Dear AngusR~
Welcome back. I was very pleased to read your depression had reduced and you were feeling good. Please do not let this feeling slip way.
Being unemployed is one of the hardest things a person can face. It is pretty soul-destroying to send out application after application day after day and (if you are lucky) get a negative reply. Many times nothing comes back and you are left in limbo. Hard not to take it personally. To survive all this gets my admiration.
It is all very well for parents to say in general 'there are lots of jobs', however when you get down to specifics things are not as cut and dried. True in some areas some types of employers are realy needing staff, but in others that is not hte case and there are still many applicants for each opening. Youth employment is one of the worst.
It can be impossible to move to another area where there is a demand as housing, travel and other costs make it simply uneconomic.
So what to do?
I've a couple of suggestions. The first is for you own welfare. Please do not let job seeking take over you life. Allocate certain times every day - say every morning - to applying for jobs and reading replies, and then in the afternoon/evening do something completely unrelated, sport, hobbies, things that interest you. In the long term you will feel better for it.
Do you have any particular hobbies or interests you can use?
The other suggestion is practical. Try to find somewhere to volunteer. This not only gives you an interest but also a feeling you are accomplishing something. Plus you get to meet a more human type of person most places. As an aside I've found myself that volunteering has led to employment, and if you are not that lucky you may still get training and a current reference
It's a hard time for you, I would like to know how you get on
Croix
