Question:
I was given a redundancy cause i "didnt fit in" about 3 weeks ago. I havent
been able to find a job since (IT/ programmer) . I feel guilty as my
boyfriend is going out working , and is supporting me. I also noticed that i
am feeling more and more depressed and angry.
Honestly, how outgoing do you have to be to program stuff? I liked to think
that i worked more efficiently as i didnt chat and waste time socialising.
Answer:
I spent 12 months working for police doing COBOL, Visual age, MVS/CICS, TSO
/ISPF, DB2 SQL. I am willing to try anything in IT, but all the jobs seem
to be for people with experience in specific areas, or senior positions. I'm
22, and spent 3 yrs at uni, and have 1 yr commercial experience.
In my various contracts I've sometimes been a programmer, other times
I've been the tech that was there to cleanup the crap that someone
else left behind. I've also done IT Security and Risk Management.
This much for is for sure. Programmers do have *weirder* habits and IT
Security is very, VERY paranoid! If I had tried half the shit I did as
a Programmer when I was Senior Support Tech, I would have been shown
the door real fast
That being said, Rabbit. It is normal to grieve after being called
reduntant, or whatever the latest *politically correct* word is used.
By your post, you sound like a very logical person who has a strong
work habit. Don't give that part of you away.
This may sound smarmy, but there are companies out there that value
how you think, and how you work. They're out there. All you have to do
is not give up on looking.
Feeling depressed about not having a job is a normal human reaction.
Why not try to make this a positive time. Check with the Federal
Australian Employment program, (in Canada it's called Human Resourses
Developement Canada, HRDC for short). See if they can get you into
some courses that will teach you a new Programming Language you don't
know.
If you're like me, you don't handle unemployment very well. OK. Accept
that. Tthen see if there are somethings that you can do/study/etc.
during this time that will look good on your resume, preserve your
sanity and possibly widen the types of programming jobs you can apply
for.
As I understand it, the job market for programmers has tightened right
up, so you may have to widen your horizons into related fields. Talk to
the people at job centres. They get paid big bucks by Canberra to help
you find work. And don't wait for a job to be advertised, many aren't.
Send of your resume to anyone and everyone you can think of. Again, job
centres can help you with photocopying etc.
