Resilience and You

What’s resilience and do you have it? More than that, how can you build it to help you through this time of crisis?

The global economy has taken a massive hit. And although it’s recovering, some industries are still hollowed out, and experts are saying that Singapore’s post-recession economy will be vastly different.

But job searches wait for no one, and neither do graduation dates. You’ve probably already been left gutted at the thought of a cancelled convocation and the reality of finding a job you like in a recession. Now, on top of everything else, how can you get over this new reality without dwelling on it too much?

With dignity, grace, and most importantly, resilience, of course!

What’s resilience?

When you ask “What’s resilience?”, you might find yourself fed lines on adaptability, how you should react to unplanned events, or how quickly you can recover when things don’t go as planned.

Except, that’s not the full truth. Yes, resilience is about being able to adapt to and navigate through unknown circumstances. And it’s also about the capability to bounce back with minimal stress, even when things don’t go according to plan.

But there’s also career resilience. It’s about awareness, a certain ability and agility to change along with the challenges you have to face in order to achieve your goal and the strength to grow and learn from the obstacles you have successfully hurdled.

The good news is that we all have both resilience and career resilience to a certain degree. For example, have you been looking for ways to future-proof your career? Taught yourself how to solve an unknown problem through Google searches or YouTube tutorials? These are all examples of resilience at work.

Resilience is a trait that you can strengthen with practise. Just like how you can improve public speaking skills through mock presentations, you can also improve your resilience through facing tough situations with the right mindset and figuring out how to adapt!

Why is resilience important?

Without sounding overdramatic, resilience can make or break your job search – especially now, with the present environment surrounding job prospects and career progression being so unpredictable.

Challenges will inevitably pop up, like your job search definitely not going the way you want it to, or taking much longer than expected. These factors can weigh you down over time and cause you to question your own self-worth as a jobseeker and person. Approach the process with the right mindset so that the journey continues to be a positive learning experience for you.

Resilience isn’t about irrational positivity or burying your head in the sand. It’s about approaching your career planning with a growth-oriented mindset. Learn to keep your eye on the bigger picture and don’t let temporary setbacks pull you down. Be confident enough in your strengths to be honest about your own weaknesses and actively approach any task with the intent to learn from it and improve.

Maintaining a resilient mindset is key to a meaningful longterm career journey too! For instance, Forbes listed adaptability as one of the skills employers looked for in 2022.

How to start building resilience

Although the local economy is recovering, the global pandemic is still ongoing, and the situation still remains precarious. As such, developing resilience now seems more important than ever. But where do you start?

You should begin by looking inward and understanding what makes you tick. Here are some suggestions:

• Look back on times in your life where things went well and when they didn’t. How did you respond to these scenarios? What do they say about how you react in both good and bad times? • Be honest with yourself about your weaknesses and fears. Why do they scare you or bother you? Are you satisfied with how they are? If not, what will you do to try and remedy that? • Check if your campus career services centre runs workshops for self-awareness. If they do, check them out • Pinpoint strategies or measures that have kept you calm and helped you address unforeseen circumstances in the past. Whether it’s just mapping things out on paper, or turning to spirituality to ease your mind, just go with what works best for you • Be kind to yourself. Being confident in your strengths starts with loving yourself more • Accept that change is the only constant in life, and learn to embrace it • Learn to approach mistakes and rejection positively – see them as learning experiences or opportunities for feedback • Remember this simple truth: your past setbacks are not an indicator of your future success!

Putting resilience to work

How do you make a resilient mindset work for you in your career planning, especially now that the world is a very different place from what it once was?

A resilient mindset isn’t set in its ways. If job applications alone aren’t working for you, try attending online events to broaden your professional network and search for other avenues. Alternatively, you can relook your resume and applications, and get external feedback on how you might improve them further. And if your dream industry is not hiring at the moment, think about some other options you can consider.

But you can also turn your attention to picking up more skills to ensure career resilience as well. If the industry you want to enter requires certain skills or knowledge you don’t currently have, don’t just throw your hands up in defeat! Take the time to go for courses or read up on those topics. Courses are also not necessarily long – in fact, there are six-hour courses on popular sites such as Coursera.

Learning how to approach your career journey with a resilient mindset is a key part of staying employable – whether during uncertain times or stable ones. Make it a point to keep practising it every chance you get, and see the difference it makes in terms of how you think about yourself – both as a person and a professional!