Coronavirus: Job hunting amid a pandemic
A common experience of the COVID-19 pandemic is the tantalising glimpses of people’s personal space. Colleagues, politicians and television presenters are all – typically for the first time – speaking to us from their homes.
It is a daily reminder of what a topsy turvy time this is. This is especially true of those who were either planning a career move or who are currently between roles. For these people, a shift in approach is needed for the new economic environment. My executive search business speaks with leaders of large and medium sized businesses and NGOs on a regular basis about their response to the crisis and what it means for their hiring needs. So what have we learnt?
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Accept that everything is going slower
Whilst government policy has never changed more frequently or more quickly, businesses are taking longer to make decisions. This is in large part because the scale of the challenge changes by the day (often at the 5pm daily government briefing) makes certainty a scarce commodity. It is also true that whilst Video Conferencing has been a vital channel for communication, conversations take longer than in-person exchanges would as we decode the disembodied faces in front of us without the face-to-face cues of real eye contact, body language and nuances. Decision making reflects this. Where you were hoping for news or a decision, do not push too hard for it – enthusiasm can easily tip over into irritation; allow space and time and give yourself some slack.
Use your commuting time
Almost all of us have been given this back; do something you were too busy to do pre-pandemic. Whilst Netflix subscriptions have rocketed during lockdown, a more professionally constructive use of time might be to volunteer either on a temporary basis or to contact organisations (schools, charities or community centres) for longer term support. Not only will these be good things to do – they could give future job applications an added dimension.
Be aware of your social media usage
In this remote age, recruiters and would-be employers will rely more than ever on professional platforms such as LinkedIn and job sites. Make sure you have a clear and professionally suitable profile for these. Pictures should be business-appropriate and so probably not include your pet, a loved one, your wedding day, your hobbies, pulling a face or be a cropped section of a photo of you on a night out. Experience should be clearly laid out in bullet points which make it accessible to anyone interested. Make sure it is grammatically correct. Many profiles still have experience that finished five years ago written in the present tense and even more profiles proudly declare “…20 years experience…” with no apostrophe… which somewhat undermines the quality of the 20 years’ experience…
Have a fresh look at your CV
If your CV is longer than two pages then please consider trimming it down. Too often, CVs are built in compound fashion – simply adding a new experience to what went before – and the result of this is that experience at the start of your career is given disproportionate space. Give the most detail to the experience most likely to qualify you for your next role – not the work experience you did after university. These documents can easily suffer from too much editing by the writer. Ask a friend to have a read through with fresh eyes to ensure it makes sense and to avoid any glaring errors – since lockdown I have had messages which have included assurances of a “career in pubic relations” and a note of thanks for my “tiresome support” from a client. Maybe the latter was trying to tell me something.
Take opportunities when they come
This is a hirer’s market and decisions to make an offer have been subjected to internal pressure and scrutiny. If you are the recipient of an offer, you should take it – it is very likely to be the real deal. This presumes you applied for good reason (even if that was in a pre-pandemic world) and you are not now persuaded to remain where you are.
We are all learning on the fly and it is far from perfect. Everyone is sleeping in the office and none of us has had a professional haircut in several weeks! These are not normal times and you should not approach the jobs market in the normal way.