Gizza Job!

It understandable, that desire for a job. It seems to bring about some certainty and stability, although that’s is mostly illusory as all it really brings is the regular salary check – until they decide you are surplus to requirements.

I think I longed for the status and identity that you get with a job, not in a “look at me, the big ‘I-am’ “ way but in the “I don’t have to explain myself, you know what I’m here for, let’s get on with making things happen” way. It means you don’t have to answer the dreaded “What do you do?” question or explain to friends that, no, you don’t have a ‘proper’ job. It just makes life simpler.

So I understand why people keep looking for a job. But you have to be realistic. If you are over 50, have worked at a senior level, and have loads of experience, who is going to hire you? Who is going to hire someone who is older and more experienced than they are, has opinions and thinks independently and is expensive? Ask yourself why they are going to choose you over someone who is younger, more energetic, easier to manage and cheaper? Someone who could be threat over someone who could be an acolyte?

And let’s be honest, the recruitment process is broken. You are never going to fit any of the detailed job descriptions that companies love to produce these days. You are favourite to get filtered out by some 20-year old in HR or at the recruiter because you don’t fit their idea of what the job specification requires. You are not likely to get in front of the decision maker and get the chance to explain your personal qualities. You probably won’t even get past the software algorithm.

You can spend hours, weeks, days, filling in 20-page application forms that want all the information that’s in your c.v. transcribed into some confusing and obtuse format, and still have to provide a bespoke c.v. and covering letter. All that time and energy and emotion that you could be putting to creating a new lifestyle that is designed around you.

Doesn’t it make more sense to work on yourself and develop your own resources and resilience so that you can choose between a much wider set of options? So that you can mix and match and change over time, moving between different types of roles from freelancing to consulting to running your own business to working collaboratively with others? And also to sometimes have a job, because from time to time that might be the best option for you. But then, when it finishes, you have the wherewithal to change to something else, to control your own destiny.

It’s a challenge to now orientate yourself around your needs and wants, after working for so long furthering the objectives of others and submitting the the needs of the organisation. This is a wonderful chance, however, to build a life that is focused on what is important to you, your needs and wants, your priorities and objectives. So let go of the false comfort of finding a job and spend that time and energy on the most important person in your life, you. Start living life on your own terms. The irony is that it will make even more people want to work with you. They might even offer you a job!


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.