Maintaining Hope in Your Job Search During COVID-19
Tagged: #career coaching, #talks
A few weeks ago, I was part of a panel hosted by Bossed Up to talk about job searching during the current COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus. It’s an understatement to say that this situation is unusual and unfamiliar. As I write this, I’m in my fourth week of working from home under a state-wide “stay at home” order, many businesses have had to permanently shutter, and over 16 million people have lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
For job seekers, whether already on the market before this crisis or suddenly finding themselves looking for work, it can be hard to know which way is up right now. To be honest, many of us who do career coaching and counseling for a living are also unsure what will happen in the coming days, weeks, and months. We’ve never seen a crisis like this, and even past recessions were different given that our current situation finds so many of us at home due to forced closure of nonessential businesses.
One of the things that I’ve kept coming back to these past few weeks is the overall theme of hope from this webinar. Bossed Up’s founder and host of the webinar, Emilie Aries, asked us what hasn’t changed in the job search. And fortunately, not much has changed. The context in which we find ourselves has taken a 180 degree turn, and the process might look a little bit different while we’re social distancing, but what we have control over in terms of our job search remains much the same. This includes things like:
- Going back to basics and writing strong, clear, refined resumes and cover letters
- Doing research on the organizations we are interested in, and then demonstrating that research in our applications and interviews
- Practicing interview skills, whether with a friend or career coach
- Networking, especially through online tools like LinkedIn, Facebook groups, professional association message boards and email lists, and setting up video or phone calls with contacts you haven’t talked to in a while
Some job seekers have already been doing these things, and others may have not thought of them before. But I list these points because when I work with clients who face an uphill job search even in good times—such as LGBTQ folks, people of color, and people with disabilities—this is what I always emphasize. We can’t control the job market or the economy, just like how in good times we can’t control if an employer will be biased or discriminate against us. What we can control is how we approach our job search and how we manage our careers. As Liz Ryan of Human Workplace often says, we are all entrepreneurs of our own careers.
These are tough, unfamiliar times. I understand that many of us feel hopeless and like we are not in control. The truth is, the sense of control or certainty we typically feel is based in the faith that things won’t suddenly change. So when there is sudden change, we realize how little we were in control in the first place. By using this time to identify and focus on what you always have control over, I truly believe that you will also uncover hope in the uncertainty.
Learn more about the webinar, “Job Searching Amid COVID-19 Uncertainty” on Bossed Up’s website or watch the recording below.