An identity crisis at work:have you ever dealt with it? We received the letter below from a reader.
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I'm really going through a massive identity crisis at work and feel like I'm always making the wrong choices (my husband feels the same way). I have done great studies (visual arts teacher training and art history study), where I felt like a fish in water. It's great to gain new knowledge every day and to write interesting pieces about it.
But it started after I graduated, I couldn't find a suitable job. Fortunately, I had a nice side job where I could come and work as a project employee for three days. More than a year after graduating, I was able to find part-time work in a museum. But as a freelancer. It all went pretty well, until two years later I was pregnant and didn't have to come back after the delivery, because they now preferred to hire a full-timer. I was very pregnant when I came to apply, where I was told that I lacked the qualities needed for this position (after having worked there for 2 years). Now I was at home with my baby.
After an incredible number of applications, I was tipped off after her first birthday by an acquaintance, a vacancy at a library, part-time. Job interviews went well, I turned out to be pregnant with the second, but that was no problem, so an employer to kiss. But my manager was fired shortly after my maternity leave and a very unpleasant, sour colleague took over her position. The fun projects that had been promised to me from the start never got the green light. I took my daughters to the nursery for three days to feel very unhappy at work, where by now there was a rotten atmosphere, I was given no responsibilities at all, only a mountain of criticism and nasty comments. Other colleagues had similar experiences, but I with my small baby, toddler, and broken nights became more and more burdened by this and became more and more unhappy by the day, especially at home this came out. My husband and I both thought it was time to leave.
Fortunately, he can support us so far, but I also want something for myself again. Now I've been just a mom for over a year, while I want to show my girls what qualities I have.
The bottom line:I'm a 33-year-old woman, with two cute kids and a nice husband, but I miss a good job that suits me and I have no idea where to start. My self-confidence has taken a nice knock with my last employers. I want something different, I don't feel comfortable in cultural organizations because of that. My husband prefers that I work for a commercial company (because of opportunities and salary). But I like to do my own thing and is bursting with creative ideas (interior especially appeals to me), but applying for a job doesn't get me anywhere. I'm not invited because my studies are different, I want to work part-time, I don't have enough relevant work experience. How can I find that nice job that makes me and my family happy?
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Do you recognize yourself in the letter above? Does an identity crisis at work look familiar to you? Then this answer is also addressed to you. You can only find a nice and suitable job if you know very well what you are looking for! The job market has changed. He asks you to be able to indicate very specifically to potential employers what your talents are and what you can do with it for an organization. Read this blog again. It not only helps you to present yourself well, but it also helps you now to find the necessary focus in your search, which you long for now.
So start at the beginning:your talents and your wishes. It helps to gain insights step by step, to record them and thus continue to investigate how you can make work of your talents and ambitions. Take a look at these 9 steps.
From the letter above I can already draw a number of points that make clear what gives energy and what does not. The reader says that she found her study very interesting. What was so great about it? And why were you there in your place? What does that say about your talents? What strikes me is that it is called “writing interesting pieces”. Is that something you enjoy doing and could work on? Gathering new knowledge also seems to give you energy.
This way you can check for yourself what your talents are. What motivates you in your work. And that way you can create a profile of yourself. That gives you direction in your search. Scour the internet looking for leads. What work is there and what fits my profile? Ask people in your area which job they think would suit you. Use your network to see as many opportunities as possible. There is more work than there are jobs. If you can be open to work as a freelancer, that also increases your chances. But the most important thing is that you start with what your value is for the market:what do you have to offer and how does that help them? And keep in touch with what is important to you and what you want.
And also not unimportant:to be really ready for a step on this labor market you will have to make sure that you have closed this negative, unpleasant period. That identity crisis at work is only really over when you can get over it completely. If you still hold a grudge, new potential employers will sense it. What they want to see is a young, enthusiastic woman. She knows what she has to offer and what she wants. And who is ready for her next step with positive energy. If you need to work on that, give yourself time to do that. Make sure you feel good about yourself again, and then work on finding fun new work.
Good luck!
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