Feeling so useless and depressed about work situation

MissMotivation

I'm on the verge of being made redundant (i think) and this coupled with the carp that I've been having with work recently has made me see things in a totally different light towards job seeking.

I've never had a problem getting a job before in fact usually I get job offers even when I'm not looking for one but I've now been looking for a new job for the best part of 6 months and I've only had 2 interviews! and not been offered either job!

I've come to realise the my experience counts for absolutely nothing! There are no jobs in my industry....which in itself depresses me because I love the job i do.....it's all Ive ever done! and I know that this isn't going to change for a long time.....but I feel SO bitter about this!

I've really no idea what I'm going to do......it seems that all my skills and experience are now useless and mean absolutely nothing when applying for jobs in a different field! At 34 I'm too old to be a Trainee for anything new and I can't afford study to do something else.

I'm about to lose my job and my car and probably my house and i'm sitting here crying and not being able to talk to anyone in real life about how i'm feeling as I feel such an absolute failure!

Am probably going to get flamed for this and probably make the day of all the estate agent haters on these forums but I just need to get this out of my head before I go mad!

eaton57_2

Why should you be flamed? Who would be so cruel?

I'm sorry to hear you're feeling low. I don't want to offer platitudes: it's likely tough times ahead for lots of us. But what skills DO you have - maybe someone on these boards can suggest a whole new angle for you? Starting a new direction doesn't have to mean starting at the very beginning.

Chin up.

DCFC79

You say you think your on the verge of being made redundant, should you not find out for sure before you start getting more worried,

whitewing

If you are being made redundant, then you may get the services of a career transition agency paid for by your company. This will help you identify transferable skills (of which you will have many at your age with your experience).I was a lone parent when I got made redundant first, and I didn't end up losing my house. I did take a salary cut but that led to me starting up my own business. There are things you can do. It won't all be bad. It can be exciting and scary.

SomeBozo

Hi MissMotivation

At 34 you are not on the scrap heap, but I feel you need to "look outside the box".

The fact is that you had a period of sickness due to "stress". Whilst this is unfortunate and I am sorry you felt that way, I feel that Estate Agency is not for you and you need to move on if you are made redundant from your current job. The company I own has been brought in on at least 26 occasions in the last 3 months to run and sure up failing estate agents.

A "failing estate agent" has one criteria, not selling houses. There is, unfortunatly (because there are good staff in them) lots of measures available to the management, but thats the only one they care about.

So you need to dust down your CV and start looking for another job. Try and put your energies into looking for a job. Spend your lunchtimes on the internet looking for jobs and down the job centre. Spend your evenings doing your CV and getting it out there.

Bozo

briona

Hi MissMotivation

Ok... breathe. Have a (dodgy) virtual hug. :grouphug: Right, that's better (unless it was actually a threesome...)

First off, you need to get some perspective – I know this isn’t as easy as it sounds especially of your confidence has taken a few knocks of late.

I take it (from the last line of your post) that you’re an estate agent, and this is all you’ve ever done but that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing else you can do. And being 34 certainly doesn’t mean you’re too old to re-train!

The facts. You’re looking for a new job/change of career not because you’re rubbish but because the sector you’re working in has come to a standstill. You need to remember that. And just because your experience relates solely to that industry, and you’ve acquired all of your skills whilst working there doesn’t mean that you haven’t got anything to contribute to a new industry.

So, write down the skills you’ve acquired, e.g., sales, customer liaison, ability to meet targets etc – you’ll see that many of these are transferable in that they can be put to good use in other jobs.

You say you love working as an estate agent. If you can say what aspects of that job particularly appeal to you, people will undoubtedly be able to make suggestions as to what other jobs you could do.

Without that information, straight off I’d imagine that you could do a whole range of sales jobs (cars, holidays, double glazing etc). Don’t let the fear of not knowing another product as well as you know the housing market stop you from applying for jobs. Write a new CV bigging up your sales-relevant skills, e.g., ability to work under pressure, experience of working with a varied client base and a range of budgets, proven ability to meet and exceed targets etc.

One of my favourite sayings is that every ‘no’ brings you nearer to a ‘yes’. You WILL find another job – it’s a question of marketing yourself differently!

Briona

MissMotivation

eaton57 wrote: »

Why should you be flamed? Who would be so cruel?

I'm sorry to hear you're feeling low. I don't want to offer platitudes: it's likely tough times ahead for lots of us. But what skills DO you have - maybe someone on these boards can suggest a whole new angle for you? Starting a new direction doesn't have to mean starting at the very beginning.

Chin up.

Have you ever been on the Housing boards? According to several posters on there Estate Agents are in the same league as paedophiles and we deserve everything we get!!

MissMotivation

SomeBozo wrote: »

Hi MissMotivation

At 34 you are not on the scrap heap, but I feel you need to "look outside the box".

The fact is that you had a period of sickness due to "stress". Whilst this is unfortunate and I am sorry you felt that way, I feel that Estate Agency is not for you and you need to move on if you are made redundant from your current job. The company I own has been brought in on at least 26 occasions in the last 3 months to run and sure up failing estate agents.

A "failing estate agent" has one criteria, not selling houses. There is, unfortunatly (because there are good staff in them) lots of measures available to the management, but thats the only one they care about.

So you need to dust down your CV and start looking for another job. Try and put your energies into looking for a job. Spend your lunchtimes on the internet looking for jobs and down the job centre. Spend your evenings doing your CV and getting it out there.

Bozo

The stress was caused, not by job itself, but by Management having unrealistic expectations of staff, working longer and longer hours each week and bullying from a particular member of staff. Estate Agency is for me, i love it, i'm good at it and Ive never really wanted to do anything else and given the choice I wouldn't even be looking for a job but the fact is that we have too many staff for the amount of business coming in.

starsinmycrown

i know what you mean, sometimes people on here can be a bit reactionary, they tend to look at fact rather than the feelings of the person who is upset. there can be a bit of a " i told you so" attitude on here, or a "its your own fault" one....

eaton57_2

Nope. You're just people who sell houses. And right now houses aren't selling so well and we're all a bit tense & sometimes that gets nasty.

What skills have you got?

Good with people?
Sales?
Negotiating deals?
Financial nous?
unexpectedly fantastic cook? scuba diving queen? landscape gardener or swimming pool designer??

Horace

Use your transferrable skills to get another job in a different field - the credit crunch is already demonstrating to us that the housing market is on the slide and that no-one is selling a negative-equity house and no-one is buying because they daren't get a mortgage.

Instead of thinking estate agency, think about letting agencies - there is one hugely successful one in Birmingham that I can think of that lets out high end appartments in the city centre. People may not be buying houses but they will be renting instead.