Unhappy at Work? Here are 3 Reasons Your CV Could be to Blame .

A lot of the time, unique skills are actually born from our unique traumas. Yet, at work, those special skills are expected to be dragged out with a flourish on a regular basis.

Unhappy at your job? Happy with work life but not life life? Here are three things you might want to reconsider having on your CV:

1. Works well in a highly pressurised environment.

I grew up in a pretty explosive household. As a result, when stuff goes down nowadays I barely flinch, and am usually the one guiding others through the process. There’s no doubt that being the calmest person in the room during a crisis is a good thing. But this skill is for emergencies, not daily occurrences. If a potential employer is specifically looking for it, then you will likely have to use it often, meaning you will be surrounded by stress, constantly.

Because, here’s the thing — I might be outwardly calm in the moment, and I am rarely panicked, but I still feel everything else the same — stress, fear., anger, frustration, disappointment — I’m just better at not letting them take control of me than most people usually are.

You might be one of those adrenaline junkies who takes some kind of sadistic pleasure in watching the world crumble as you race against time to fix someone else’s mess — and that’s fine! You should do what makes you happy (within reason).

I’m not one of those people. If you are like me, then you will understand this part of yourself should only readily be deployed for fun reasons outside of emergencies, like being in the front row ar a concert and making full on eye-contact with your favourite singer, or going on ridiculously fast rollercoasters just after drinking too much soda.

But it should not be utilised at work unless for exceptional circumstances. Why? It’s easier to come down from that fight or flight mode when you know it was used to keep you or someone you love safe. It doesn’t quite bang the same way when it was reaching a made up deadline for something you don’t really care about at work.

2. Professional at all times.

This basically means that you won’t complain when things are hard and that you will smile politely when being shouted at. More often than not, it is best to be polite. But what’s even better, is an environment where everyone is expected to be polite and reasonable, junior or senior, cleaner or exec. That way we wouldn’t have to. Here, I am talking about the one-way kind of professionalism expected by employers who think it’s okay to be condescending towards their staff and maybe even shout and be rude. Anyone out there with a boss who is really sloppy with their work, often piling things on at the last minute and expecting you to get it done by yesterday?

All in the name of professionalism.

If you’re anything like me, you were already done with being spoken over by the time you reached adulthood; even more done with not being listened to when you know you’re right, and then having to explain what went wrong without saying ‘I told you so.’

I already have a bunch of people that I don’t like but pretend to, who constantly make mistakes and get on my nerves and yet will forever have my forgiveness. They’re called my family, and I’m already annoyed enough by them as it is. My unending patience is not something that money can buy.

3. Willing to make sacrifices for the team

DON’T EVER PUT THAT. EVER! Just don’t. Or, actually — do. I’m not going to go into what happened to me. Put it on your resume, speak it out loud in the interview, see how it goes.

You probably won’t have the energy to write about it though.

Takeaways

Now, editing your CV only works before you realise you’re working in the worst place on earth.

I’m not saying that you should go and quit your job if it turns out that you have a crappy work life (or maybe I am). I appreciate the importance of paying the bills, and if you’re life is in any way similar to the working classes in the UK, then social mobility can feel like a pipe dream.

You may think not realise it, but if your job is tapping into your traumas, you will need time to recover each and every time. And when you don’t get it? Well, that’s what they call burnout — and who could expect to climb the social ladder without energy?

Community is an amazing thing — or it could be. Unionise. Build the community element that so many workplaces are lacking and come together to make your voices heard. Demand and expect more from the bosses that:

a) Depend on you all to be at work

b) Are outnumbered by you.

That second part is important. Sure, they can fire a couple or maybe a few of you — but the whole staffing team is going to be a lot harder to replace. Like the police and politicians, employers also need reminding from time to time that they are outnumbered and depend on the many, that you are part of, in order to get things done.

Make your boss make it possible to realign your priorities, so that you can experience the best parts of yourself in the best ways possible, without making yourself unhappy. This is more their problem, than yours. They are the ones who needed extra help – and money cannot be the only thing that makes it worthwhile. In my opinion, not enough employers put the effort in to make their workplace somewhere that employees actually want to be. A vending machine in the break room doesn’t count if I have to pay for the candy. And Taking five minutes after being yelled at by someone doesn’t cut it, sorry.

Make it so that your body only ever needs to enter fight-or-flight mode when it’s something that really matters to you and proportionately benefits you— I’m guessing that’s not going to be some stranger’s bottom line. If you do find yourself triggered and in need of recovery time, make it happen.