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How can I regain my confidence back?
I graduated college in 2010 with a medical related diploma. I have been struggling to find a entry level job related to my major. Every job I apply to I don't receive an answer or when I finally get the interview employers never pick me. "You're not what we are looking for", they tell me. I started to lose confidence in myself. It's been four years and the only solid job I had was because the other girl decided she didn't want it at the last minute. I was their third or forth choice. I quit after the company developed problems and had to downsize.
I went back to college to start fresh, changed my major, do something completely different, and reinvent myself. But a part of me is still stuck with the notion of not being good enough. I've become pessimist and mean towards others. I'm not that type of person but I can't stop myself. How can I stop this?
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This is why I dropped out my 1st semester. You have to know someone. My friends at uni will probably make less than I do now when they graduate. Sucks 'cause they'll be in debt looking for jobs and I won't....4 years early. I thought I'd be nothing without college. I'm actually glad I never went. You might have to look for something unrelated to your majors or jobs that don't require a degree. There's tons of places and fields. My job only required 3 days of training. Look for jobs where you can take a class or a certification course. Depending on where you live, some jobs require certain licences that you can get easier and faster than college. If I go to college, it has to be guaranteed 6 figure job. But there's no guarantee. I'm straight out of high school and I made more than my parents with degrees. And I'm already looking at more fields in my same company that only require a class or two, just to do less work and get a raise.
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Some poor recruting practice is not helping your self-confidence. It is really unpleasant to give an applicant NO reply to a genuine enquiry, but I'm afraid some companies do this. The 'not what we're looking for' reply is not personal or a reflection on purely your academic achievements and/or experience. It just means somebody elses face fitted the the frame better this time. The jobs market has been ultra-competitive for some time. Here in the UK we've been having retail managers with all the qualifications and experience applying for jobs serving coffee and donuts...and not getting hired. No word of a lie. The US, UK and Europe have been in a period of severe economic decline, a stagnation and fight to hold water at best. The company which downsized was none of your doing of course. Just keep plugging away. Look for a break. A big part of 'the breaks' is recognising a break when you see it. They don't always come labelled! Don't let market forces and economic climate outside your control drag you down. It's easy to become downhearted and find the old black dog of pessimism snapping at your heels, I know. You can see that this making you someone you have no wish to become, so try making this the spur NOT to let it get you down. You're good enough. We need means, motive and opportunity to let it shine. You have the first two. The opportunity is all that is lacking. It will come. Be ready when you catch even a sniff of it. Keep things up-beat. Use the time waiting in ways beneficial to your character. What would you like to achieve, personal development wise? Any skills, interests? Once you get into the job you deserve you won't probably have so much time. A case of cash-richer but time-poorer. So realise some personal aspirations right now maybe? Good luck with the job search. It will come, I feel sure. Meantime, as we say over here "Don't let the bastards grind you down." X
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I think you are placing the blame for what is happening/happened in the wrong place. I don't believe for a second that you are the one who is not good enough. To have a diploma is one thing but a medical related one is something I can't even imagine the amount of hard work you must have put in to get it. I've no idea where you are from but if there's one thing that seems a common thing at the moment around the world, it's that there are not enough jobs to go around. It is very hard to get a job and even when you feel you have the right qualifications someone else will come along and have just that bit more to take the position away from you. It took me 3 years to get into the field I am in now because of this exact problem. I had the qualifications but I lacked any experience.
Don't give up on yourself and certainly don't feel like you have not been good enough because that is certainly NOT the case at all. The harsh truth of the matter is getting a job is a very hard task at the moment. Where I am, statistics say a large portion of those who are walking away with degrees from universities are ending up working in retail jobs and such because they are struggling to be able to find work in their chosen field of study. I imagine I will also encounter this same problem when I complete my degree which I am doing on a part-time basis so that I can carry on working in my current job and study at the same time.
Don't change who you are and try keep positive because something good will come along but you have to stick to it and keep pushing along and trying because once you give up that will be when you really fail. So don't give up and yes it can be a real downer when you keep getting turned down but don't let that drown your confidence - think of it this way, all those companies that turned you down, lost out.
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I don't believe anyone who can get through four years of college and graduate with a degree in a medically related field is not good enough. The problem most likely is you do not know how to interview. There is an art to interviewing. Some of us do it very well and some of us do it very poorly. As I found out when I was in the position of interviewing candidates many of the people who interview well sometimes turn out to be the worst choices for the job.
Understand that you have only one chance to make a good first impression and very little time to make one. Because of the present economy there can be hundreds of people applying for the one position. You made the first cut if you are granted and interview. Now you have to make a good impression on the interviewer.
You need to dress for success as they say. I always tell people I even if you are interviewing for a job as a ditch digger. You owe the person interviewing you the respect of showing up for the interview in clean clothes, with a bright smiling face. You leave the street talk in the street and use your Sunday morning church vocabulary when talking to the interviewer.
In your case I doubt your interviewing for a ditch diggers job. To start with; interviewers my age are turned off by body art and piercings. So ditch the tongue piercing and any other piercing except your earrings. Cover up as much as any body art that might normally show. Style your hair and if you have a strange color like purple or something else, until you find a job, change it to a more acceptable color or back to your natural color.
Dressing for success means to dress in the best clothes you have. A skirt and a blouse are always acceptable as is a nice pair of slacks and a blouse, sweater or polo shirt. This would be considered office casual which is the standard for most offices today. Wear a nice clean pair of shoes, High heels, pumps or loafers that are clean and polished. Do not wear tennis shoes or flip flops.
Now as for the interview itself: Do your homework on the company you are interviewing with. Find out as much about them as possible before the interview. Interviewers are famous for asking these two questions;
1. Why do you want to work for us and what do you have to offer us?
2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Before the interview take off your watch and put it in your purse. Interviewers take off points if you are constantly looking at your watch
The first of course is a compound question though it tells the interviewer a lot about you as does the second question which tells them if you have ambition.
If you don't have an answer for any question say so, don't try to make one up. Take a second or two before answering a question to formulate you answers. The two most important things to do are; to sit up straight and to look the interviewer in the eye when answering the question.
Now each of interviewer has their own style for interviewing. I once interviewed for a job and the interviewer ask me questions about my military career and nothing to do with the job I was applying for. He asked one question I could not give him the answer for. Not that I didn't know the answer just that what he asked about as far as I knew was still considered top secret and I told him so. I left thinking I would not get the job. By the time I got home he had called my wife to tell her the job was mine if I wanted it and to call him back to set another appointment to discuss the terms.
I've told you this so you so as you do not second guess what the interviewer is attempting. After I had the job I asked him why he asked about my military career. He told me he knew nothing about the work I did in the Military and if I could make him understand what I did I could make people understand his product.
So listen to the question, formulate you answer and reply looking the interviewer in the eye. IF you haven't been doing what I've written here then if you follow my advice I believe you will have better success. Good luck
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