For International men's day, we wanted to shine a light on some of the amazing men that work for Aviation Job Search and find out a little more about them.
This year we would like to talk more about men’s mental health and all the things they do to keep on top of their mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.
Let’s hear from Marcus Sheen, our Senior Designer at Aviation Job Search.
Talk us through an average day in your life
I work remotely, so my commute can be measured in metres rather than kilometres. This means I can normally get on top of emails and notifications before the morning rush which frees up a lot of time to be productive.
I work with people all over the world, from sales to marketing, product to client support, and spend a lot of my time in meetings coming up with creative strategies to help recruiters and job seekers connect.
We have a huge audience on social and email, so as you can imagine there are a lot of emails and designs that are needed, often with short turnaround times. And then a constant loop of measuring and improving everything I do.
What did you want to be when you were younger?
I’ve always been quite creative, but at the same time quite technically-minded, so one early train of thought was architecture. There’s a beauty in architecture in that you’re combining aesthetics with functionality, and the same can be said for visual and product design as well.
I ended up becoming quite fatigued with education, and so the idea of intense studies to become an architect filled me with dread so I opted for the easier option of becoming a designer once my further education was over.
What do you think are some of the biggest challenges facing young boys and men today?
Probably social media and the news. The two have become a self-perpetuating cycle with one feeding the other, creating this all-consuming monster that seems to thrive on creating anger and division; news articles full of outraged quotes from social media, and social media full of outraged headlines from the news.
Of course, the algorithm exploits this, amplifying confirmation bias and sending people down the rabbit hole, all because it increases engagement. It can be difficult to step back from this because then you can feel isolated compared to your peers.
How do you look after your mental health
Boundaries. Boundaries everywhere. I try not to let my professional and personal lives overlap. But I also try and limit screentime, especially on my phone. Just leaving my phone in another room helps me avoid robotically scrolling through social media. In fact, I’ve fallen out of love with social media and really only maintain my Instagram account to keep a positive mindset about the life I live, rather than vicariously living through others.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Don’t worry about the past or the future, just focus on the now. I probably need to tell my current-age self this sometimes, too.
What changes would you like to see in the future for men and their mental health?
While mental health is not really gender-specific, it’s well known that men aren’t as comfortable having open conversations about mental health.
But I think really we need to move beyond the concept of having to open up and perhaps have better awareness of mental health so it doesn’t need to become a huge conversation.
Often the symptoms of someone being overwhelmed mentally are seen as a ‘problem’ and not even identified as being a sign of mental struggles by employers, friends or family. With the pace of life nowadays, it’s a fine line between sinking or swimming and it shouldn’t take someone silent-quitting a Whatsapp group because they feel isolated or struggling with deadlines because they feel overwhelmed for it to become a conversation.
Who is your biggest male inspiration in life?
I’ve been thinking about this for a while and don’t actually have a good answer. Some of my friends have dealt with a lot of difficult situations with an almost unbelievable mental attitude. If you push me, I’d probably say Barack Obama. He did a difficult job with a lot of humility.
What is your proudest achievement?
Probably learning a second language. It’s harder than the ‘learn Spanish in 3 months’ ads would lead you to believe, but it’s worth it. It’s allowed me to meet new people and get the most out of my trips to Spanish speaking countries.
