A Forced Downshifting
Intro
I have friends who worked as couriers during harsh times, and they felt bad. Germany now goes through a complicated situation, which can be defined on a scale from stagnation to economic crisis, depending on how pessimistic you are. I personally try to find a way out, and I think that describing overcoming is more important than "success stories", but I'd like to say something to people who struggle: you are not alone, and it's okay, don't be too hard on yourself. In this post, I'll analyse the most pessimistic viewpoint on the circumstances I have. I hope this analysis and the following self-reflection will help someone in a similar situation. If you can do this, it's already a step forward.
AS IS
So, what's happening in Germany now? It seems like a normal economic crisis: the stagnation was before, but the situation with the tariffs (auto-industry and pharma), "a tax of war" and other factors resulted in mass layoffs and the absence of vacancies, which I can clearly observe. What else is going on? Well, there are officially more bankruptcies this year than in the previous one. But the thing with pharma and autos is that it's just the beginning, and many suppliers are dependent on these companies. It takes some time to make the hard decisions, so we'll see these decisions soon. The issue with autos is that auto-producers like Audi invested in e-autos heavily, but it didn't play out, the demand is not there. Maybe as well as the infrastructure and the technology. The issue with pharma is that USA import tariffs were unexpected, it's a big industry with a surprisingly big share of export to the USA.
As the job market faced the consequences of the aforementioned crisis, the requirements started rising. It's not enough to be in Germany, have a permit and be a good specialist. Your German needs to be similar to native, which takes some more time than "negotiation-proficient" level. You also need to already live in the city where the vacancy is, which is not the case for me. You also compete with the Germans, who were laid off, and Germans are preferred. I'd rather not call it "discrimination", it's a normal national policy. There's a U-turn in migration politics as well, but as I'm already in Germany, it's not an issue. Still, as the requirements rise, you can be selected if you are better integrated into German society. You understand that this society is about accepting diversity and democratic values – these are just words, understanding their meaning can be tricky. If you have a very first call with a recruiter, you'll proceed when you catch the nuances, get the rhythm of the dialog and know when to say what, where the pauses are and so on.
TO BE
If according to one's saying "everything is a comedy in the long term", let's plan long term. I was asking for successful job searches in my particular area, and it took some guys five years of consistent effort to get there. I'm in Germany for three years; I have two more years to go. That's about managing your own expectations as well, it really helps not to get upset every time you are rejected and change the perspective: OK, I need to live two more years in some "transitional mode". If it works out earlier – great, but I don't expect that. There are some other consequences as well:
- I need just to learn German consistently; I don't need to "push the pedal to the metal" to the point of mental breakdown.
- Integration should be regarded as a task; watching news and movies is obviously not sufficient. In Germany, socialization happens in "Vereine" as far as I know, it's not spontaneous on the street using small talk, that's a common misunderstanding.
- The two years I need overlap with Germany getting out of crisis; it will eventually get better, but it needs time, so this time is the resource I have, but I need to make some practical stuff happen, meaning having any job, not building "a great career".
Look, I've been through crises, including 2008. Things will calm down, it will get better, crises are a cure in terms of companies' and economy restructuring. It's painful, but it works, there's no need to panic. Sure, inefficient companies will go bankrupt, and the resources will flow to the companies that can balance the value and the cost. Of course, there are human lives behind these events, but I don't think that it makes sense to cry about how the economy works. If it's a mess around, sometimes taking a break is the best, not to go crazy as well.
The Plan
Based on my "crisis survival experience", if you don't mind, I'd say prioritizing your well-being and your mental state is the best thing to do. There are a lot of great guides on how to do it, but it's basically disconnecting yourself from the "crisis agenda" and finding inner resources and inner peace first. After that, you'll find out that many people around you struggle as well, and they probably need you as a human being around and supporting them.
Second, there are some things that are just to be done regularly, it's about consistency. For me, it's learning German, for you, it can be something else. There's one viral video of a priest who said something like "I asked God for courage, and he gave me challenges, so my prayers are fulfilled". I call it "a minimum" – something I do what's in my calendar, no matter what. I just don't let myself miss another German class, it's as simple as that. 497 classes so far, I think I missed about five, but that was never about "not today" – just in case you'd like to call me on that.
Third, as the title goes, is downshifting. There's nothing to be ashamed of when you don't want to stay at home and are eager to bring value to a society in the way you can. I'm still looking and almost ready to apply, but there are a few catches here:
- Some low-paid jobs are dangerous, meaning you'll not have the same health after that, or there are some high risks involved, so beware;
- As I'm selling my time, I'd like to bring value, so I don't agree to sit and wait for something calling it "a job";
- The job should be profitable: if you have to buy a car to commute, then pay huge amounts for gas and end up financially broken, it's not worth it.
Bonus tip #1: maintain your skills. There will be an opportunity, the point is if you are ready for it. For me, my "core skills" are communication and problem-solving. The last is pretty universal, it applies to anything, it's just feeding the brain with some tasks it didn't accomplish before and has to figure things out. So, I'm going with programming courses at Codecademy because learning programming is about problem-solving.
Bonus tip #2: there are a lot of inexpensive hobbies out there, go for them. When I had my "dream job", I just couldn't do that – it seemed I was burning and thinking about the job all the time. A side note: maybe this career break is to get this point. Cycling, 3D modeling, even 3D printing (with a used printer), programming or building websites, playing guitar, paracord weaving, playing football – these are just some of the options.
Conclusion
In 2008 I had my personal motto: If everyone around is going crazy, it doesn't mean I have to go crazy. It worked pretty well. Even if there's a serious crisis outside, there's one more crisis to overcome – the one inside you.