I’m 24, face losing my job and am petrified by the future
DEAR BEL,
I AM 24 and have worked in a jewellery shop for more than five years.
Like most shops on the High Street we are always aware of the threat of closing and now it looks like our store might actually shut within the next 12 months.
I know redundancy isn’t the end of the world, but the thought of losing my job terrifies me. It’s been my only job since I was 19.
The truth is, I have no children, no husband, no house, no bills to pay, no car to worry about, it’s just me, while my colleagues have all those other burdens to consider. So I feel guilty that I am stressing about being made redundant, but I can’t help it.
I have spent hours and hours on employment websites looking for new jobs, putting my heart and soul into covering letters, but in the end, all I get is rejection (or even nothing) from those places.
Yes, I may not have a degree (university never appealed to me), but I do have experience.
There are times when I think I got this job through a fluke, as my former manager once told me she interviewed only two of us — me and another person, who had come to the interview wearing a tracksuit while I wore a suit. So she picked me.
I think in this negative way because of the many rejections from other job offers. I just don’t know what to do, I’m scared of what will happen to me if I lose my job.
I thought about maybe finally travelling, but everyone tells me that would be a bad idea, as it would not be appealing to future employers if I had a big gap in my CV. Other people have suggested going back to college, but I just have no idea what I would want to study or really what I want to do with the rest of my life. I just feel I am at a crossroads and don’t know where to turn. Please help. PATSY
Your email is welcome, as it raises important issues — while reminding readers that behind the Daily Mail’s ‘ Save our High Street’ campaign there are real people becoming unemployed largely because of the soulless, environmentally-damaging and rather lazy pursuit of shopping online.
I feel real compassion for the gnawing anxiety you feel each day, Patsy, because the threat of redundancy is frightening to anybody, at any age.
Yet I also applaud your honest awareness that it is less vital for you than for others.
Men or women in their 40s (say) with heavy commitments can feel utter despair when unemployment bites. older people are plagued by the terrible feeling of being thrown on the ‘scrap-heap’ before they wish to retire.
For you, at 24, this could be an exhilarating turning point and so please take encouragement from that thought. Ask yourself whether you imagined working in that same jewellery store at the age of 40. No? Then this threat of change is part of a natural progression, isn’t it?
At some stage you’d have had enough of showing people engagement rings and bracelets and thought it time for a change.
You might have chosen to stay in retail, or woken up one day to the glory of flowers and decided to study horticulture, or thought it might be fun to serve cakes in a teashop, or suddenly fancied the fun making women feel better about themselves and trained as a nail technician. All good things.
on the other hand, if you’re as afraid of life as you sound, you might have stayed put. As I love jewellery I can think of a lot worse careers than working there, but it might not have been the best thing for you. So let’s unpick your fears for a moment.
First, you don’t feel you deserve this job. You interpret that manager’s choice as a ‘fluke’ — when, in fact, she chose you because you were savvy enough to know how to dress for an interview. So ‘ flip’ the insecurity and congratulate yourself.
You mention rejections (earlier and current), but you must realise that some people
leave university with excellent degrees, but struggle to find work. It’s just how it is.
Sometimes high-flyers have to take jobs below their perceived ability, just to gain the very experience you already have.
Certain moments on my own learning curve proved invaluable — for example, working in a crisp factory and doing filing in an office. I learned some humility, you see. Everything we do brings its own lessons.
Many young people have no idea what they want to do in life. Equally, many brave people in their middle years decide on a complete change of tack and retrain. All of us should view our lives in stages, learn to look for signposts and anticipate the journey with excitement, not fear. Easier said than done? No: it’s the best way to live.
You have to embrace change if you want to transform your life and that process continues to the very end. So be brave, girl!
Why not go travelling, especially if you have a friend to go with? Better still, do something useful abroad by volunteering or teaching (for example, check out
gooverseas. com). Researching possibilities will be good for you.
You don’t know who you’ll meet in the coming year to give you ideas about the future. So just pick up one of those lovely diamond rings and hold it in sunlight. See how the pinpoints of light flash around? Smile at them — your new possibilities.