Your Guide to Job Searching During the Coronavirus Pandemic
WHEN JENNIFER MAGLEY lost her job due to coronavirus layoffs last week, she did as so many professionals do during a job search – she took to LinkedIn to share her story.
“I am not special,” wrote Magley, who until recently was a senior manager of brand partnerships in Indianapolis for an international sports and events management company. “Yesterday I was laid off. No spouse. No special savings. No childcare. No one will ‘save’ us. It’s all on me.”
Although the layoff was officially temporary, Magley says, “Obviously I’d be thrilled to be rehired, but I’m not anticipating it.”
It’s a feeling that’s shared throughout the country as the U.S. Department of Labor reports that a record-breaking 6.6 million Americans filed new claims for unemployment insurance benefits in the week ending March 28. Across the full spectrum of the labor market, from those in traditional staff employment, to gig workers and freelancers, to contractors and hourly workers, people are feeling the pressure.
Magley, a former pro athlete herself, also had a bustling side business of offering tennis lessons. Now, she says, all of her local parks are closed, and that business has evaporated virtually overnight. So, too, has her other side gig as a keynote speaker. “I can’t imagine a time when we’ll have 3,000 people in the same room again,” she says. “Can you?”
To prepare for this new reality, imagination is key. Since the traditional rules no longer apply, it’s important to envision other skills, jobs and industries where you might find your next position. In some ways, it’s like starting a job search for the very first time, and may take some time to get up to speed on what job searching during an outbreak might look like. Here are a few tips to get started:
Start Your Job Search
First, discover which companies are actually hiring now. Utilize networking tools like social media platforms and job boards, taking note of which listings are current and which might be more than a few weeks old. Refresh your resume, or rewrite it entirely, to highlight digital and remote team skills. If you haven’t already, get familiar with new remote tools like Slack and Zoom and learn how to put your best foot forward. When companies are ready to hire, they might do so quickly, so being ready for everything from a video interview to working with or even managing a remote team for the first time will be critical.
Focus on Digital Skills
Riley expects several industries will be hiring now, including health care, e-commerce and technology. “Any role that can convert to digital will,” he says, “and any company that can move their business online, will.”
He advises job seekers to focus on their digital capabilities. “Businesses will need remote-ready employees,” he says, “and they will need people who are innovative and thinking about distribution models that can sustain atypical times.” Take advantage of this time to brush up on old skills, learn new ones and even earn free or low-cost online certificates through massive open online courses (also known as MOOCs), professional organizations or other online learning to showcase your readiness.
Showcase Your Transferable Skills
In addition to focusing on digital capabilities, Kelly Hoey, author of “Build Your Dream Network,” says if you’re job searching, now’s the time to think big. “You may be out of work in an industry that’s going to take a very long time to recover,” she says. “It’s important to think about how your skills could be transferable to another industry.”
Reach Out to Your Network
And, like Magley did, Hoey says relying on your network is key. “Make it really easy for your network to help you, by having clarity about what you’re looking for,” she says. “Give them specific evidence of the type of examples of work and information that they can use to think of opportunities for you.” Use whatever platform you’ve used previously; a carefully crafted direct message on Twitter can be just as effective as an email to a personal address, but be careful to keep the level of outreach appropriate to your level of familiarity. A text message on a weekend to a personal mobile of someone who is a passing acquaintance, or an overly forward email with attachments to someone you haven’t spoken to in years, might not yield the desired result. Remember, keep it professional and direct, so that even friends can forward your request to their acquaintances.
Consider a New Career Path
If you’ve been laid off, now’s also a good time to reassess your career, not only because so many industries will have changed dramatically by the time the pandemic is over, but to see if you’ve been meeting your personal goals as well.
But whether you’re looking to change industries, hone your digital skills or flex your imagination, it’s important to stay open to new possibilities.
After Magley shared her experience on LinkedIn, both about being laid off and her desire to stay positive and transparent about how challenging the experience has been, she says she’s received an outpouring of support, ranging from job search help to offers of cash donations, from the more than 1 million people who have viewed her post. One of those million people might just be the next person to hire her.
It’s an experience she never would have had if she hadn’t been open and honest with being laid off.
“None of us are too special to escape this crisis. When we want change it is called an opportunity and when we don’t, it is a deemed a challenge,” she wrote in her LinkedIn post. “Total transparency in this time will be my way of rising back up.”
“I’m not ashamed of being knocked down,” she says. “I was, but now I think that sharing it, and sharing where you’re at with it, is OK.”
