Workforce Musings
Permanent Job Is A Myth and Paper Qualification Metrics in Getting A Job Is Outdated
Let us not conform to the myths of the past. Renew the mindset. Time and again.
These words recession and retrenchment are nothing new to most adults. I get to hear about these 2-best friends since I was born. Many people feel that hitching a job in the government industry means getting rich and having a stable job.
Nobody realized that was just as good as a myth. Whether you work in a government-industry or private sector, nothing is stable, and nothing is permanent. I will write about it in 2-sections here.
*name changed to protect the identity of the person
1- There is never a permanent and stable job to begin
Not even in the government-industry. Why? You do not face retrenchment or recession serving in the government industry. However, you do not know what comes next when illnesses overwhelm you. Be it mental illness or physical ones.
Some people leave to be a housewife or a househusband. Even if you performed well, you still face termination for unforeseen and unpredictable circumstances.
Look at the pandemic. How many full-time roles in the private sector have been affected? Companies shut down operations for not following the law.
Some companies get caught having employees reporting to the office. Directors and Heads of Units or managers went jobless. In my country, many people got laid off in the bank industry.
If you are thinking about getting a permanent job, you need to welcome contract jobs. It will teach you agility and honesty to yourself that nothing is everlasting in this World. It will convince you that everybody has a workplace, but it is something nobody can rush you through it.
2- It is not always the paper market, to begin with
We are all programmed to think that only University students will soar high in their careers. In my 80s, my grandparents and fathers back then were very convinced that a graduate leads a rich and fulfilling life.
You see everyone rushing for the university courses, as long as there is a degree qualification. If you look at the job requirements, you will see the sentence minimum bachelor’s degree. Your heart sank.
Perhaps a degree holder has wider job market options, but it has never been the paper itself that determines how much money you will earn. It has never been the paper that will determine anyone becoming jobless or having great jobs.
It takes strength to push away the thoughts that slam the door closed to our faces when we are less of a degree qualification.
Look at the job requirements. I had seen jobs that do not require a degree qualification. The workforce in Asian countries has yet to ensure all hiring managers from all units, aside from HR, undergo ‘recruitment’ courses.
They do not keep their eyes off qualifications and look for the technical hard-soft, transferable skills, and experiences to be a huge priority.
“Please do not think that those with University qualifications do work well. I had seen many who could not perform well except commanding. I had once recruited several people with the University Qualifications but afterward realized they could not do the work.” — Pearly*, former HR Manager
The HR Unit usually does the shortlisting in the past. Added to the challenge of waiting, we have to wait for 2nd round of an interview with the specific unit we applied. And, the unit managers may recruit based on unspoken and unexpressed prejudices.
I sat among entrepreneurs, ex-managers, ex-head of a unit, and those with higher education. See how the pandemic, recession, and economy overpowered the papers qualifications?
Upgrade if you must, but never tune your mind and mental health to think that you will lose out just over a piece of paper.
“When you are a hiring manager one day, do not be like those who recruit others who only speak but do little, boss around but an empty vessel. Remember that a Master’s Degree is not everything. We are all learning.” — Pearly*
What can you try to do in a situation where job applications give you no results?
When your heart grows weary of seeking jobs without a return of hope, do yourself a favor.
List down what made you think you do not qualify. Racial discrimination is not always the case. A paper qualification like a degree is not always the case.
Look for direct, transferable skills if you can. If it is something unclear, do not waste your time on it. The transferable skills should be clear because recruiters and interviewers surely know when you smoke your way through.
Then, get a career coach, and if you can afford a counseling session, have a counselor. Remember that a career coach is not someone who will get you a job. He is just a third eye party to look out at your situation as an outsider. They can see things better.
Take a walk. Sit at the park daily, but do not rant in your head like evil voices repeating hopeless phrases.
It is good to have an SOS Hotline and ask for a listening ear. SOS Hotline is, normally toll-free. If you have to take up a month of temporary job, take it. You will not know when you meet strangers who become your recommendation for a job.
Wheels of Life goes in the round. We are never always at the bottom. We will never always stay at the top. But, the first thing to remember is to be kind to ourselves.
Be firm in your head that it is not the ‘permanent’ job solving your life needs entirely. Remember the pandemic? Whose Power is that? I pray everything will be at ease for us. Amin.
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