Although Yvette Lowes (44) immediately finds a job as an occupational therapist after her studies, eight years later she still ends up on welfare. When she decides to look for another challenge, she is unable to get a job for years. Desperate, she turns to her network on LinkedIn.
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At the time I had a temporary contract with a new employer and said: don’t extend it, I need some rest
Yvette’s career gets off to a smooth start after her occupational therapy studies. In the first six years she works her way up to a good position with a good salary. She is happy, until she notices that after a busy day at work she can no longer sleep well. “I started taking clients’ problems home with me. I couldn’t handle the emotional part of the job anymore.”
Soon she knows for sure: I have to stop this. “At the time, I had a temporary contract with a new employer and said: don’t extend it, I need some rest.” Living on unemployment benefits for a while while looking for a new challenge that suits her better, feels acceptable to the twenty-something. But then the crisis breaks out, and a selective search turns into desperate application for anything that isn’t occupational therapy. But she is nowhere to be found. “And that’s how I ended up on welfare.”
In the assistance
In the years that follow, Yvette tries everything to get a job. “I started volunteering at a broadcaster. From there I trained as a camera journalist, which was reimbursed by the social service.” But after some time, Yvette is thrown out of the training. “I wasn’t good enough,” they said. I couldn’t get a better explanation.”
She comes home again, this time with a strong sense of performance anxiety. A bicycle taxi crosses her path, and for months she literally kicks herself back up. But over time, the constant need to stand by breaks her. “I was under so much stress from my phone, which kept ringing, that I again didn’t sleep a wink and ended up in a sleep disorder.”
More attempts to follow. “I had network conversations, tried volunteer jobs and attended training courses. That last one suited me.” Giving training as a freelancer makes her enthusiastic, and for a moment she thinks she has found her calling. “But then I became pregnant – from a sperm donor, a case of now or never – and corona came into play. As a single mother, I have never been able to pick that up again.”
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I got so many responses, amazing
scream for help
Yvette is overjoyed with her two-year-old son, but is missing something for herself. Moreover, now that she is a mother, she wants to generate an income more than ever. “I think it’s good to have something for myself, something other than just being a mother. I also want to set a good example for my son. Being a mother who works.”
Desperately, she turns to LinkedIn to her network, which turns out better than expected. “I’ve gotten so many responses, it’s amazing.” People are trying to think along with her en masse, and she is also offered several free coaching sessions. ,,I really had to make choices: who am I going to sit down with? I have now had five appointments.”
The reaction that touches her the most comes from a woman who offers Yvette an entire transformational trainer course for free. “After five minutes on the phone with her, I was already in tears. She said, I’m going to do my best to get this done for you. That did so much to me. Giving training makes me very enthusiastic. It is the interaction, the dynamics and the fact that people learn from each other and inspire each other that appeals to me. You always leave positive.”
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An answer
Training as a trainer therefore sounds like music to her ears. ,,I now have so many different things on my resume for a short period of time, that I now want to walk one path. Many career choices were emergency jumps. I now want to sink my teeth into something, to get better at something.”
Whether her network has provided an answer to her question – what now? – she can’t say yet. “You end up in a process of conversations with people who lead you on a certain path. All I can say is that I am very happy with all the favors. It is now a matter of staying close to myself and not deviating from that path.”
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