At a crossroads/Reentering Employment

Gibbonw2

I am a late 20s male and I have yet to get my career up and running.

I had a great leaving cert (circa 500 points) and have a 2.1 graduate degree comprising legal, economic and political modules.

Since 18 I have battled a neurological illness which has interfered with my studies, forcing me to effectively write off two years of college as I deferred and eventually switched courses.

When I got out of college, I entered a recession hit job market and I was still convinced I wanted to enter the legal sector.
I started a postgraduate course in law just after my degree but when my illness, which had not properly been dealt with reemerged, I again dropped out.

During college and 2 years subsequent I worked as an assistant/ manager in a retail/wholesale business.
Whilst I enjoyed the job, i never saw it as a long term thing for me and, basically, I wasnt treated well by the owners.
I quit without giving notice in March 2011 and decided to take the solicitor entrance exams (FE1s)

Along with financial backing from my father and committed study I prepared well for the march 12 exams.
Once again, after one exam (which i was convinced i failed) the epilepsy reemerged and I had a seizure, and as I was 99% sure i couldnt have passed (I know, this was a silly presumption) I decided to postpone the exams until next sitting.

Of course, as you may suspect I did indeed pass said exam.

Needless to say I'm at my wits end, I dont know if I am wasting my time studying. I realise the lack of jobs in this sector yet I also dont want to 'dropout' of another life aim.

On the other hand I also have been in the long term unemployed bracket for far too long.
I haven't sat an interview in years, have little confidence in myself,I don't know how to conduct myself on a c.v./in an interview to explain the 'missing years' which this illness has forced me to write off and importantly haven't a clue what I REALLY want to be doing in 5 years time.

Whilst I don't expect a career guru to magically come upon this post, I would like some feedback as to what people think I should do in terms of facing some of these issues.

Any feedback is positive so please feel free to comment and suggest.

Thanks

yore

Gibbonw2 wrote: »

I am a late 20s male and I have yet to get my career up and running.

I had a great leaving cert (circa 500 points) and have a 2.1 graduate degree comprising legal, economic and political modules.

Since 18 I have battled a neurological illness which has interfered with my studies, forcing me to effectively write off two years of college as I deferred and eventually switched courses.

When I got out of college, I entered a recession hit job market and I was still convinced I wanted to enter the legal sector.
I started a postgraduate course in law just after my degree but when my illness, which had not properly been dealt with reemerged, I again dropped out.

During college and 2 years subsequent I worked as an assistant/ manager in a retail/wholesale business.
Whilst I enjoyed the job, i never saw it as a long term thing for me and, basically, I wasnt treated well by the owners.
I quit without giving notice in March 2011 and decided to take the solicitor entrance exams (FE1s)

Along with financial backing from my father and committed study I prepared well for the march 12 exams.
Once again, after one exam (which i was convinced i failed) the epilepsy reemerged and I had a seizure, and as I was 99% sure i couldnt have passed (I know, this was a silly presumption) I decided to postpone the exams until next sitting.

Of course, as you may suspect I did indeed pass said exam.

Needless to say I'm at my wits end, I dont know if I am wasting my time studying. I realise the lack of jobs in this sector yet I also dont want to 'dropout' of another life aim.

On the other hand I also have been in the long term unemployed bracket for far too long.
I haven't sat an interview in years, have little confidence in myself,I don't know how to conduct myself on a c.v./in an interview to explain the 'missing years' which this illness has forced me to write off and importantly haven't a clue what I REALLY want to be doing in 5 years time.

Whilst I don't expect a career guru to magically come upon this post, I would like some feedback as to what people think I should do in terms of facing some of these issues.

Any feedback is positive so please feel free to comment and suggest.

Thanks

Don't give up. Try it. who cares if it takes you a few times to get through anything. You could be here in ten years after failing three times and succeeding once or you could sit doing nothing and have nothing. You will have your qualification and that will be infinitely better than the person who did nothing because they might have , ironically, not wanted to "waste their time"!

As for not knowing what you want to do, well always do something. Don't do nothing waiting for inspiration. Get those qualifications in the bank. You can always change tack later on.


Best of luck

Mr. Loverman

I wouldn't worry too much about the age thing. Most people go through life not having a clue what they really want to do, and spend most of their working life doing something they don't really enjoy.

As far as I see it, the only difference between you and the average Joe is you haven't been earning money the past few years. Big deal! And I will take a guess that you don't own a property with a lot of negative equity, so in a weird way your predicament has probably put you in a better position than most people your age...

I don't believe you have any reason to have low confidence. You are clearly academic and have a good head on your shoulders, so things will work out fine.

My advice:

If you want to be a solicitor, do the exams. Make them your priority. Also, if you don't already work out and eat well, start doing so. Feeling physically good will help your mental state.

Regarding the lack of experience on your CV, I would be inclined to avoid mentioning any medical issue. Does your immediate or extended family own a business? You could use them as a reference saying you were working in the family business. I know this is a lie, but you don't sound like a waster so I don't think your lack of experience should be a problem once you get a job.

Good luck.

pow wow

Regarding being out of practice with interviews/concerned about how to manage the gaps in your CV it may be worth going to an agency - not necessarily because they'll get you a job, but because they'll give you their take on how they would manage explaining the gaps in your work history. I'm not a fan of recruitment agencies generally but they do this for a living and seeing how they would handle it, along with the experience of being in an interview-type setting would be invaluable to you at this stage. Also if there may be an issue with getting a reference from your previous employer, a chat with an agency is a great way of getting a feel for what kind of obstacle that's going to be (and gauging their reaction when you tell them you quit without notice will tell you all you need to know about whether you should include that job on your CV or not).

If you want to study and can afford to then do what works for you. However you say that you're not sure what you want to be doing five years from now and if the FE1s take a significant financial/time committment then you need to take that into consideration.

On a more general note regarding prospective employers and your past illness - honesty is not always the best policy on that front. If you do tell them about it you will need to convince them that it is under control now and not going to be an issue for them in the future.

Gibbonw2

Thank you all that have taken time to reply. Some heartening and wise feedback. Nothing prepares you really, not school , not college for career choice and handling the difficulties associated with it. During school, for example, you are told just work hard academically and all will fall into place. Its (one of) my major problems with the irish education system. University is slightly better, no doubt, but by then you have committed to a line of study. I was just worried how to 'fill in' those 'missing years'! I dont want to lie to a prospective employer but disclosing health/personal difficulties already diminishes your application considerably. Anyway, id love to hear more feedback off anyone out there that faced similar problems. I think its time to turn the 'I SHOULD HAVE's into 'IM GOING TO's in term of choices. Thanks.

Mrs OBumble

Worth thinking about: epilepsy is a disability, so it's illegal to discriminate against you because you have it.

Being honest about it tt may not be as much of a problem as you think, provided you can demonstrate to them that you now have it under control (eg because you were able to pick up your studies again and complete them).

And it may be better than lying about that period - especailly as you wil probably have to tell employers about it, so that they can take reasonable precautions to ensure your - and your colleagues - health and safety.

Mr. Loverman

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Worth thinking about: epilepsy is a disability, so it's illegal to discriminate against you because you have it.

In my experience the disability laws are nearly useless.

"I'm sorry Gibbonw2, you don't have enough experience", said the manager as he cringed inside imagining Gibbonw2 having a seizure.

Sounds ridiculous, but in a previous job I was told by my boss to think of a reason not to hire the disabled guy who I had just interviewed and who was quite suitable for the role...

I think Gibbonw2 should minimise risk and not mention his epilepsy.