For anyone who has experienced an extended period of unemployment, they will understand how hard it is to conduct a job search. I know from my own experience that being involved in a search for a job can be one of the most demoralising events in life. Endlessly scouring the job pages of websites and finding nothing that suits you or anything you are experienced in is a common problem and one I intend to highlight in this article.



Having left university with a good degree I found myself in a quandary, I was not one of these people who had a clear idea what he wanted to from a young age. My brother was one of those lucky people that had never had to search for a career, he knew from the age of twelve that he was going to be a doctor; subsequently his studies had led him into this career path.

Unfortunately it was a little different for me, I had no idea what job I could see myself doing; my studies had been in a pretty generic subject that had no specific associated job options. I had the feeling my search would be little more difficult than my brother's.

I was contemplating where my search for jobs would take me constantly at the moment; it was actually quite stressful, like having a constant cloud hanging over my head. Added to this stress my entire family were on the search for me also; the problem with this is they throw swerve balls at you almost daily; 'become a radiographer', 'become an air traffic controller' of 'join the police force'. Despite telling them that you would search for a job under your own steam these job ideas keep on coming, I suppose it is just because they care.

The reason I was having a great deal of trouble in my search for a job was that I was stuck in the 'experience catch twenty two'. Every job I seemed to look at asked for at least two years experience, even low level entry position jobs seemed to have a prerequisite for applicants with knowledge of the industry. I knew if I could just get an interview and get the chance to sell myself my job search would be over.

I am sorry to say that at about the three month stage of searching for a job the depression really starts to set in. Questions start to arise that were not there at the start of your search. Am I that unemployable? Will I ever gain the experience I need? As well as, will this search ever end? Losing your motivation at this point is easy, luckily I had a great support network of friends and family whose constant calls to keep my chin up in these dire times were infinitely useful.

A friend who had worked in the recruitment industry felt especially sorry for me and acted as my career advisor. Defining the skills I possessed and limiting my search options to a more refined range. This was a great help, seeing any form of career advice service is extremely helpful when involved in a search for a job. Especially if you were like me and needed direction into a chosen career path.

With my friends advice I hit my job search with renewed vigour and gusto. I now knew which fields I would like to enter and knowledge of the level of positions I would be applying for. With this new information I felt my search would be far more productive, hopefully my months of unemployment would soon be over I would find a job that was both challenging and enjoyable.