It won’t have escaped your notice that the world is in the middle of a global emergency. Coronavirus is currently running rampant across the globe and there are currently over 400,000 cases globally. It has affected every corner of our lives. Many countries are in lockdown, with the UK going into lockdown on March the 23rd. The general public are unable to go to restaurants, gyms and make any non essential trips. The government has told people to work from home if possible and the health service is under tremendous strain.
Alongside the obvious concerns around health and financial stability, you may also be wondering how it impacts your career change aspirations. Many recruiters are reporting a slow down in recruitment, with some waiting for the worst to pass before lifting their hiring freeze.
It would be entirely understandable, under the circumstances, if you decided to pause your job search/career change. As we hear that many people are losing their jobs as a result of the virus, no one could blame you for being cautious. Although the picture seems bleak at the moment, there are some things should consider which will give you a head start .
Rebranding and Reworking
Update your CV. Make sure it is up to date and ready to be sent out as soon as things start getting ‘back to normal’. Work on your brand. Update your LinkedIn profile, make sure you are following the right companies and posting interesting articles and comments.
Brush Up On Your (Virtual) Interview Skills
Brush up on your interview skills. Get comfortable with answering the most common interview questions and work out what you should be asking. Virtual interviews are becoming quite popular now, for obvious reasons. You need to make sure you are prepared as phone/online interviews can be very different to fact to face.
Skill Up
With many of us self isolating and finding ourselves with more time on our hands, this is the perfect time to think about new qualifications. Whether you want to brush up on IT skills, web design or Social Media management, there are plenty of courses out there. Obtaining new skills and qualifications will put you in a great position for when companies start hiring again.
We hope these tips helped.We may be going through a global health crisis at the moment but we will get through it. When that happens you should be ready to move on with your career change journey.
Stay safe everyone.
