To feel anxious and hopeless as an unemployed graduate who is clinically vulnerable?

[fedupofcovid]

I desperately need some experience in working in my field as the career I want to pursue is very competitive and requires a lot of experience. I am also painfully conscious of the growing gap in my CV and my depleting savings after finishing university. However, the nature of the job means you cannot work from home and social distancing is not really possible as you have to share equipment.

I have a health condition that makes me clinically vulnerable to COVID (not extremely clinically vulnerable though). I don't know what to do and I feel anxious.

Part of me is just fed up and anxious about my career and thinks I should just go for the job and just hope I don't catch it. The other part of me is painfully aware that I am vulnerable to complications if I do catch it. I also am aware I have a lot of anxiety about COVID in general and have been perhaps overly cautious this year given that I am not in the ECV group. I also know the guidance only advises to work from home if it is possible, and evidently in these roles it is not possible so it is fine?

I really don't know what to do. I'm in my 20s so most of my friends are very relaxed about COVID and think I should just go for it and stop worrying.

(I know topics related to COVID-19 can get quite heated/argumentative so please be kind to me).

Hello OP. I too am clinically vulnerable but not in the extremely vulnerable position. At work the office has been restructured and rotas implemented for days we need to go in to try and make it Covid safe. The other days we work from home. I think a lot of businesses have completed similar risk assessments. Maybe you should apply for jobs and ask in the interview about how they have made their work environments covid safe. Experience is what most businesses look for in staff. You need to try and get on the ladder, albeit in a safe way. Best of luck x

What's the vulnerability? For someone in their twenties to be "clinically vulnerable", as in its an actual risk to you, you'd have to have cystic fibrosis, cancer, be on immunosupressents - that level...

There's a lot of scaremongering but unless you have something very serious, you're more likely to be murdered, killed in a car crash, run over by a bus or drop dead from sudden death syndrome than covid.

Look at the statistics.

You can't live your life anxious about everything. Do what you need to be healthy and carry on. Life is about building a life and living it.

I remember the pressure of graduating during global turmoil and reduced jobs...You'll be OK. Give it time, as pressured as it feels you don't need to rush to be one of the first to get in the right position for your career. Its normal for it to take a couple of years to get started. Do what you can, keep your ears open for opportunities and keep going.

Also remember that you don't need to find the perfect fit straight away, opportunities often present themselves when you take a position that ticks only a few boxes- you'll be surprised at how many routes in there can be.

Give yourself a break, if you're dedicated you will get there.

If your only in the CV group and not the CEV group and your in your twenties the risk to you will be very very small. I wouldn’t let that stop you going for a graduate job. You need to prioritise your career and apply for jobs. Any jobs at this stage as there is a recession and anything will look better than nothing on your CV. For what it’s worth I’m in the CV group too and in my thirties and I don’t class myself as very much at risk from the virus. If I was in my twenties I wouldn’t be at all worried about myself.

We are about to go into a major depressed job market so if someone is offering you a job now in the field you want to work in you would be mad not to take it.

What proudboomer said really, although if I'm reading you correctly you haven't been offered a job, you're just wondering about whether to look for a job?

Remember that at any point along the process you can say no, change your mind and back out. So there's no harm at all in applying. You might well get preliminary interviews by Zoom - they're increasingly the norm, even pre-Covid. Get some interview experience, find out more about the filed you want to work in. If you are offered a job and it all feels too unsafe for your health, you can rethink.

Meanwhile think broadly about why this career appeals and whether there are related fields or skills that you could investigate which are less precarious for your physical health.

It's tough out there right now.

Thank you for all of the replies.

For those asking, the underlying condition is a heart defect. I think I'm so anxious because I know COVID can cause cardiovascular complications. However, thankfully the defect doesn't cause me any symptoms and doesn't affect my day-to-day life. I usually completely forget I have it (up until this year).

You are right that living a normal life is associated with all kinds of risks. I know my anxiety is impairing my ability to accurately risk assess.

I am quite fortunate that my field hasn't been too badly hit by COVID and I have seen quite a few opportunities available. I will follow your advice and apply anyway and if at any point I feel like the job is not safe enough I will consider leaving.