First Job Application In 2 Years

Hi all. 🙂

For 20-odd years I worked as an electrical engineer and technical writer. The stress and long hours were great for someone like me with bipolar - I could cope very well...

Until I would crash and burn into a major depression, that is...

For 20 years I repeated the same pattern - hypomanic high for about 2 years, then depression for about 6 months, hardly able to leave my darkened bedroom...

Repeat until life gets totally screwed up by a 2 year long depression and failed marriage (which finally led to diagnosis and treatment).

I've hardly worked in 5 years. Perhaps 5 or 6 weeks of technical writing (it's been dead since the global financial crisis) and a couple of months of bar work, pulling beers and making cocktails...

I was on Newstart for a year or so. I have a special hatred for how heartless the Centrelink system can be, how terrible it makes you feel. During that time, I applied for over 200 jobs. I did all in my power, but achieved exactly nothing... only 5 or 6 bothered to even send me an automated rejection email. The rest? A vast deafening silence, so that I never knew if my job applications were good, bad or indifferent. It was brutal...

I had to sell my house. When I converted the bricks and mortar to dollars in the bank, my Centrelink problems went away - no more support, and thankfully no more rubbish of theirs to deal with...

I've been self-funding my unemployment for 2 years now, travelling around Oz in a motorhome with my lovely partner.

But reality awaits. The party (and the money) never lasts forever. The rolling wheels have to stop sometime.

So, I've applied for a job. First time in 2 years. There's a bad taste in my mouth from my previous experiences, but I hope it will be different this time. The job is perfect for me - suits my experience and skills 100 percent.

It's a full time position. I haven't worked one of those since 2006. For 10 years, I've been doing contract consulting work through my own business.

I've learnt a lot about my bipolar in the past 4 years... I believe I'm ready...

Hugs and happy vibes beaming to you all... 🙂