By CAREEREALISM Founder, J.T. O'Donnell
Today, April 16th, is
Stress Awareness Day. It's actually part of
National Stress Awareness Month, aimed at getting Americans to not worry so much about stuff (i.e. like being
unemployed). Unfortunately, that's not so easy when millions of folks have
anxiety about being out of work.
Think You've Got it Bad? Try Being a Young, Inexperienced Job Seeker
Yes,
job search stress is at an all-time high. Ironically, you'd assume the older generations would be the most stressed about the need to find work. But, in my experience, students and recent grads, a.k.a.
young professionals, are having a rough time coping with the stress of job search. Don't believe me? This stat actually backs-up a lot of what I've been seeing:
- According to this month's issue of Fast Company, a psychological survey done in 1938 and again in 2007, shows anxiety and mental-health issues are 5 TIMES more common now among high-school and college students than they were toward the end of the GREAT DEPRESSION.
In short, young people are pretty worked up.
FACT: They've Got Good Reason to Be So Stressed
If you are a seasoned professional, it's easy to brush-off the worry and concern felt by young people as less serious than your own. Well, I'm here to tell you they've got good reason to be worried (as do their college-paying parents). In fact, I'll let this stat-filled video show you why:
TWO Ways YOU Can Help Reduce a Young Professional's Job Search Stress
Regular readers of CAREEREALISM know our goal is to provide as much valuable, free
career advice as possible. And, for seasoned professionals, it's easy to comprehend and apply what they read on our site. However, young professionals today need a more personalized, interactive approach to help them close the gap in their job search and career planning knowledge.
So, we've started a
privateCareer HMO that is staffed with career experts to give
job seekers a way to get professional
instant advice. At less than .30 cents/day, this private career center is ideal for first-time job seekers in need of the kind of
inspiration, education and connection that can lower their stress level and increase their career confidence and professional maturity.
We'd like to ask for your help in spreading the word about this very powerful AND affordable career coaching tool.
We'd be grateful if you'd consider helping us in either of the following ways:
- If you know a college student or recent grad, please consider introducing them to CAREEREALISM Club. (You can even give it as a graduation gift.)
- If you know a college career center that could benefit from partnering with our CAREEREALISM Club, please forward this article to them. Many college career centers are under-staffed and under-funded and deserve a partner who A) understands what they are up against, and B) wants to help them support all their students.
Be a Career Hero & You'll Feel Better Too!
Young people today need career heroes. I promise, they won't forget you were the person that helped them find their career path and land their first good job. And besides, helping others to reduce their stress level is a wonderful way to make ourselves feel good, ultimately reducing our own stress. So, it's a win-win for everyone during
National Stress Awareness Month!
