5 Ways You Can Still Land a Job During this Pandemic

03 Apr 5 Ways You Can Still Land a Job During this Pandemic

I know, as if the job search wasn’t challenging enough… the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has thrown a lot of hires and career moves in limbo. Just weeks ago, we were in a talent-driven market, with more job postings online than available applicants. Now, there’s a lot of uncertainty with the economy and how this pandemic is going to weigh on businesses and the American workforce.

It’s a lot to take in—wherever you are in your life or your career—you aren’t alone. We’re all in this together. Even as a recruiter and president of a recruiting firm, we are learning to navigate this volatile job market with respect, transparency and compassion every day.

While the economy is dipping with the rise of these cases and some employers are freezing hires, others are not. Many technology, supply chain, healthcare or retail organizations are still hiring or even accelerating their job growth to meet demand.

Here are five ways to navigate your job search during COVID-19:

Do the research.

Everything is changing fast. A position posted a week or two ago may or may not be a priority anymore. If you’re vetting out an employer and a position it helps to do a fast search for some details—have they posted about COVID-19 on their homepage? Can you find a press release or article from one of their thought leaders in a quick Google search to see how the organization is approaching the market?

And, when all else fails, communicate. Reach out to their recruiters via LinkedIn or email to let them know while you realize it’s a crazy time you are excited about this opportunity and wanted to know if they are actively hiring.

Build on your resume.

You’re spending a lot more time at home these days. It may be a good time to spend some of the money you’d usually put into going out into a Premium LinkedIn subscription. LinkedIn Learning is packed full of courses on leadership, mentoring, marketing, and more.

As you conquer these courses you can post the certificates to your profile, add skills to your resume and have the satisfaction of still knocking out achievements when you’re stuck inside.

Not interested in LinkedIn Learning? Opt-in to newsletters for sales or marketing professionals and start hopping on more webinars. Find and bookmark a few new blogs to read every day. Look for podcasts in your area—you can soak them up while enjoying a social-distanced walk around your neighborhood or sipping on a quarantini.

Keep engaging your network.

There’s strength in numbers and an active professional network is powerful when it comes to feeling out hiring trends and looking for ins during challenging times. Drop a line to colleagues and professional connections and say you’d love to chat for a few! Face-to-face communications are more important now than ever with all of us feeling more isolated.

You can download Zoom for free and video chat with connections to see how they are and get their take on hiring at their employer and others. Or, just reconnect to say hello, stay top-of-mind.

For more casual acquaintances who are your peers or friends, download the Marco Polo app and shoot them a quick video message to get a dialogue moving.

Get comfortable in front of a camera.

Prepare yourself, because when the interviews come, (and they will) they will be video interviews—for the foreseeable future. That means you need to get comfortable talking on camera. Get some practice in—post more often on LinkedIn with videos sharing your thoughts and best practices instead of blog posts.

Call your friends and family more on Facetime. Download the House Party app to reunite a few former colleagues for a virtual coffee date. Practice interviewing on camera—that free Zoom download can come in handy here!

Take care of yourself.

Real talk: the job hunt can be soul-crushing, during normal times. While you’re social distancing, find ways to treat yourself—whether that’s ordering an ice cream delivery, taking a long bath, or losing yourself in a good read or Netflix binge. Download the Calm app to meditate.

You matter, your mental health matters, and it impacts your job search—remember this.

In regard to money – you may want to rethink what you’re spending on.  Spending is likely to be lower already, so prioritizing spending on the things that will be an investment in you and support you to navigate these tough times is probably the best.  Also, The Small Business Administration (SBA) and U.S. Treasury have released the Paycheck Protection Program which is for Small Businesses and it also includes sole proprietorships, independent contractors and self-employed persons.  There are deadlines for this, so you need to apply as soon as possible. www.sba.gov

Why? Not only will you be prepared for whatever is coming next, you’ll feel more confident if you need that new job less.

Need more career advice? We’re here for you.

At Staffing Strong, we understand the challenges our job seekers and clients are experiencing right now, both professionally and on a human level. We want to help. Drop us a line and let’s see if we can make these crazy times a little easier for you.

Meet the Author

Evelyn Vega is the Founder and President at Staffing Strong and the Past President of the Phoenix American Marketing Association. Since 1999, she’s made her career about supporting her clients in building meaningful careers and partnering with businesses in finding quality hires. In her free time, Evelyn sits on various advisory boards and enjoys practicing on her drum kit!