I turn 24 next month and have never held any one job for longer than about a month due to social anxiety. Usually, I get overwhelmed and simply decide not to return to the job (without notice). On one occasion, during training, I pretended to go outside for a cigarette (I don't even smoke) and darted down the street until I was out of sight. Did I go back? Of course not - I went straight home, never to be seen again by those people. It's been so bad, I haven't been employed since January 2014. I kind of now fear working, feeling as though I'm not "ready".

I have recently completed my second year of university, so I haven't been completely idle, but I'm beginning to fear that unless I get a job soon (when I am "ready" to work), prospective employers will start to doubt that I'm even employable (due to my lack of work experience). In contrary to my lack of success in the work world, I've really applied myself at university and have managed to do quite well. I suppose, in that respect, I'm 'academic' in nature. Unfortunately, however, the same cannot be said for my performance in actual employment/practice, where I seem to lack confidence. 

Not only do I need to gain some valuable work experience in order to reach my career goal, but I also just need some money in the meantime! My social anxiety and resulting unemployment have forced me to live a life void of financial comfort and satisfaction. So far, the little work experience I've had has been casual work such as working in coffee shops, bars and so forth, and even that has proven too difficult for me to cope with due to social anxiety. I've identified some recurrent themes in the way social anxiety presents itself in the workplace:

- A fear of messing up or doing something wrong (either in front of customers or colleagues), and the resulting embarrassment. For this reason, simple tasks such as operating a till are anxiety-inducing - making me easily flustered.

- Fearing that the above fear is noticeable in my body language and overall communication, which only adds to it and makes functioning adequately all the more difficult.

- Doubting my abilities. I suppose the whole experience is fuelled by the belief that I'm not equipped with the social/practical skills to actually perform the job, which is why I'm afraid I'll mess up. It seems that I've placed so much emphasis on my academic strengths, that I view myself as someone who "isn't good at practical work - better at intellectual work" (if that makes sense?).

- Due to the above, I always feel as though I'm a fraud and that I'll eventually be found out for my lack of adequate skill, and be fired. This only fuels the anxiety more, in turn weakening my performance and increasing my fear of messing up - a vicious cycle. 

It's a shame because I have high aspirations to work in the professional work world, but at the moment I'm struggling with so much as casual/entry level work. 

Does anybody have any advice on how I might overcome these difficulties?

Thank you for your time.