While looking through CVs and LinkedIn/Reed/Indeed/Totaljobs/Milkround/Monster/etc. profiles a pattern emerges: the good young professional is a motivated self-starter with great communication skills and the ability to remain calm under pressure; an individual with initiative and impeccable team spirit; a multitasking, enthusiastic master of timekeeping.
Hahahahahhahahahahaahahhahaahahahahahha
Please….. I’ve interviewed enough people to know that’s ridiculous.
The problem is multiple career websites out there keep saying “don’t be generic”, ” make your CV pop”, “get the LinkedIn profile your career deserves”. Yeah, give us £15 a month and we will help you get the job you want.
Right! I was broke before I graduated and I was broke after. You’re not guaranteeing me a job but a newsletter with what you consider helpful tips. I’ll be damned if I give you a week’s worth of groceries every month so you can touch up my cover letter.
It is at that moment of rebellion when job hunting becomes a fulltime job, a 24/7 occupation that does not guarantee employment in any way, shape or form. This applies to fresh graduates and people already in employment who want to change careers. And many times for the young professional, this full time job hunting is happening while trying to lead an independent adult life. You find a flat with a rent that doesn’t lead to bankruptcy, you commute to work in the same stressful situation every day, a couple of times a week you grab a coffe-to-go from the local bakery in an attempt to keep some sense of community, and you stay in the office a few extra hours because this level of dedication will surely be rewarded during the next cycle of pay raises and/or promotions (or so you keep telling yourself).
And so it goes. 3-6 days a week, 44-48 weeks a year, indefinitely… Unless you decide to change your predicament. How? I’ve come to discover it is not an easy task, I’m still working on it.
Just bear with me for a while.
Career Clichés 