Like it or not, you are in this.
During these uncertain times, when no one knows exactly when the Covid-19 will be contained, you can’t help wondering about job security.
India’s unemployment rate rose to 23.52%, highest since Jan 2016 (Data available since Jan 2016 only), according to CMIE. What's important to notice is that the unemployment jumped straight from 8.74% in Mar 2020 to over 23% in Apr 2020. That's 3X in just one month. That's probably unprecedented. (Update Jul 10, 2020: There's finally good news. After touching soaring heights of over 23% in April and May, the unemployment rate is coming back to the old normal in Jun 2020. We'll have to wait and see what July has in store for us.)
And if the US economy is anything to go by, roughly 40.8 million people filed for unemployment benefits since mid-march 2020 (As per Fortune.com) and the end is nowhere in sight.
You don’t need an economist to tell you how far things can go during and after the 21-day national lockdown. And what are the odds of the lockdown period going beyond these 21 days? “High” most people would agree. (Looks like we guessed it right. The lockdown 2.0, then lockdown 3.0 and finally lockdown 4.0, before the Unlock 1.0)
The stock markets around the world are in free fall, the sheer scale of this crisis is unnerving. We sincerely hope the crises ends soon.
Questions like, “How long can I survive financially?”, “What about my loan EMIs?”, “What kind of catching up will I need when this is over?”, “What will happen when I join back?”, etc. are like a can of worms you are trying your best to avoid opening. The list is endless.
But is ‘doing nothing’ an option?
CVGUYS.IN finds out what you CAN do.
Look for short-term opportunities
It’s under such situations, when a lot of employers facing a sudden rise in demand for their products and services, need to quickly find talent to fill short-term positions. These ‘temp jobs’ can add a lot of value to your career prospects as you are learning new skills to your skill set.
Find something that you can do ‘Virtually’
Once you know what kind of short-term opportunities exist in the market, it’s time to figure out which of these jobs can be done ‘Virtually’. There are hundreds of jobs available today that don’t require you to be physically present at an office. The in-person contact, therefore, isn’t necessary, leaving you with abundant opportunities.
Millions and millions of people around the world have chosen to work ‘virtually’ or ‘remotely’ over the past few years and the concept is nothing new to employers either.
Sites like Upwork offer freelance opportunities to a wide spectrum of professionals from around the world. They can connect with employers looking to leverage freelance talent and save hundreds and thousands of dollars (or whichever currency you relate to).
Figure out which of these skills you have
Find your muse. Make a list of 5-10 skills that you think could be useful to someone who is in an industry that is operational even now. In other words ‘Essential Services and Goods’. Some examples include content writing, coaching of an in-demand skill over a voice/video call, build your YouTube channel where you share information that has value for the masses and so on. Make sure you find ways to monetize these time investments.
Reach out to those who need your skills
Once you know which of your skills are more relevant in these chaotic times, find out who could these skills be useful for, today. There are industries which are ramping up right now like Equipment manufacturers (medical and otherwise), Pharma, NGOs, Journalism, and many more. Reach out to them. You could end up striking gold. Who knows?
Reboot your CV
Some correction and restructuring in the corporate hierarchies is imminent in the aftermath of Covid-19. This could be attributed to the losses caused to companies. Imagine the revenue losses of event management firms, travel and tourism business, real estate, automobile, electronics, retail (except grocery and daily needs) and the like.
As much as we hope that the restructuring will not result in a job loss to anyone, it’s important to ask “Am I immune to it?”.
If not, now isn’t a bad time to take some time off of binge-watching your favorite Netflix series and to contemplate if your current resume needs a revamp. You could make some changes to ‘Make it great again’ (Yeah, we just shamelessly stole it from the US President’s election slogan).
You can read more about how to write the perfect resume.
And if the idea of writing the perfect resume is a bit overwhelming, take the help of professional resume writers.
And as they ‘This too shall pass’.
Wish you Success.
CVGUYS.IN
CVGUYS offer professional resume writing services in India and Internationally.
Note: Not updating this post after Jul 10, 2020.