“But how are you going to do it, at your age? ", "Perhaps you should think about changing jobs? Your sector has never been very buoyant but, there, given the crisis..." Unless you have reinforced concrete morale, it's difficult to remain unmoved in the face of an entourage full of good intentions... but pouring out asbestos advice. It is also difficult to answer:“Mom, remind me how many decades you have worked in your life? Two weeks ? to a stay-at-home mom telling you how to ace a job interview. “Most people react according to how they themselves have/would have experienced the situation, analyzes Hélène Picot. However, most people are afraid of unemployment, so they are very negative, even without meaning to be. The solution:have a selective ear. Heed the advice of someone who knows you well but does not judge you, yes. Ask another, whose professional background resembles yours, (a bit) better, of course. But no need to ask your friend Dario, 38 years old and still “student, you see”, what he would do in your place. His answer will probably be:"Take the time, don't worry, have fun!" But this is not the right one. Not when you have rent to pay and a bit of personal ambition, anyway.
“Unemployed, I tended to stay at home, remembers Dorothée, 30, now a medical assistant. My adviser from Pôle Emploi suggested that I organize my days as I did "before", noting in my diary appointments and tasks to be accomplished each day. “Writing your CV, calling back recruiters to whom you have sent your application, consulting job offers at regular intervals… even going to the cinema or running for an hour are all tasks that allow you not to be “inactive”, precisely. “Do not fall into the opposite extreme, by saturating your agenda, tempers Hélène Picot. Reconnect to yourself quietly to make the right decisions and see things more clearly. For that, turn off your cell phone and go for a walk, alone. “A useful emptying of the mind when you no longer know where you are. Thinking about what you would like to do (not "how", but "what"), to discover that you can also adapt your work to your life, and not the other way around, it takes time. But this time that seems "lost" to you can on the contrary be very useful.
"Rather die than work in a fast food restaurant!" “I swore to myself from the top of my diplomas, confides Fatou, 28, now a business engineer in an IT company. But I couldn't stand the inactivity. And that by not finding a job, I lost confidence in myself. So I was a waitress for four months. This job allowed me to get back in touch with reality and to meet, by chance, a client of the restaurant, who was looking for someone for the job of my dreams. Moreover, a recruiter will never blame you for having been active, even in a field that has nothing to do with the job you are claiming. On the contrary, it is proof of dynamism.
