ASKING FOR A FRIEND
My anxiety is making job hunting difficult with low self-esteem and fear getting in the way. How do I overcome it?
ASKING FOR A FRIEND - QUESTION
Job hunting is stressful enough without anxiety turning the volume up on every self-doubt you've ever had. In this Asking For A Friend session, someone opens up about low self-esteem and fear getting in the way of their job search, and honestly, it's a question a lot of people needed to hear asked out loud. Mental Health Expert Tammi Miller offers warm, practical guidance on leaning on trusted people to hear your strengths reflected back, and on anchoring yourself to the factual record of your skills rather than the stories anxiety tells you. Industry Leader Dan Ingham adds a timely reminder that the current climate is genuinely tough, and that staying in the game, even when progress feels slow, is exactly the right move. Hosted by Andy Wright.
Job hunting is hard at the best of times. When anxiety, low self-esteem, and self-doubt are also in the mix, it can feel like you're trying to climb a mountain with no boots on.
This question was answered by Tammi Miller, Mental Health Expert, whose work focuses on helping people navigate anxious thinking and reconnect with their genuine strengths, and Dan Ingham, Industry Leader, who brings a practical, grounded perspective on staying resilient in a difficult job market. The conversation was hosted by Andy Wright, host of Asking For A Friend on Never Not Creative.
Lean on the people who already know your worth
Tammi's first piece of advice is to stop trying to fight anxiety alone. Reach out to trusted friends, family members, or colleagues and ask them directly: what are my strengths? What am I actually good at? When you're burnt out or low, your inner voice tends to be the least reliable narrator in the room. Hearing your value reflected back by people who know you well can cut through that noise in a way that self-talk simply cannot.
Ground yourself in the facts, not the feelings
Anxiety has a way of making feelings feel like facts. Tammi encourages grounding yourself in the actual record: your CV, your LinkedIn profile, your experience. Those things are real. They exist regardless of how you feel on a given day. Returning to that factual foundation, rather than the anxious version of yourself, is a practical and genuinely helpful reframe.
Keep putting yourself forward, even when it's slow going
Dan acknowledges that the current economic climate is genuinely difficult, and that many people are feeling exactly this way right now. His encouragement is simple and worth holding onto: keep going. Keep throwing your hat in the ring. Progress in a job search is rarely linear, and as Andy put it in the session, two steps forward and one step back is still one step forward.
If anxiety is making the job hunt feel impossible right now, you are not imagining how hard it is. But you also have more to offer than your worst days are telling you.
our guests
Industry Leader
Dan Ingham
Sydney Opera House
Mental Health Expert
Tammi Miller
BARE Therapy
Host
