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equal opportunity employment journal
September 2020
Ideas to Help You Find a New Job in a Pandemic
W
by George deGeyter
hen the country battles a pandemic, you may find that your workload is lighter, or that you're out of a job. In either case, it's an opportunity that you can seize to put into action plans that you may have had at the back of your mind about switching jobs or careers. What follows are tips to help you put them into action. Build and strengthen relationships with an eye to the future
If you hope to switch to a more satisfying career sometime in the future, the isolation of a pandemic could be the right time to take concrete steps toward the goal. You could conduct research on LinkedIn to find professionals in your chosen career path to be in touch with and learn from, and sign up for online classes.
A great many jobs out there are never advertised. Instead, they are filled through the contacts and relationships of existing employees. Tapping into this hidden, relationship-driven job market can be a way to come by the kind of positions that you hope for once the economy rebounds. You can start by thinking about your current network on LinkedIn, about former coworkers from years ago, and your personal network of friends and family. Sending a LinkedIn message or an email out to them can help. You can tell them about what your aims are, and what kind of value you offer employers. It can also be a good idea to try cold-emailing new people every now and then to see if you can find someone willing to help you. Cold emails can work if your messaging is right. Once you begin reaching out to people, it's important to continue to stay in touch with them and build relationships. When you invest time in genuine relationships, you'll be able to turn to them for the job recommendations that you need.
Get organized
When you cultivate many contacts and relationships, it can be hard to keep track of them. Cultivating relationships requires a certain amount of deliberate effort. It can help to set up a contact management database, usually a simple spreadsheet. You can make a note of the actions that you take with each contact, and the dates on which you need to make further moves.
Arrange informational meetings
Tosoh Bioscience, Inc. (TBI) provides highly sophisticated diagnostic systems to doctor’s offices, hospitals and reference laboratories.
Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V
The employee work environment is fast-paced, challenging and offers opportunities for personal growth and career advancement. TBI employees are focused on the collective vision of providing quality products and services through innovation. For information regarding job openings at TBI, or to submit an application, please visit the Tosoh Jobs Portal online at: www.tosoh.iapplicants.com Learn more about us at: www.tosohbioscience.com 6000 Shoreline Court • Suite 101 • South San Francisco, CA 94080
In the middle of a pandemic, when people work from home for the most part they are likely to have time to spare. You can use the opportunity that a pandemic presents, and reach out to them to set up virtual informational meetings that, hopefully, lead to an interview at some point. Once you have the attention of a contact, you can give them a 30-second pitch in which you explain to them in concise terms how you present value to a potential employer, and what sets you apart. It can help to ask thoughtful questions that enable you to learn how you can best put your skills to use working for a new employer. If the people you speak to don't appear to be aware of a current opening for you, you might simply ask them for useful feedback on your resume and on the way you present yourself. It can also be an idea to talk about whether they know anyone else in their organization or elsewhere that you could speak to. It can help to bring up the names of the different organizations that you're currently considering reaching out to, to see if they know people there who could help you. Once the meeting concludes, you should remember to send them an email to thank them for their time.
