Although the current situation has put some things on hold, your job search shouldn’t be one of them.
We understand that job seeking during this time is different from usual, however more free time at the moment could help you to develop, reflect and work out what it is that you’re looking for in a new role.
As well as taking the time to update your CV/portfolio, here are some recommendations of other things you could be doing during this time:
Build your personal brand
When it comes to finding a new job, employers may not only look at CVs and portfolios but social media profiles too, so it’s best to keep them in order as much as possible. Use this time to boost your own personal brand, such as sharing relevant news stories in your industry, commenting on interesting posts and following company pages you aspire to work at. Another way is creating original content yourself so if you’re passionate about a subject, write an article about it (e.g. on LinkedIn or start your own blog) and share it across your feed. Plus, videos are a great way to boost your own personal brand too. This will show that you’re engaging in the industry and using this time to grow and share your expertise.
Network
As you will already be aware, many events have been put on hold, however you can still fill up your diary with virtual ones. Utilise this time to open up conversations and communicate with people in your industry and maybe even some past colleagues. LinkedIn is full of different groups for a variety of professions, industries and interests, so make sure you join relevant ones and engage with other members. Optimise social platforms as much as possible and be honest and tell people that you are actively looking for a new opportunity. Many recruiters who are still working will be active on LinkedIn during this time, so you could reach out to them to see if they have any potential opportunities.
Use this time to learn
If you have more spare time than usual at the moment, then you could use this time to learn and develop your own skill set. This could include webinars, e-books, podcasts or even social media lives (e.g. on LinkedIn and Instagram). Try and follow as many inspirational people in your industry and see what they’re getting involved in as there could be something for you to do too! Focusing on improving a new skill during this time could be just what you need to boost your CV. Think about something you’ve always wanted to try or improve on, or something that is potentially missing from your skill set. There are loads of online courses, with a variety of time frames, which may be great for what you’re looking to do, for example, you could take a look at Google courses (e.g. Digital Garage) and Future Learn for any relevant subject-related courses.
Continue a WFH routine
If you’re not currently working while searching for a new job right now, it is worthwhile to continue a ‘work from home’ routine during this time. This could include getting up/going to bed at the same time that you usually would, getting ready and writing a list of things you want to get done within a usual working day time frame. This will help you to stay productive, so when the time comes that you get a new job, the new working day routine won’t take as long to get used to. Your list of tasks could include doing some of the things mentioned above, job searching, improving your CV, doing jobs around the house or even taking up a new hobby or skill. If you’d like to find out more tips on how to stay productive while working from home, click here.
Plus, if you’re actively applying for roles during this time and successful, you may have to do video interviews as part of the remote hiring process. Therefore, keep that in mind by practicing talking on camera and ensuring you have a neutral background to do them, for more tips on how to prepare for video job interviews, click here.
If you require any more assistance with your job search, please contact our team on: [email protected].
To find out more about the current roles we are recruiting for, click here.
