Discussion
Hi,
A little background first - I have bad social anxiety (potentially another mental illness but basically suffer from social anxiety) which has prevented me from working. (I still haven't even had one job at 23).
Every time I have someone who's suppose to help me, they do very little and then disappear and I'm stuck with no progression. This time, they did a CV for me but left out any mention of my anxiety (which would affect me in a lot of social situations) which I feel like a potential employee should definitely know. I told them this and said they would update it as requested, it has now been a month and I've heard nothing.
I would really appreciate it if someone could help me with the right way to put that on my CV. (Can send if needed)
Thanks in advance.
~ Ste
A little background first - I have bad social anxiety (potentially another mental illness but basically suffer from social anxiety) which has prevented me from working. (I still haven't even had one job at 23).
Every time I have someone who's suppose to help me, they do very little and then disappear and I'm stuck with no progression. This time, they did a CV for me but left out any mention of my anxiety (which would affect me in a lot of social situations) which I feel like a potential employee should definitely know. I told them this and said they would update it as requested, it has now been a month and I've heard nothing.
I would really appreciate it if someone could help me with the right way to put that on my CV. (Can send if needed)
Thanks in advance.
~ Ste
If you mention it then say what you are doing to alleviate it.
I have/had anxiety issues, to the point of walking out of jobs. But I have always found something as I find being around people helps. It is a rough road but you have to start it sometime.
I would look at what you can do to help reduce it, like volunteer, jump at every chance to go out with griends, even getting out around people in shops etc helps.
You need to be doing sonething about it thou, as just putting on your cv will mean you wont get the job as the company will most likely see it as a negative.
Applying for jobs like call centre, admin, libary work might be better suited. Part time work, or even car washing/ valeting is a fairly easy to set up yourself. Stick to the local area.
The point is wirj out your strengths and build on that. If you dont like face to face apply for a call centre.
If you prefer working on your own, do a programming course, or any job that is biased to this, like libary work etc.
I have/had anxiety issues, to the point of walking out of jobs. But I have always found something as I find being around people helps. It is a rough road but you have to start it sometime.
I would look at what you can do to help reduce it, like volunteer, jump at every chance to go out with griends, even getting out around people in shops etc helps.
You need to be doing sonething about it thou, as just putting on your cv will mean you wont get the job as the company will most likely see it as a negative.
Applying for jobs like call centre, admin, libary work might be better suited. Part time work, or even car washing/ valeting is a fairly easy to set up yourself. Stick to the local area.
The point is wirj out your strengths and build on that. If you dont like face to face apply for a call centre.
If you prefer working on your own, do a programming course, or any job that is biased to this, like libary work etc.
Edited by The Spruce goose on Wednesday 12th October 23:24
It is a negative which is why I feel like it should be added. I don't want to waste anyone's time.
I try and go to the shops by myself, even managed to call the garage to get my car sorted so I'm slowly trying to improve my anxiety with what little I can actually try and do. "Do a programming course", if I could, I probably would but again, my anxiety has prevented me from furthering my education.
I personally think the next step is a part time job mixing with few people to try and manage my anxiety and improve it from there but I feel like an employee should know that certain social situations are going to be difficult for me.
My thought process was if they know about it, they can clearly see I'm trying to improve myself and my situation whereas if I don't add it, attend an interview and I'm being socially awkward, it just looks bad on me and I'd never get the job anyway.
I try and go to the shops by myself, even managed to call the garage to get my car sorted so I'm slowly trying to improve my anxiety with what little I can actually try and do. "Do a programming course", if I could, I probably would but again, my anxiety has prevented me from furthering my education.
I personally think the next step is a part time job mixing with few people to try and manage my anxiety and improve it from there but I feel like an employee should know that certain social situations are going to be difficult for me.
My thought process was if they know about it, they can clearly see I'm trying to improve myself and my situation whereas if I don't add it, attend an interview and I'm being socially awkward, it just looks bad on me and I'd never get the job anyway.
