Combating the "Unemployed" State of Mind

 

You have a brilliant profile, with outstanding grades on your university mark sheet – yet, still unemployed. What a buzz kill! Let’s face it, unemployment is a nightmare that many of us are living, in these financially challenged times. All that hard work you put in achieving top grades, all the effort you rendered for making a top class thesis – no use since you do not have a job, right? Wrong! It is not the end of the world; unemployment launches us into a particular state of mind which instead of helping us, pushes us even further away from our goals. Like a whirlpool, this state of mind keeps sucking us into a void of oblivious depression and stress. Sooner than you can notice it, your temperament starts to change, and you have a strange urge of tattooing the word “HATE” on your knuckles. You’d be surprised to know, you can change this “state of mind” just like you turn on a light bulb – with a flick of a switch so to say.

Realizing the Obvious – Acknowledging the Circumstances:

So you are unemployed – you have been applying for every suitable position; but you never get to hear from the company you applied to. Understand the fact, just asyou get short of money, sometimes companies do too. Look around, observe the trends; it is not just you going through these tough times. You are not alone in this labyrinth of unemployment. So what’s wrong, is it you? 90% of the times, that inner voice in you will tell you that, it is not you. For in fact, it is a global issue, like a bad weather you do not have much control over it – but; yes, you can control how you survive this bad weather. Make peace with it, and acknowledge it. Once you have done so, you are ready and geared up to face this nightmare toe to toe.

Situational Awareness – Be Aware:

Situational awareness is actually a military term, which means to have an understanding of the situations and circumstances that surround you. The first thing to do when combating the unemployed state of mind is to be aware of all possible opportunities that you may cash in. Get yourself a soft board – the white board you loved to doodle on when you were a student, only smaller. Note every opportunity down and make sure you get the contacts of Managers (preferably HRMs) working in that company. It is very simple; all you do is visit the website and browse the “Contact us” section – or you can call the company up and ask for the HR Manager, once through you can show your interest and be noticed as well. Keep your mind open, and always remember, you may not always get a desirable response. Do not allow yourself to get demotivated- as they say, “keep trucking!”

Distract Yourself:

You cannot stay on that computer for hours at end applying and taking notes of company managers; from time to time distract your mind. We all have activities we love to do, things we look forward to doing when we have some time on our hands – well, now you have time on your hands so go ahead and engage yourself in those activities. Movies, music, walks, hikes, drives, hanging out with friends – whatever helps you get your mind off the unemployment, get on with it and do it. What this does is, it reduces the chances of getting “fixated”; fixation is a psychological term which means an obsession with an entity (may be human, may be something inanimate). This obsession drives you to ruin your health, your temperament, and even your attitude. You have time, enjoy it; once you get a job (which you eventually will), you might not have the opportunity to catch up with your interests – so better do it now.

Stay Positive!

A widely known “law of attraction” suggests; whatever you hold in your mind, you will eventually hold in your hand. Stay positive! There are times when Uncles and Aunties ask you “Son, what are you doing these days?” and when you say, “Nothing, I am looking for a job” they utter a very demotivating “Ohhh…” Ignore it! Instead, answer them with a positive tone, something like “I am engaged in fighting unemployment”. Make sure you maintain a positive outlook towards everything. When you are positive you feel confident, when you feel confident you increase your possibilities of securing and acing an interview.

Time is time, and people are people; you cannot make them all happy all of the time. Make sure you spend your time trying to make those people happy who matter- and for those, it really does not matter if you have a job or not. All that matters to them is you effort, so give it your best shot! The results are not our domain to worry about, so don’t.

Do not quit! Keep your chin up and keep trucking; practice these three tag lines you have herd so many times and you will make it to sandy shores with white sands and clear waters. Remember, unemployment may be a storm in your life; but just like any other storm, “this too shall pass”…

Go get some!

Thanks & regards,

"Remember Me When You Raise Your Hand For Dua"
Raheel Ahmed Khan
System Engineer
send2raheel@engineer.com
sirraheel@gmail.com

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