Re-entering the work world, is it possible for me?
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RightInTwo
- Posts: 102
- Joined: September 14th, 2021, 7:37 am
- Gender: f
- Issues: CPTSD, self loathing, self isolation
- preferred pronoun: she
- Location: Texas, USA
Re: Re-entering the work world, is it possible for me?
For anyone outside the US, if you want a real insight into what it’s like trying to survive here, pay a visit to reddit’s r/antiwork subreddit. I just found it recently, and it’s full of people struggling with how our employment systems work.
Re: Re-entering the work world, is it possible for me?
RIT, sorry that I am late to the party.
I can answer with confidence: if you are to return to the workforce, now is the time.
I'll speak categorically: there has never been a better time to be a job seeker.
A corresponding hard truth: automation and AI are coming for jobs like yours and mine.
Per the Andrew Yang book (which I highly recommend, terrifying as it is), perhaps half of the American jobs that were to be automated, have already been automated in the past forty years. Which is a polite way of saying hell is coming.
We still have excellent reason for hope and courage. AI and automation are not here...yet.
So...
Frankly, at this time you may not need to explain where you've been the last four years.
Covid is hell, but the lockdown gives us lots of cover. If pressed, you can always truthfully answer that you were teaching yourself to code.
And if employers really want to hire you, they'll ask only most-required questions, and not look too carefully at your answers.
One word of advice: only go with 100% WFH positions. There are some benefits to commuting, but they're all ancillary to the work itself.
If you're going to re-enter the workforce, now is the time. Take a few weeks, or months, definitely, maybe a year or two if you need it.
But remember that AI and automation are coming. And once they come, they aren't leaving. They're playing for keeps. Choose wisely.
I can answer with confidence: if you are to return to the workforce, now is the time.
I'll speak categorically: there has never been a better time to be a job seeker.
A corresponding hard truth: automation and AI are coming for jobs like yours and mine.
Per the Andrew Yang book (which I highly recommend, terrifying as it is), perhaps half of the American jobs that were to be automated, have already been automated in the past forty years. Which is a polite way of saying hell is coming.
We still have excellent reason for hope and courage. AI and automation are not here...yet.
So...
Frankly, at this time you may not need to explain where you've been the last four years.
Covid is hell, but the lockdown gives us lots of cover. If pressed, you can always truthfully answer that you were teaching yourself to code.
And if employers really want to hire you, they'll ask only most-required questions, and not look too carefully at your answers.
One word of advice: only go with 100% WFH positions. There are some benefits to commuting, but they're all ancillary to the work itself.
If you're going to re-enter the workforce, now is the time. Take a few weeks, or months, definitely, maybe a year or two if you need it.
But remember that AI and automation are coming. And once they come, they aren't leaving. They're playing for keeps. Choose wisely.
Work is love made visible. -Kahlil Gibran
A person with a "why" can endure any "how". -Viktor Frankl
Which is better: to be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort? -Skyrim
A person with a "why" can endure any "how". -Viktor Frankl
Which is better: to be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort? -Skyrim
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RightInTwo
- Posts: 102
- Joined: September 14th, 2021, 7:37 am
- Gender: f
- Issues: CPTSD, self loathing, self isolation
- preferred pronoun: she
- Location: Texas, USA
Re: Re-entering the work world, is it possible for me?
That’s very encouraging, oak. I can see myself leaning heavily on the covid excuse!
I’m not going to worry about AI. Not yet. It’s not like in science fiction movies, where it magically teaches itself self-learning. It’s still going to require maintenance, updating, bug fixes, etc. Security (cybersecurity will always be an issue requiring intervention, always).
Oh and, agree 100 percent about working from home. I live in a city where (pre-covid, but probably still) it’s not uncommon for people to drive 1.5 to 2 hours - EACH WAY - to their jobs. The city is enormous, and traffic slows to a crawl during peak hours. I have HAD ENOUGH of that! I refuse!
Plus, my mom is getting old, and I have to be able to spend significant time with her - halfway across the country - when the time comes. I don’t want to have to choose between a job and my mom.
I’m not going to worry about AI. Not yet. It’s not like in science fiction movies, where it magically teaches itself self-learning. It’s still going to require maintenance, updating, bug fixes, etc. Security (cybersecurity will always be an issue requiring intervention, always).
Oh and, agree 100 percent about working from home. I live in a city where (pre-covid, but probably still) it’s not uncommon for people to drive 1.5 to 2 hours - EACH WAY - to their jobs. The city is enormous, and traffic slows to a crawl during peak hours. I have HAD ENOUGH of that! I refuse!
Plus, my mom is getting old, and I have to be able to spend significant time with her - halfway across the country - when the time comes. I don’t want to have to choose between a job and my mom.