Social Anxiety Support

passion_star · 11-07-2009, 06:26 AM

Hello SA'ers

My life is starting to settle down a little and after much though about my direction, I was starting to feel ambitious about developing a career within the Advice giving sector. There are many elements of it that interest me and suit my skills, having completed a related college course I have gained a place on a degree to start in the new year. After 4 months of working for an advice giving voluntary organisation, the completion of their in house training and one assisted interview I am told to go elsewhere for voluntary work because they do not have time to support me. In kind words they was sacking me! Today I received a letter from them today and it appears that they do not want to spend their precious time training me because they state that I am lacking Interaction Skills. Hello??? I am working for free, I taken the job to learn/develop and OK did not tell them about my SA but its none of their business, but if this is what I am getting from a voluntary organisation then what should I expect from paid employment. This does me little more than to make feel like I am wasting my time trying with any job at all and not to apply for anymore again. Only benefit rules for single parents are changing soon and they will force me to apply for jobs in the near future :S Am I going to be on and off jobseeker's allowance, whilst I am in and out of jobs. This will really make for a stable and happy upbringing for my daughter. What are we SA'ers supposed to do? Like many people with SA, I do not want to go into IT as I would find sitting behing a PC not very rewarding, I think it would bore me to death. I should be able to work for something I believe and have my heart in. I would be interested in hearing from any of you that have experienced similar to myself and if/how you have overcome your interaction in the workplace barriers.

Cheers, Passionstar

Stu · 11-07-2009, 04:44 PM

I completely understand where you're coming from, having been demeaned and humiliated by the welfare system in my country after losing a plum of a job because of one gaff I made in front of the boss. SA reminds me very much of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in that there are huge bureaucratic cracks for people to fall through if an official diagnoses cannot made.

In my country they make you attend a 'jobnetwork centre' where someone stands over you while you canvass businesses who aren't even advertising, follow up applications and the like. We were even lectured on how to shower and shave, make sure we wore deodorant and wear smart clothes. They even gave us a form for employers who interviewed us to sign for proof of attendance...it was great for first impressions.

Funnily enough the process of being on jobseeker's allowance was so traumatic I actually went out and got a job just to avoid it. To some degree I suppose this is the Government's design, but what they fail to understand is very few of the 5% unemployed were actually avoiding work. Usually there were major reasons, like appearance, dependence or mental illness and/or injury. I shudder to think what happened to my fellow bludgers after I escaped.

Anyhow, I chose quite a ****ty but mostly stress-less job, quite physical so I lost a bit of weight and because it was shift work it payed quite well. Initially I was very awkward with people and various foot-in-mouth moments caused much conflict and angst, but after a while people make allowances for your personality just like you do for others. In fact now I'm more comfortable with the environment I actually enjoy a bit conflict just for the entertainment value.

At least you are making an effort to follow your own path, one bad experience within the industry doesn't undo all your hard work, hell not even 10 do. Persistence pays off! (pardon the cliche)

11-07-2009, 06:26 AM	#1 (permalink)
passion_star Status: SAS Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: England Age: 29 Posts: 20	Work Barriers :( Hello SA'ers My life is starting to settle down a little and after much though about my direction, I was starting to feel ambitious about developing a career within the Advice giving sector. There are many elements of it that interest me and suit my skills, having completed a related college course I have gained a place on a degree to start in the new year. After 4 months of working for an advice giving voluntary organisation, the completion of their in house training and one assisted interview I am told to go elsewhere for voluntary work because they do not have time to support me. In kind words they was sacking me! Today I received a letter from them today and it appears that they do not want to spend their precious time training me because they state that I am lacking Interaction Skills. Hello??? I am working for free, I taken the job to learn/develop and OK did not tell them about my SA but its none of their business, but if this is what I am getting from a voluntary organisation then what should I expect from paid employment. This does me little more than to make feel like I am wasting my time trying with any job at all and not to apply for anymore again. Only benefit rules for single parents are changing soon and they will force me to apply for jobs in the near future :S Am I going to be on and off jobseeker's allowance, whilst I am in and out of jobs. This will really make for a stable and happy upbringing for my daughter. What are we SA'ers supposed to do? Like many people with SA, I do not want to go into IT as I would find sitting behing a PC not very rewarding, I think it would bore me to death. I should be able to work for something I believe and have my heart in. I would be interested in hearing from any of you that have experienced similar to myself and if/how you have overcome your interaction in the workplace barriers. Cheers, Passionstar

11-07-2009, 04:44 PM	#2 (permalink)
Stu Status: SAS Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Southern Hemisphere Gender: Male Age: 26 Posts: 36	I completely understand where you're coming from, having been demeaned and humiliated by the welfare system in my country after losing a plum of a job because of one gaff I made in front of the boss. SA reminds me very much of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in that there are huge bureaucratic cracks for people to fall through if an official diagnoses cannot made. In my country they make you attend a 'jobnetwork centre' where someone stands over you while you canvass businesses who aren't even advertising, follow up applications and the like. We were even lectured on how to shower and shave, make sure we wore deodorant and wear smart clothes. They even gave us a form for employers who interviewed us to sign for proof of attendance...it was great for first impressions. Funnily enough the process of being on jobseeker's allowance was so traumatic I actually went out and got a job just to avoid it. To some degree I suppose this is the Government's design, but what they fail to understand is very few of the 5% unemployed were actually avoiding work. Usually there were major reasons, like appearance, dependence or mental illness and/or injury. I shudder to think what happened to my fellow bludgers after I escaped. Anyhow, I chose quite a ****ty but mostly stress-less job, quite physical so I lost a bit of weight and because it was shift work it payed quite well. Initially I was very awkward with people and various foot-in-mouth moments caused much conflict and angst, but after a while people make allowances for your personality just like you do for others. In fact now I'm more comfortable with the environment I actually enjoy a bit conflict just for the entertainment value. At least you are making an effort to follow your own path, one bad experience within the industry doesn't undo all your hard work, hell not even 10 do. Persistence pays off! (pardon the cliche)