Hey everyone,
I [28F] need some advice on handling anxiety when job hunting.
Almost a week ago I finished school and I’m once again without work. I’ve been job hunting about 40-50% of my adult life and it has taken a huge toll on my mental health to the point where I’m barely able to apply for jobs anymore. I have gotten a few warnings over the years due to not applying to enough jobs. ( I live in Sweden btw )
I have tried taking breaks.
I have tried waiting for the anxiety to pass.
I have asked so many for advice but it’s like they all give the same default answer. If their advice where enough, I would be a pro at job hunting.
I did get an autism diagnosis a few years back and I do feel better about myself, more confident and understanding of how I work so I think this time around will be different, but it’s like the old anxiety still hangs around and I don’t know how to get rid of it.
Please if you have any advice, I’d love to hear it.
It is hard to overstate the value of developing a good professional network. In 20+ years of working, I’ve only had to look for a job twice. My first one and once when my wife and I moved across the country to a city where I didn’t know anyone. All my other jobs (5 in total) came to me via people I knew. Who you know is often more important than what you know.
Those meetups sound like a great idea.
I’ve been building my network a lot these past 2-3 years. I’ve always had a really hard time building a network, partly because I’ve always felt so insecure about how to talk to people and keep a convo going and I also don’t really enjoy parties and other loud environments which most people seem to love.
But I think I’m finding my way, I can endure parties once in a while, even like them a little bit.