Losing your job during a global crisis….

1.     Conduct a thorough review of your current financial situation.

2.     Look for opportunities to save money: eat at home, downgrade cable packages, buy less expensive brands, borrow books and movies from the library, consolidate debt into one low interest payment- there are a myriad money saving tips - seek them out and apply them.

3.     Take this time to get really clear on what you want your next career step to be.  Who hires, what do they want, do you have any potential barriers? 

4.     The Ideal Job exercise is a great place to start! 

5.     Personality assessments can provide valuable insights.  I can send you a quiz to complete and then send your profile.

6.     Give yourself a chance to recharge and re-evaluate what you want to do in life and how you can best contribute.

7.     Pursue your interests! Personal activities that energize you, that re charge your batteries. (Those that adhere to our current situation).  You can still walk, work out at home, form on line meet ups, learn something new that has nothing to do with your job search, just personal development. 

8.     What makes you laugh?  Try to take 30 minutes / day to watch something funny.  YouTube is a goldmine for laughing until your stomach hurts!

9.     Update your resume, create various marketing materials to showcase your value, build your portfolio.

10.  Highlight relevant experiences and describe them in quantifiable terms. Be specific about the results you have achieved and the contributions you have made to the business.

11.  Connect with your references, past colleagues, and let them know that you are job-searching.

12.  Update your LinkedIn profile.  Discover the important key words that recruiters will be scanning for and make sure you integrate them into your summary profile. 

13.  Follow employers you want to work for

Comment on posts, share insights, write a blog and share it on LinkedIn.

14.  Celebrate your successes with meaningful rewards.

15.  And, by the way, rejection is one of those successes. Handling rejection and still moving forward deserves a gold medal!! 

16.  Be Curious. This is your opportunity to learn valuable information about organizations, various types of careers, sectors.  Conduct a research project:  Pick 2 different sector, 10 organizations within these sectors, the career field you are pursuing.  What problems, challenges do they need fixed? What are the future trends?  Can your experiences, knowledge and skills help them? 

17.  Who works in this sector, workplace and career field? LinkedIn!

18.  How will you reach out and connect with these people?

19.  Network on line, ask for help, ask for feedback and advise from others. 

20.  Now can be a very good time to reach out and talk to leaders at the various companies.  Everyone wants to help others.  Be open to be helped and to help others.  Our world needs to be reminded to be kind.  A few moments can be truly life changing for job seekers in today’s chaotic world. 

21.  Get your mindset right  Having a confident mental attitude serves one immensely in the process of finding a new role. This is not just about thinking positively, this is about acting positively.  Who and what can help you maintain a positive mental attitude?  It is important. 

22.  Whatever you’ve been putting off in other areas of your life because you’re “too busy working”- tackle it now. Not only will you feel productive when you tick these things off your list - it will also help reduce your stress.

23.  Expand your skills.  Now is a great time to build skills and knowledge through online learning / training. What will be needed and wanted.  Do your research, choose wisely!  Future employers will value the investment that you made in enhancing yourself enormously.

24.  Take a platform job.  Something part time, work from home?

25.  Volunteer if possible.  Over the next few weeks, once things settle check with our Volunteer Action Centre to see what needs our community may have.  https://volunteerwr.ca/

Take some time to enjoy.  Trust me, soon this will be over and our busy lives will resume and you will get a job, and you don’t want to kick yourself for not taking full advantage of your time off!!