comment
coaching goal
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A job mentor is someone who helps you with job search and with resumes. You also call them career mentors. As an unemployed, you get to go to different job search courses and you can also get a personal mentor if you like. How fun and you get closer to that job you want. buzzer Wrong, you only get something to do during the day. Maybe you get tips about job search but it won’t help you get a job. It gives the mentor a job. Maybe someone has succeeded to find a job by using these mentors but usually, they’re a waste of time. I should know. I’m been in a lot of different job search courses. But I’m not bitter. There has been something positive too. So this is what a job mentor has given me.

I’ve had two different mentors. One was twice. The first one was in 2008 or 2009. I didn’t have any examination at the time. We searched for internships but we didn’t find anything. Photography was very important to me at the time. The mentor suggested if I would apply for education instead. I was reluctant at first because I didn’t want to study for too many years. She (the mentor) found an education where photography wasn’t the main thing but it had it. It was a 2-year education. It felt really long but after thinking about it, I decided to apply for it. It was an undergraduate degree in visual expression. It was a basic graphic design and it also had photography. Before I applied I went to that school for a week to see how it was to study there. I think that helped me to get in. So after two years, I graduated. When I think back, I wish I would have continued with graphic design after that. I would have much more experience now. Photography was just so stuck in my mind so I didn’t think about any other options. You live and learn.

The second mentor really tried to help to find me at least an internship but again, no one wanted to take an intern. We looked on the internet about different companies and contacted them. Or the mentor did because I hate calling. Either way, no chance anywhere. It’s not the mentor’s fault companies doesn’t want to give a chance. They only want people with job experiences and not someone they think they have to babysit. The only achievement I got from this mentor was an internship in one of my local newspaper as a photographer. But it was only 2 weeks which was ridiculous. That’s actually my last internship so far. At least I got some of my photos published. I had this mentor twice because the jobcentre suggested it. I don’t find this kind of services useful when it comes to job search. In some things, they can be useful but it hasn’t helped my case that much. The same with job search courses where other people attend.

And boy, have I been on those courses. I’ve been to career coaching and job search training. You can find all kinds of tips online and study it by yourself. In the end, it still won’t get you a job. There are too many unemployees and not enough jobs. You need job experience in your resume. It doesn’t mean what you’ve studied. Then you also need to be good at job interviews. Job search is just so complicated so no wonder people get depressed. Nothing is never good enough. My good results from these mentors and courses are two educations. Latest was the web design course in 2016-2017. All of these have been my choices and that’s how it should be. I’ve done at least something and not just be. Many people have been on job search courses and had mentors but felt disappointed. They only think about the negative. I try to find something good about it. Some things wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t attended any of those courses. It didn’t help to get me a job but at least I’ve grown as a person. Maybe that will pay off one day.

Here is to hope

Mia2 Comments
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Maybe I’m being unrealistic but there is always hope no matter how bad things get. If I didn’t have it I would probably not be here today. You need hope to get through with life. If you give up too easily when things get tough, hope will be pointless. I have experienced loss and grief but having hope to move on has helped me get through them. Having too much hope can also make you feel blue when things don’t go the way you want to.

Having so many disappointments can make you bitter but it can also make you look at things differently. I’ve expected too much about the educations I’ve had. I thought I would have at least more work experience but no luck. Educations don’t seem to help anything. Finding a job is the only thing I’ve lost hope for. Only young people seem to get internships. On one workplace they had these young interns and they get to work with real projects. People like that will always get a better chance that I ever will because I lack experience. I feel like a loser because I’m not wanted anywhere. It seems that you’re too old even when you’re under 50. I don’t know what job I’ve good for. Even now when I study graphic design it feels like I’m an amateur. Some people seem to get all these great experiences and I’m still running in circles. Nothing much as changed in 10 years. I don’t even want to look what’s on offer because I know in advance I won’t have a chance. You need 3 or more years of job experience and skills I don’t have. I’ve been stupid for believing education would help to get a job. Internships don’t mean anything. But that’s better than nothing. Some don’t even have that. Still, having studied hasn’t totally been in vain. I’ve learned things I didn’t know about before. Learning new things is good for your mental health.

I hope to find some solution to these dilemmas in life. I don’t want to be someone who gives up hope because of someone else. You should enjoy the small things of hope. For me, music is one form of hope. If I feel down I listen to songs that cheer me up. It’s incredible how effective music is. It takes all the worries away. Here is to hope, cheers. 🍸

No one speaks my language

MiaLeave a comment
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I speak 3 languages, Finnish, Swedish and English. I also speak sarcasm but most people don’t get it so I don’t use it very often. I just roll my eyes. There are so many stupid people out there who you can roll your eyes to. Or simple people but stupid is a more powerful word. Like in Pet shop boys song, ‘I’m with stupid’, “Is stupid really stupid or a different kind of smart?” Everyone does stupid things sometimes but some take it too seriously. For me, stupid is not being able to do the most simple things like closing a gate or switching a light off. Unless you’ve have some kind of disability and you can’t do those things. People with no common sense are usually the stupid ones. Or maybe it’s just ignorance. People who only think about themselves are also stupid and there are a lot of those. Sometimes I get the feeling I’m the only with a brain. Others are just headless hens running around.

It feels no one speaks my language. I always felt I’ve been misunderstood. Not about what I say but what I am about. People judge you by only looking at you or meeting you and then think that’s what you are. But there’s more than meets the eye. It seems people’s intelligent stops there after they’ve met you. That’s one kind of stupidity, giving up on you too soon. I don’t know how people find any friends in the first place. Maybe I just haven’t met them. I never seem to have anything in common with people. Now even in Helsinki Design School. I don’t think I’ll become friends with any of them. When the education is over that’s it. The same happened last time I went to this school. Maybe I’m just too boring to become friends with. But whatever. It doesn’t hurt me much. It’s better to be alone than be with the wrong people. I don’t need more drama in my life. It’s much nicer to meet new people anyway and not get stick with old ones.

Being rejected by other people doesn’t hurt as much it hurt to be rejected by a job. Not getting that internship still bums me up. Especially when they still have the opportunity open. The interview went well from my part. It was unpaid and still, they didn’t want to give me a chance. Maybe it’s an age thing. It was meant for young people. I know it’s old news that I didn’t get it. I moved on but still when I think about it, it sucks big time. If I can’t even get an unpaid job, how can I get a paid one? In the dark moments, I think of giving up the whole job search and live on well-fare for the rest of my life. But I don’t want to wait for an opportunity that will probably never come. Rejections can make you feel you’re not good enough to be hired. It’s the stupidity of the employers where the fault is. They expect too much and judge a person by how they act in the job interview. If you get one that is which is probably the most frustrating thing when you don’t. I will never succeed in job interviews because I can’t be something I’m not. Therefore, I’m not fit enough for their company but it’s probably not meant to be.

It’s really other people’s problem if they don’t speak the same language as me. I understand myself and that’s what matters. There is always someone who tries to change the person you are. But it’s their stupidity and it has nothing to do with you.