I feel conned. Over the past 11 years, I have totally nailed the working from home ‘thing’. It’s therefore very annoying that at this time, I really have very little work to do. It has been an interesting few weeks and my mind-set has shifted a little as the weeks have gone on. From initially thinking that this is a bit of a ‘blip’ in the world of recruitment and that very soon the tap will be turned back on…..through to the realisation that recruitment and particularly within the marketing and advertising agency world is going to take a long while to get back up to speed. And as for when things might change….well I’ve stopped even thinking about it. So, I didn’t want this to be a negative blog - I’ve got it a lot better than a lot of other people but everyone is responding differently to lockdown and is affected in different ways. Fundamentally this situation does make you feel like you should prioritise what is important to you and be grateful for health and family….but you’d be a rare individual if you didn’t also feel a little bit ‘cross’ too. And I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s OK to be cross or pissed off about how the situation has affected me personally but then after a short spell of crotchetyness (sp), I come back to pragmatism and am thankful for what I have got etc.
My latest realisation is that I can’t create jobs where there are none. So, I need to take this time to do ‘other useful stuff’. I am still talking to candidates, but it’s tricky when the grand total of jobs that I have is currently 3. However, talking to people keeps me sane and I’ve had some good chats with candidates who I haven’t had a proper chat with for years. I’ve talked to a lot of furloughed candidates who don’t believe they will have a job at the end of this and I’ve talked to a lot of individuals who were ‘let go’ at the outset. Financially, it’s a bloody awful time for a lot of people and trawling job-sites daily doesn’t produce much at the moment. If you’re someone who is actively looking for a new role at the moment...I think this is a real test of resilience on a lot of different levels. A few candidates have been using the time to take online courses in a variety of topics - the feeling that you’re doing something ‘useful’ with your time and keeping busy seems to work. For others, acceptance of the situation seems to be helpful and acknowledgement that there is only so much they can do is the key to not getting too stressed.
I have seen some roles advertised directly by corporates. There are two retailers in particular (in the North) who are continuing to hire for their marketing team so it is worth keeping a bit of an eye on the ball. I’ve also got a PR agency who work in pharma who are desperate for client services people and there is a new mat contract in Leeds for a branding and design Account Director. So roles do exist, it’s just that the volume is so small, it’s not enough to keep busy.
The challenge of finding ‘other useful stuff’ to do is huge. Psychologically, I have found that my chimp knows that I’m ‘filling time’ and tells me that I’m kidding myself. I’m working on this - frankly, if filling time keeps me sane then that’s absolutely fine. I find myself wondering how people cope when they retire - how do they find ‘purpose’. Part of me knows that it’s not healthy if work is one’s sole focus and purpose in life but it’s a massive void to fill when one goes from being super busy with never a day off to genuinely having nothing to do. So much of our identity and ego is tied up to our work too, I guess it’s not surprising that a lack of work might make us feel a bit empty. My other big focus in life is triathlon. But currently all races are cancelled, so I’m cycling and running without a goal - which is also weird.
I need to work on the ‘motivation’ to do other stuff. It’s important to note that I’m not particularly unhappy, I just feel that I should be achieving...something! For now, playing the piano, reading, doing my french class online, kettlebells, cycling, running, a bit of yoga…. It should be enough and it should be enough to make one realise that really, perhaps down the line, I should be less workaholic and target driven and a bit more smell the roses. It’s very hard to change what are your own personal core principles though it does seem like I’m going to have a bit more time to work on it.
I hope the blog doesn’t rile anyone. For anyone who has been directly affected by Covid or who has family ‘on the front line’, this must sound like a real whinge, not intended to be - I am just filling time!