To be perfectly frank, even in the couple of posts you have written, it is still hard to grasp the full extent of your situation. Shrinking this down to a bullet point on a CV isn't going to get the complexity across. That is not what a CV is for. That is what a cover letter, and interview is for. If physical interaction with others is the issue, social, work or otherwise, and I am no health professional, would you not be better suited to improve your situation without the added stress of doing it in a 'pressured' work environment where there is a level of expectation on you to perform. At least in a 'social' situation you can walk away, people are under less time constraint and pressure themselves so have more capacity to be patient and interact with you. With customers and other work colleagues who you may see infrequently, this won't happen and may only exacerbate things. My father used to be a behavioural therapist for some of his career in the NHS. I'm sure there must be assistance and service available to help you. Unfortunately, most employers are not social enterprises. Whilst they will adapt and make allowances, they are not going to make it their goal to be your champion to improve you.
Have you thought about signing on with an agency for unskilled casual work to start with?
An agency is much less likely to worry about your issues and how a cv reads because the nature of their temporary jobs is such that it doesn't really matter too much if it doesn't work out. The nature of their workforce is that it is temporary and transient. Of course they will need to inform their client but if you find a decent, sympathetic local agency you might be able to get a lot more help in this regard than someone helping you write a cv, particularly if you are insistent on selling your negatives so much.
I do understand this need to but it is a difficult situation. On one hand you want to be honest because part of your anxiety is such that you don't want to give your potential employer any nasty surprises, but on the other hand this honesty doesn't make you sound particularly employable.
Another option for you is to google 'apprenticeships'. These are commonplace for people like you. Whilst they are not what they used to be (like learning a trade) in most cases, they are a way of getting difficult-to-employ young people in to work by basically circumventing minimum wage rules and making them cheap enough to be worth an employer taking the punt, and again the companies that organise these apprenticeships get paid for getting you into work so they are set up to help you with these cv type matters
An agency is much less likely to worry about your issues and how a cv reads because the nature of their temporary jobs is such that it doesn't really matter too much if it doesn't work out. The nature of their workforce is that it is temporary and transient. Of course they will need to inform their client but if you find a decent, sympathetic local agency you might be able to get a lot more help in this regard than someone helping you write a cv, particularly if you are insistent on selling your negatives so much.
I do understand this need to but it is a difficult situation. On one hand you want to be honest because part of your anxiety is such that you don't want to give your potential employer any nasty surprises, but on the other hand this honesty doesn't make you sound particularly employable.
Another option for you is to google 'apprenticeships'. These are commonplace for people like you. Whilst they are not what they used to be (like learning a trade) in most cases, they are a way of getting difficult-to-employ young people in to work by basically circumventing minimum wage rules and making them cheap enough to be worth an employer taking the punt, and again the companies that organise these apprenticeships get paid for getting you into work so they are set up to help you with these cv type matters
Hi Stephen
Whilst a cv may be important, I sense this is not the highest priority in your case.
You've stated that you've never had a job yet so it would be of interest to see what your cv currently contains unless you've been in education all this time?
What I would be suggesting in this instance is coaching and close support to take those first tentative steps in to the workplace.
Drop me a PM if you'd like to discuss further.
Good luck!
Whilst a cv may be important, I sense this is not the highest priority in your case.
You've stated that you've never had a job yet so it would be of interest to see what your cv currently contains unless you've been in education all this time?
What I would be suggesting in this instance is coaching and close support to take those first tentative steps in to the workplace.
Drop me a PM if you'd like to discuss further.
Good luck!
I've replied to your mail with an option, should you decide you want to disclose the information in the CV.
I hope you don't mind me saying on the thread, however for the benefit of the guys asking, the OPs CV is (due to him never having been in employment) reasonably basic. The type of job he is looking for likely isn't one where the hiring manager is going to be expecting a headstrong, independant or experienced person - I don't feel disclosing his health issue will be of massive detrement to his job search and if/when he gets the interview, knowing that the employer is aware of the situation, will likely allow him to interview better.
Just my opinion, i'm not in recruitment or healthcare!
I hope you don't mind me saying on the thread, however for the benefit of the guys asking, the OPs CV is (due to him never having been in employment) reasonably basic. The type of job he is looking for likely isn't one where the hiring manager is going to be expecting a headstrong, independant or experienced person - I don't feel disclosing his health issue will be of massive detrement to his job search and if/when he gets the interview, knowing that the employer is aware of the situation, will likely allow him to interview better.
Just my opinion, i'm not in recruitment or healthcare!
Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff