The job I lost
I was a Senior Scientist....I was "let go" due to restructuring
What it's like being unemployed
I can't handle unemployment - it has stripped me of everything - money, confidence, self worth, friends, security, happiness. People expect that because I am a scientist that I would get a job right away. Its been 5 months and I haven't even had a real interview yet. Friends who were initially supportive seem to be backing away, I know they are probably thinking it is somehow my fault that I havent gotten a new position. Their responses seem to range from texting me constantly "any interviews" (sometimes not even asking me how I am) to other friends never speaking about my unemployment nor inviting me to hang or do things.
I live in constant fear and panic. I am so depressed and just waste days napping and looking for jobs. I don't have money to do anything and friends, who I thought were plentiful, have seemed to drift away. I don't feel happiness ever. I just feel an overwhelming fatigue. It's always on my mind, in my actions.
Job searching is like being a hamster on a wheel. You keep trying and trying but damn it, you are just on a wheel with no results for your efforts.
I feel like I am not living - I am adrift in this lonely, hopeless ocean of unemployment and there is no land in future.
Advice
- I made a big mistake when I was first unemployed. I thought it would temporary or short term...Oh Ill get a job in a couple of months. I didn't ration my money as carefully as I could have those first few months. Now it is 5 months later, and I've had to give up my health insurance and am not going to be able to pay my bills in a month or two. Realize you might be in for a long haul and cut as much as possible!
- Network immediately. Ex-coworkers and friends were extremely sympathetic and supportive when it first happened; much less so 5 months out.
