Despite the changing world, it is possible to initiate or continue searching for a job at the moment. And yes, it will be different. It’s true that some jobs may be harder to come by right now, and if you’re in one of those industries, know that there are opportunities in other fields where you can parlay your skills. There is great demand for jobs in healthcare (these jobs don’t all need a medical license), maintaining medical and consumer supply chains, or delivering essential goods to those staying home—some of these may be part-time jobs, some gig-jobs, and other full-time opportunities.
It’s encouraging that these opportunities exist, but keep in mind that your job search will still be challenging to traverse. Because so many businesses are now operating out of the homes of workers across the country, the responses from recruiters and hiring manager will likely be slower than usual but know that there are companies that will hire for the roles they need the most.
Staying positive and setting reasonable expectations will be what keeps you going during this time. Adapting quickly to virtual job searching will give you an edge, but know that staying organized to keep track of your applications, virtual career fairs and events, and remote interviews will require some effort.
Determining how many jobs are currently available is going to be challenging at the moment. A lot of hiring managers are focusing on making sure their current staff is set up to be successful, so it is likely that filling current job openings might not be the top priority it was a few weeks ago. This is okay, you can still apply to the job and now the hiring manager has your resume, so when their staff gets settled and they can focus on previous priorities—you’re already on their radar.
In the meantime, spend your time updating your resume and checking in with personal and professional colleagues—even if it’s just to check in to see how they’re doing during all of this—as you never know where you next opportunity might come from. At the moment, many companies are trying to anticipate when lies ahead and when things progress, you’ll have already planted the seed and be top of mind when they’re ready to make a hiring decision.
Some key takeaways as you continue or start your job search:
- This will be like no other time before. Know that this job search will be like no job search you’ve previously experienced. For starters, it will be completely online and if you’re hired in the next few weeks, you will likely not meet any co-workers in person for some time.
- Be camera ready. Video interviewing has been used for some time, but is typically used to screen candidates early on in the hiring process—but now in this world of social distancing this is it’s time to shine! Here are some tips for interviewing remotely.
- Focus on what you can control. Keep in mind that because this experience is unprecedented, don’t expect it to be as by the book as your past job search experiences. So, stay positive and know that many things are out of your hands at this point. So, focus on what you can control by doing all the right things now to lay the groundwork for a successful job search.