100+ applications, 0 jobs
Last January I came back home after six years in Austria. Since I finished my courses at the university, I was able to return to Italy and starting a new life. I had to finish some academic papers and complete my master’s thesis, so I worked every day to reach my goal. I was ready to start over, and I thought that 2020 would have been my year. Meantime, I faced the awesome Italian bureaucracy and I started going to the gym. I knew that the first months wouldn’t have been easy, but little did I know, that the following months would have been difficult for everyone.
The first Italian lockdown started in March and ended at the beginning/middle of May. I was quite optimistic that things would have turned for the better: I submitted my thesis in June, I started dating my boyfriend, and I was hoping to find an employment before the end of the year. Even though I began to look for a job in February, only after my graduation last September I decided to keep track of all the applications I was submitting. Well, as the title of this article reveals, I reached on 27th December the number of 102 submitted applications and I got no job offer. Actually I got only 14 replies, which sound as a series of “No thanks, we have already decided for someone better than you” and I was never invited to a job interview.
I am not writing this article to complain about my life, I am writing about my struggle to find a job for two main reasons: Firstly, I want to speak about this situation. I want to reach people who are struggling like me, as they can understand this frustration, and maybe my article could help someone not to give up, as I am not surrending to these circumstances. Secondly, I have a voice too. I want to spread the message that this year was a hard pill to swallow for all the people who wanted (and still want) to change their lives thanks to a new chance, a chance that has never arrived.
Since I am not a person who begs for pity and I get bored easily, I started thinking about what I could do during the second Italian lockdown, something that I can continue and could be useful as well, as I have no job perspective in the near future. I began writing on Medium, I enrolled in online free courses on several topics (how to use some computer programmes, how to improve my writing skills, etc.), I have been reading a lot. I am thinking about new ideas (maybe a podcast?) and still applying for potential positions. The job recording list will get longer, my patience is already gone, but my mood won’t be influenced forever by my job condition: I already did this mistake, and I am not the same person now.
I hope you enjoyed this article and I invite you to follow my Instagram accounts: laura.papavero & mamma_torno (which is in Italian).
Stay tuned for more stories!
