What job can I do? Hunting for the right job.

You know that catch 22 situation: you are not qualified or experienced for the job that you want meaning you never get shortlisted, but are over-qualified and too experienced for the job you’ve been doing your whole life; meaning that you also never get shortlisted! I’m in that current situation.

Having been solely in Fitness Instructing and Education since leaving school at age 16, I now want to start to branch out and develop other skills that I have, taking on other work to do alongside my fitness jobs. This is definitely easier said than done.

Job hunting is stressful at the best of times, but when you are applying for a job in which you have no experience or high level qualifications in, it’s hard to be taken seriously and get anywhere.

When will that break come?

It can be hard to stay motivated and keep positive, especially when you spend ages on an application form only to be told ‘no’ as quickly as a day after it’s been submitted, or to be totally ghosted and assume after a few weeks that you haven’t been successful when you’ve heard nothing back from the company. However, knowing that this is all part of the learning process is important and remembering that everytime you complete that cover letter or job application, you’re one step closer to getting a job, gaining more skills and education each time you apply for something.

Tips I’m using to stay motivated and positive when the going gets tough!

1. Take time out for yourself daily. Do something that gives you happiness and joy. Spending all day, everyday, in front of the computer is not healthy at any time; let alone when you are scrawling through the job advert pages and writing similar stuff over and over again on different application forms.

2. Celebrate the small wins. After being ghosted for a long time, getting an email to say that you haven’t been successful in the shortlisting process is better than no correspondence at all; and when you get that email to say you have been selected for an interview, shout it from the rooftop!

3. Gain experience in the job that you are applying for. This can be voluntary (if you have the time and finances to do this!), which can be rewarding by giving something back to others less fortunate.

4. Try to stay as positive as possible and avoid dwelling on mis-fortune. I’m a bit of a believer in fate and things happening for a reason (even though things will happen when we also work hard for them). If you were not successful, there was a reason why and later on down the line you will realise what the reason was and be glad it didn’t happen. Draw a line under the episode quickly, and move onto the next thing.

I wish you the best of luck my friends and I hope that we all get the job that we so deserve.