Job Hunting With Mental Health

Hi Guys,

Sorry its been a while, I have been having a few bad days... or weeks now actually but I think I am starting to come out the other side now.

Today I want to talk about job hunting with mental health.

I have been in my current job and position now for nearly 5 years and without going into too much detail have decided its time for me to move on from my current company.

Now as I am sure most of you are aware the job market out there in the UK at the moment is quite tough, there are plenty of jobs out there needing applying for but there's also plenty more people out there applying. Recently a new supermarket opened up by where I live and they were advertising 400 jobs almost 4000 people applied for them positions so that alone tells you what the market is like at the moment.

For me my work and my career has been a tool in my recovery as when I am at home not doing much that's when my anxiety becomes really bad, in fact at one point I was working a weekend job in a bar just to keep my mind from the anxiety, plus gave me a bit of extra savings money so it was win win for me. Now I understand for many people work just isn't an option but everyone is different and everyone has different coping mechanisms to mental health and for me work was the main one.... I think its the distraction.

To be fair in my current job I do have an understanding boss when it comes to my mental health few months back when I had a break down he was very good with me and told me to take the time I need to recover, this worries me for future jobs as not everyone is so understanding when it comes to mental health and can see it as an excuse for time off, which is so far from the truth. I didn't want to take time off from work when I had my break down but was more or less ordered to by a doctor at the hospital after an attempt to end my life.

In the 13 years I have had anxiety and depression up until my break down I hadn't had a single day off from work sick due to mental health so to have nearly a month off was devastating for me, I felt like I had let myself down and my family especially as it was then highlighted to my employer. They kinda had an idea I had anxiety but it was never spoken about as it was never really a problem at work or to them.

So just before Christmas I decided its time for me to move on so I started to apply for jobs, There's loads of websites out there that offer the "one click apply" feature which is great for most people you simply upload your CV and cover letter and hit apply anytime you see a relevant job, but as my job is more specialised I have to fill out individual forms for every job I apply for.

So on a daily basis I will apply for up to ten jobs at a time on average, filling out long forms, repeating myself over and over and trying to sell myself as best I can, which believe me is very hard for someone with mental health issues. I've applied for similar jobs, jobs maybe a little bit above me and a lot of jobs below my experience and qualifications, you spend all this time racking your brains to fill out a new cover letter which is going to sell yourself to this company, to do a job that you could maybe do blindfolded and you wait..... and you wait... and you wait and then if you are very lucky you will get an email saying sorry you was not successful but 9 times out of 10 you are just waiting for a reply you never get.

For me This is soul destroying, I appreciate that the companies must get several hundred applications and in most cases your CV or application doesn't even get read. But a simple response with some feedback surely isn't that hard to do. I have found now that after a month of applying for these jobs and getting either a negative response or no response at all I am feeling very deflated and my already very low self esteem has a hit a new low.

I am sure the right job is out there for me somewhere and one day I will find it but at the moment I feel very drained from the whole process and my mind is in a very negative place, but troops I will get through this and I will find my positivity again and if you are in a similar position with job hunting then you will too.

If you would like to share your experiences of job hunting with mental health then please get in touch in the usual ways. It will be good to know I am not alone out there.

Thanks for reading guys.

Brez