Ideas to Help You Find a New Job in a Pandemic

by George deGeyter

When 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.

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.

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Build and strengthen relationships with an eye to the future

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

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.

It's important to remember that building relationships and arranging to meet people in these ways takes time to yield results. It's a numbers game; you need to be willing to try a great many people and a variety of meetings before you find the results that you look for.

Lay down the foundation for a future career change

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. People learn entirely new skill sets online all the time to successfully transition to new careers. They even gain a modicum of experience in these new careers by getting on freelancing websites like UpWork. When you have a degree of spare time during a pandemic, you are able to make use of the resources that you need online to build the foundation to make a career change happen.

Network effectively

The more people you know in an industry, the more likely you are to hear about attractive job openings in it. It's a good idea to get on LinkedIn, Facebook, or another social network, find a professional association or committee for your career, and become an active member. Influential people in your career of choice will be able to learn about you by seeing you in action, rather than by just going through a resume. It can also be an idea to mention your experience with these associations in your resume. People do land jobs on the basis of the relationships that they build, and the experience that they earn volunteering time in associations.

Don't worry too much about pay, at first

When you make a career transition, sometimes it can help to be flexible with what you get paid. Some people find that employers are willing to give them a chance if they are ready to work on a consulting basis, rather than work full-time. Others find that job opportunities are more readily available when they are willing to accept minimal pay at first, with the understanding that they will receive better pay once they prove that they are able to meet certain benchmarks.

Turn your attention to industries experiencing growth in a pandemic

When the spread of a pandemic forces a large part of the population to stay at home, it plays havoc with a number of industries. The hospitality and travel industries, for example, tend to lose much of their business. Even the healthcare industry tends to slow down in a pandemic, a time when fewer people tend to choose to get high-priced elective treatments. Some industries, however, tend to experience a boost - the electronic entertainment, e-commerce and supply chain industries are examples. It can help to look to these industries for a possible career change.

Plan for possible termination

If you're fortunate enough to be employed in the middle of a pandemic, it can still help to plan for possible termination. When the effects of a pandemic play havoc with the economy, job loss is a possibility that you need to plan for. Make sure that any personal files that you have on your work computer are backed up, make copies of the email addresses of important people at your current company you would like to stay in touch with, prepare your resume and other job search materials, make sure that your

Changing jobs or careers can always be challenging, but in the middle of a pandemic, when your workload drops, and you find yourself at home much of the time, it can help to make use of your spare time.

LinkedIn profile is updated, and mentally prepare for the negotiations that you will need to enter for severance and outplacement services in the event that you are laid off.

Finally, while you do need to reach out to other people for help when you switch jobs or careers, it's important to be sensitive to the fact that those other people could be caught up in their own personal worries and concerns. When you reach out to them, it can be a good idea to state upfront that you understand that your timing may be less than ideal, and you'd be happy to wait if they are unable to give you the time that you need. It always helps to demonstrate sensitivity and understanding.

Changing jobs or careers can always be challenging, but in the middle of a pandemic, when your workload drops, and you find yourself at home much of the time, it can help to make use of your spare time. You can learn the skills that you need, build a network, and, in general, put in the groundwork necessary. Before long, your work should begin to pay off.

Article provided by Constant-Content.com

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