The Bane of Job Searching

References.

They have got to be one of the biggest obstacles a jobseeker has to overcome in order to find employment, especially if they have just left school or university and have little or no previous experience in the working world. To even get your foot in the door you need to offer up at least two people who aren't related to you who'll say nice things about you on your behalf. This leaves teachers/lecturers to offer character assurances, which can be especially tricky the longer you are unemployed and out of school/university. In that situation you are dependent upon references from work colleagues or managers.

Except, how do you get these references if you've never worked? And how do you get a job if you don't have references? Enter a paradox, a cruel cycle that sees you looping back around on yourself like some Satanic flow chart. How do you ever get off the starting line if nobody will let you start?

There's volunteering, I guess. Offering yourself up to a charity or an organisation for a month or two until you have that experience you're so lacking and a referee to boot. Sometimes even that's hard, the issue of previous experience and references cropping up in the world of volunteering too. Also, since there are other people in the same boat as you, volunteering can be competitive and fighting for a work experience placement as difficult as landing a paid job. You expend the same amount of effort and reap no rewards, just a "go straight to the starting line" card.

Go to university and get a degree. Wait, you need a degree AND experience. You have experience. Uh-uh, to progress you need a degree. You've got only one reference. No, can't have that. You need TWO, go away and come back when you've got another one.

I'm starting to think that mid-life crises can happen pretty early on in life. Actually, a more accurate term would be existential crisis, a meltdown that adults in their early twenties have to wade through in order to reach their dream destination. Until then, the twenty-somethings have to survive the job market while doubt plagues them and makes them question their worth, life choices and direction.

I know I'm doubting myself.