Admittedly, I have been very bad about updating this thing. But it’s not really all me.
The field of mental health is not immune to the downturn in the economy. For the past year, I have been searching for employment after graduation with only mild success, keeping in mind the extra hours put in, networking, and taking all the advice that experts give on finding a job when there are no jobs to be found. However, I’ve noticed the problem I am having isn’t quite that there are no jobs – there aren’t enough.
My chosen field is one that expands in time of turmoil and difficulty. However, at the same time, money can be hard to come by, and private practices can shut down as well as donations given to non-profits can make the job market hard for the unlicensed and somewhat inexperienced. Cue the old adage of the vicious cycle of not being able to get experience if you don’t have experience.
As I mentioned, I have only had some mild success. I was employed for a short time at a local agency in a job that required my advanced degree, but for the most part did not allow me to use it. What the job boiled down to was being a glorified call center and data entry person. While the agency itself was not a horrible place to work and the pay was very good for the amount of work, I felt quite stifled and with my history of overworking – unchallenged. So, I ultimately had to say goodbye to the job, mutually between my employer and I.
In the meantime, I have been working on my more long-term goal of getting my foot into Health Psychology and working with cancer patients in the long term. Currently, I volunteer in hospice working with two patients with Alzheimer’s. Often, the people around me – both personally and professionally – applaud my volunteer work, and follow up their admiration with claims of how it must be difficult. For me though, it is not.
Since my last birthday, where I became 25, the quarter-life point where some type of crisis occurs – I have taken this new found foray into life as a chance to expand my mind with the study of Buddhism and taking time to enjoy life. Part of this has been learning that death is a natural consequence of life. As a volunteer, even if my patients forget who I am every few minutes, I know that it helps to have someone there. Their smiles have helped me more than anyone can ever know.
Personally, things have been hard on me being mostly jobless. Keeping in mind that I have been working many skilled positions while going through school since I was 15 years old, suddenly having very little to do while having the direction and determination to do something can be heartbreaking. But I am not the only one.
I keep in touch with several of my fellow graduates and have found many of them needed to leave the Portland, OR area in order to find work.
Keeping positive is one of the toughest parts of looking for work right now. Some weeks, I run out of steam, and only half-heartedly look for work, with doubt and sadness waiting for me. But this is not one of those weeks.
Recently, a good friend of mine told me that I should try to make each day the best day ever. However, that is not good enough.
Being somewhat of a geek, my motto with most of my life used to be “There is no try – only DO or DO NOT”, adapted from the Star Wars trilogy. Now is the time to revive that motto, that philosophy and make every day count.
So, this is a call to arms for all of you out there – the professionals, the non-professionals, the ones who want to give up: DON’T GIVE UP. When life gets tough, you call it’s bluff.
Thank you for reading. Live long and prosper!
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