Job insecurity among young adults

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The difficulty to find a job, despite many years of college studies and the job insecurity in Spain, are an increasing reality among young adults. Moreover, the prolonged frustration derived from not finding a decent job can lead to anxiety, stress and depression (in students) and hopelessness in their parents.

In this short interview in the television program "It's Happening" -EITB- you will find:

  • Some helpful tips to deal with this reality.
  • What HR recruiters value in graduate inexperienced students.
  • Tips on how parents can support their children throughout the job search.

I hope you find it useful.

Click here to view video

Risk Factors (while abroad) of a student

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Beyond the known "culture shock" suffered by students from elsewhere, there are other risk factors that occur once settled which greatly aggravate their proper adjusting process and prevent them from having a good experience.

After months of preparation and expectations they finally arrive to Barcelona, ​​but nothing is what it seemed; sometimes it even rains and Spaniards speak so fast and with such a weird accent... Aspects which never crossed their mind, but can get used to by transiting through the common culture shock process.

However, there is another set of factors that tend to erode as a Malayan drop and that take their toll within two or three weeks. These are caused by their personality traits or exceptional situations they might go through.

So, if studying abroad seemed a simple thing, being able to turn it into a satisfying experience, ultimately depends on: previous factors and situational factors that take place while abroad. Among the most important:

  • Not belonging to a group of friends in the first month.
  • Not relating to any of the students in the program.
  • Feeling anxious, listless, unmotivated, not wanting to leave the room, feeling sad ... all of which with no apparent reason.
  • Feeling overwhelmed and extremely lost.
  • Feeling deeply anxious and unable to be alone or to not keep themselves constantly busy.
  • Having something serious happening to their loved ones while being in Barcelona.
  • Constant difficulty to concentrate in class and even needing to run away.

If any of these vital circumstances appear it is recommended to ask for help AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to a psychologist who is familiar with this type of issues. In most cases, if the intervention is at the beginning, there is a very high chance of being able to redirect the problem. Fortunately, human beings have a great capacity to adapt, and more when receiving support. Hence most students end up being able to go back to track and transform hell in a very good life experience.

Previous risk factors that increase the cultural shock

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"Why do some foreign college students find it hard to adjust when they study abroad?"

While there is no magic recipe to prevent the struggle that a student who is temporarily in Barcelona will go through, ​​after talking with more than 450 foreign university students, I have observed that they share some previous common factors that hinder their adjustment to a foreign country . Among them:

  • In the past, they have had difficulty adapting to new contexts (eg. they've struggled to adjust to a new school, to a change of residence, transitioning from high school to college, etc.).
  • They have experienced anxiety when being exposed to changes.
  • It is the first time they are so far from their families and usually struggle when they do so.
  • In social situations they usually feel terribly anxious and can't avoid being continuously self-centred. Such anxiety tends to increase especially in new social situations.
  • They fear big cities.
  • They suffer anxiety when things are not under control.

How can we take these factors into account to help students adjust successfully?

While these previous factors do not act as a universal law, which always occurs in any context, they indicate past patterns that can be probability repeated while abroad. So if the universities that host foreign students, Study Abroad Programs, teachers and students themselves have them in mind, they may be alert, act more quickly and provide sooner the support they need to successfully adapt to this adventure of studying abroad.