My name is Melissa. I was referred to Work Well almost immediately after successfully completing Talking Therapies back in summer 2020. It was a very difficult period in my life and the lowest I had ever felt.
I had just revealed to my family that I was abused as a child by a family member which caused family discord. My mental health was declining, and I was dealing with the breakdown of a friendship.
But before all of this, I was finding it very difficult to find a job after graduating from university in 2018. I was stuck in the same job I had whilst I was at university. I just felt that there was something wrong with me because I was getting interviews but kept getting rejected. I was focused on getting a job in a particular field and I knew it would be very competitive, but I didn’t expect for it to be as hard was it was.
At one point, I had a mentor working in the same field that was helping me to find an entry level job. I had completed a work placement at an agency to gain some experience in the field, but I was still struggling to find a job.
I changed my CV many times, I sent out speculative emails and I applied for a lot of roles, but still nothing. I was left feeling very confused about my career choices and I felt I wasn’t good enough to find a graduate job. It was a lot for me to deal with because I graduated when I was 24 and I spent two years looking for graduate and internship roles. I felt time wasn’t on my side.
When I was put in touch with my employment specialist, she helped me to start over from the beginning and took me back to my happy place. She helped me recognise my true interests and strengths, and I found out I was chasing the wrong career that I wasn’t really passionate about.
In school I wanted a career as an allied health professional, but my teachers and my school grades wouldn’t allow for this. I’ve always had to rethink my career aspirations because I felt I wasn’t good enough for my dream job. But my employment specialist showed me that I was good enough for my dream job, and that my strengths and life experiences were highly valuable.
She helped restore my confidence and self-esteem. I no longer felt depressed by job rejections because I knew my worth and what I could bring to an employer. I now knew that I had to really tailor my CV and cover letter to each job application and I had to put my all into answering application questions. Before, I would send out the same CV to each application.
A few days before Christmas 202, I got offered a job as peer mental health support worker. I’m really looking forward to starting my new role as it will help me tremendously in my pursuit of becoming a social worker. I plan to study for my masters in social work later this year.
I would like to thank my employment specialist, Natalie, for helping me restore my confidence and for helping me realise my potential. For the first time ever, things are starting to fall into place and I owe it to Natalie.
I would highly recommend Work Well to anyone in a similar situation to what I was in. I wish I had known about Work Well earlier. When things aren’t going according to plan, sometimes we need to take a step back to really think about what we want and what would make us happy in a career. The service at Work Well has helped me to find this out.
If you’re unemployed or having difficulties at work, support is available. Check if you’re eligible for employment support from Work Well.