What Comes Next?
August 20, 2020
Choosing to be laid off at the beginning of a global pandemic has definitely been one my most interesting career choices. I made the decision to allow opportunity for others, and to give myself the chance to try something new. I've taught recruiting and have coached thousands of people in the job search process, and this was my chance to follow my own advice - set goals, then relax and refresh!
My specific advice is along the lines of:
Create a firm picture of the role you want, and try to align it with the skills you possess
Enjoy the time you have - you can’t search for a job 24x7
Network, network, network
Stay calm while you’re awaiting feedback - and if you don’t get picked, it wasn’t the job for you (or as my hubby Bobby says, “Their loss!”)
As I’ve interviewed, I’ve also had the chance to navigate quite a few processes, which has reinvigorated my belief that my skills are very needed in the market. I teach the value of giving timely feedback, and I still believe it’s the best low hanging fruit out there. Some recruiters are great at providing real feedback (thank you Jill Macri and Dora Rodriguez) and others are not, despite having many, many years of experience (those of course shall remain unnamed).
In addition to trying to cherish all of the time home with my family this summer, I also challenged myself in as many ways as I could given we were all stuck at home. Here are just some of the things I’ve accomplished over the course of the pandemic:
Rode a century (100 rides) on my stationary bicycle with my Peloton app before my actual Peloton arrived, and have now worked out 53 days in a row. (thank you Peloton Interactive)
Attended great webinars and online networking events on COVID and return to work (thank you Peer 150), and Diversity (thank you PowerToFly and Facebook)
Developed our first recruiting internship program with my colleagues at Recruiters Network
Recorded my first podcast for Recruiting Trailblazers (thank you, Marcus Edwardes)
Read and listened to books such as White Fragility, and A People’s History of the United States to remind myself of my own privilege and to prepare to be a voice of the change our country needs
Watched several Master Class courses, and restarted my garden
Completed EIGHTEEN 1,000 piece puzzles
Memorized the Hamilton soundtrack with my family
So What Comes Next?
Now that I’ve had the opportunity to spend the summer as a stay at home mom for the first time in my life (not counting mat leave), it’s time to get back to work! Asking for help from others is not in my DNA as I’ve always taken care of myself, but I would like to ask my network to keep an eye out for me in my search. As always, I will do the same and continue to help people everywhere find a job they love.
Thank you to my friends who have supported me during this time - Tara, Marcus, Matt, Claudia, and my entire Glassdoor team (the best!).
How's your pandemic job search going?
