How To Reinvent Your Career During COVID-19
A special thanks for this guest blog post from Amy Honor.
Unexpected events may create shock and disorganize our daily routines, but as the saying goes, ‘there’s a silver lining to every dark cloud.’ The Coronavirus pandemic disrupted the world and caused a cataclysm in the employment sector. Millions lost their jobs and are either job searching or are considering a career change. A 2020 study by O.C. Tanner discovered that 48% of U.S. employees are already pondering a career change when COVID-19 settles down. Are you among this group? Find out how you can reinvent your career.
- Match your current skills to new opportunities
While you’re on the path to self-discovery, take a moment to evaluate your skills and experiences. How relevant are they to a COVID-19 world? For example, you may have been an events marketing manager before the pandemic hit. Given that not enough people are organizing programs to keep you afloat, you must reinvent yourself. First of all, COVID redefined the essence of business digitization. It explains why more companies need digital marketers.
As part of your reinvention strategy, pivot your skills to meet this new market opportunity. You can offer your expertise by tapping into the digital world and applying your experiences where they’re most needed. Admittedly, you may need more digital skills such as SEO, Data Analytics, or Social Media marketing to boost the practical background you already have. This will require taking classes, but it will be for your own good.
- Move from one city to the other (if necessary)
Moving from one city to the next can be a challenging experience. Nobody likes to leave the familiar behind, but if that’s what the situation requires, there’s no arguing about it. According to MarketWatch, these five U.S. cities will bounce back faster during and after the pandemic. They are Las Vegas (hospitality), Boston (life-science), and Oklahoma City (energy), Washington D.C. (defense), and Miami (retail business). Looking for employment in cities least affected by the coronavirus should be your focus.
So, if you’re based in the suburbs and looking to reinvent your career, move where the action is. Fortunately, the hassle of transporting your stuff can be handled by Shiply. All you need to do is to request on their free load board online platform. A trucker or driver looking for shipments will make a bid for the items you need to be moved to a new location. If the fee works for you, say ‘hello’ to new beginnings.
- Re-establish contact with your dormant ties
‘Resurrecting’ professional relationships with persons you lost touch with in the last three years or more is a proactive step to take. Categorized under networking, this could be hard to do, especially when social-distancing has become the order of the day. However, digital platforms make this easy and convenient. By using social media platforms such as LinkedIn, you can track down some lost professional contacts (as long as you still remember their names) and re-introduce yourself to them.
Honestly, it may be challenging for your contact to confirm the authenticity of who is reaching out. This is when you should recollect a scenario you both identify with. It could be a seminar you both attended or a particular college professor, you know. After clearing that hurdle, let them know you intend to stay in touch regularly. After which, proceed to seek their opinions on the industry they’re in and how it’s evolving.
At this point, it will be a great way to broach the subject of reinventing yourself and your career. So, why must you reach out to dormant professional contacts instead of your existing ones? The answer lies in your contact’s enthusiasm to reconnect and contribute effectively to your rediscovery mission.
Finding greater purpose and meaning in your life requires exploring opportunities until you arrive at that one place you belong. Admittedly, reinventing a career is not an easy process. Moreover, with the uncertainty of quickly getting employed, there is a lot at risk. Nonetheless, once you get it right, everything else will fall in place.
