# Finished college but too scared to look for work



## lostSoul0 (Sep 25, 2014)

Hi I'm new here it's great that I have discovered a social anxiety forum as I was suffering from it for years now. 

My problem is that I have finished my degree but I am too afraid to apply for jobs. I have majored in a technical field with the hope that I will not be dealing with people but boy was I wrong - Most tech jobs requires team work etc which I will struggle with as I have really bad social anxiety.

I am also really frustrated that I will be unable to gain jobs such as shop worker, receptionist or any customer service jobs in my area all of which require an outgoing personality I have actually failed an interview for a supermarket assistant for the reason that I came across as too quite. 

I don't know what to do about my situation, I am not on any kind of medication or anything - heck I've also tried exposing myself to situations that made me really anxious for instance making small talks with the check out assistant at my local super market.


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## Hikikomori2014 (Sep 8, 2014)

*So you graduated with a tech degree, but want to work retail?
There are sub-categories within IT that have little people Specifically, try programming.*


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## keithjm (Apr 25, 2014)

lostSoul0 said:


> Hi I'm new here it's great that I have discovered a social anxiety forum as I was suffering from it for years now.
> 
> My problem is that I have finished my degree but I am too afraid to apply for jobs. I have majored in a technical field with the hope that I will not be dealing with people but boy was I wrong - Most tech jobs requires team work etc which I will struggle with as I have really bad social anxiety.
> 
> ...


I was in your same boat. My way around it was to go back to school and get more education than everyone else for the same job. I knew I could never compete with them unless I had more education than they had. For example, I got hired as a bank teller making minimum wage with a bunch of other recent graduates. The job was an entry level position where you did not stay long and would get promoted up quickly. Well, everyone did get promoted--except me. I actually had a guy get promoted out of being teller BEFORE he was even trained to be a teller! I was the only college graduate teller in the entire bank. The other bank tellers were full-time students and would look at me funny as to why I was still a bank teller with a college degree. I am sure I was a running joke behind my back. Long story short, I did not get my first "real" entry level college job until 5 years later. (I had to go to school at night while working full-time). And then my SA kept me from getting any real promotion from an entry level college job. I then went back to school again. I figured I needed at least one degree more than the next guy because of SA. Till this day, I have never been promoted at a job.


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## Imbored21 (Jun 18, 2012)

keithjm said:


> I was in your same boat. My way around it was to go back to school and get more education than everyone else for the same job. I knew I could never compete with them unless I had more education than they had. For example, I got hired as a bank teller making minimum wage with a bunch of other recent graduates. The job was an entry level position where you did not stay long and would get promoted up quickly. Well, everyone did get promoted--except me. I actually had a guy get promoted out of being teller BEFORE he was even trained to be a teller! I was the only college graduate teller in the entire bank. The other bank tellers were full-time students and would look at me funny as to why I was still a bank teller with a college degree. I am sure I was a running joke behind my back. Long story short, I did not get my first "real" entry level college job until 5 years later. (I had to go to school at night while working full-time). And then my SA kept me from getting any real promotion from an entry level college job. I then went back to school again. I figured I needed at least one degree more than the next guy because of SA. Till this day, I have never been promoted at a job.


Won't that make you overqualified making it even harder to get a job?


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

The fear of becoming homeless was greater....that got me to overcome my fear of looking for work.


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## keithjm (Apr 25, 2014)

Imbored21 said:


> Won't that make you overqualified making it even harder to get a job?


In the old days, you would be right. But in today's economy, not any more. Of course, you need the "right" degree(s) for this to work.


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## lostSoul0 (Sep 25, 2014)

Hikikomori2014 said:


> *So you graduated with a tech degree, but want to work retail?
> There are sub-categories within IT that have little people Specifically, try programming.*


The only thing is I didn't enjoy programming that much


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## lostSoul0 (Sep 25, 2014)

keithjm said:


> I was in your same boat. My way around it was to go back to school and get more education than everyone else for the same job. I knew I could never compete with them unless I had more education than they had. For example, I got hired as a bank teller making minimum wage with a bunch of other recent graduates. The job was an entry level position where you did not stay long and would get promoted up quickly. Well, everyone did get promoted--except me. I actually had a guy get promoted out of being teller BEFORE he was even trained to be a teller! I was the only college graduate teller in the entire bank. The other bank tellers were full-time students and would look at me funny as to why I was still a bank teller with a college degree. I am sure I was a running joke behind my back. Long story short, I did not get my first "real" entry level college job until 5 years later. (I had to go to school at night while working full-time). And then my SA kept me from getting any real promotion from an entry level college job. I then went back to school again. I figured I needed at least one degree more than the next guy because of SA. Till this day, I have never been promoted at a job.


It seems as though people are good at talking their way in to a job whereas us folks who suffer from SA don't have the courage to compete


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