To be petrified?

[MummyStruggles]

I am incredibly unhappy at work.

It's an office-based job in an industry I have been in all my adult working life, 16 years. Due to recent government backed changes it's basically, how can I put this... on it's arse! It's a local job very close to home and DD's primary school, meaning I can take her to school every day. It also does pay really well.

I know I have to make a change in my life as it is really starting to affect me at home and my general mood also.

The problem I have is that I am petrified of change and the fact that I haven't interviewed in almost 16 years is contributing to this. I am well aware that A LOT has changed in the way of business, recruitment and technology in 16 years and I am convinced I have nothing to offer any potential future employer. I guess this is a huge factor in why I haven't taken steps to getting something new.

I have zero confidence in my abilities and what I could possibly offer.

The industry I'm in is all I've ever known and I just do not know where to go from here.

Any advice (and job offers) welcome!

I would hang on in there. Otherwise you will lose any redundancy owed. In the meantime go to a recruitment agency who will do a cv for you and discuss todays employers needs.

Are they likely to make you redundant? If they are it would be better to wait for that before leaving.

But in the mean time you can work on understanding your strengths, recognising your transferable skills (you will have loads!) and building your self esteem.

You have way more to offer than you realise you just need to believe this. Most recruiters aren't going to expect applicants to be able to do everything on the job spec, If you can do half of it then apply and see what happens. Generally men apply for jobs when they meet 40-60% of the requirements, women only when they meet 90% +. Interviews go both ways, you are not applying cap in hand begging for a chance, you are going in for a meeting on equal terms to see if you would be a good fit for each other.

If you want to work on recognising your strengths and building your self esteem I would recommend a self-help book called "Thrive" by Rob Kelly. It really helped me when I was feeling crap about myself and my abilities.