??Corona Job Hunting Journal??

We’re all aware of how many peoples jobs have been put at risk due to COVID, whether it be through redundancy, furlough, being stood down or pay cuts. 

Even if you’re one of the fortunate ones who have kept their job, I’m sure you’ve seen an impact on whether it be the business you work for or how you’ve had to adapt your work style.

This is a post on what I found worked whilst searching for a new role during a pandemic; it’s not a ‘look at me I found a job’. It’s hopefully helpful for some, obviously I know each industry / person is different, but even if it helps one person, then grand!

??Getting the phone call…

I remember it very clearly. It was a Monday evening after a pretty productive day given the situation and I was having an aperol (basic), and my Director called me at 6:24pm; immediately I knew something was up and I knew exactly what this call was about. 

This was pretty early on into the pandemic - March 23rd to be precise.

Immediate reaction was panic. I had only landed in Sydney 5 weeks before and I was still finding my feet and now I was here all alone, with no perm visa and uncertainty around financials. I didn’t have any savings really (rookie move) so initial thoughts were ‘how am I going to pay rent / survive?’

I was stressed, upset, and above all gutted. Naturally I took myself to the bottlo and bought some wine and cracked it open (sensible), called my one friend on the same time zone and told her I was now unemployed 17,000 miles from home.

??‘So, are you going to come home then?’ -- this is the question that I was asked by everyone when I told them the situation. 

I didn’t see it as an option though. Not only were flights not running, but I didn’t want to so early on into my ‘new life’. Even though it was an extreme circumstance being in a pandemic, I thought if I was to come home then I would have failed, and the Aussie life style I’d been chasing the last year would have been a waste of time. 

So, all in the space of six hours that evening, I had every emotion under the sun and by 9pm I was laughing about it with my mates (may have been the wine). ??

I knew it was gonna be bloody hard finding a new role with the potential to sponsor, but not impossible. 

??However I felt positive and grateful.

The thing about recruitment is that it’s a tough job at times (obvs I know it’s not like a brain surgeon etc). The amount of setbacks and knockdowns we have as consultants is insane. But I saw it as a positive, and thought how I can transfer my experience into job hunting for myself. 

?So it began...

Tuesday came, and yep I was a bit hungover not gonna lie, but by 9am I had created a spreadsheet of over 50 recruitment agencies in Sydney (love a spreadsheet), and split them up into sector, size and what markets they covered; this was going to be my own database for my job search.

Once the spreadsheet was good to go, I called up my R2R who I had been working with previously and he was so amazingly helpful. He offered advice on the market, what avenues to look at, visa guidance and just general advice on Sydney as it’s totally different to London.

??Time to get cracking...

I was essentially speccing myself out to businesses and giving them a rundown of my experience and situation -- this generally was my go to during my search. I had mixed success.

Majority of businesses said:

• You don’t have enough Sydney experience.
• We aren’t hiring.
• We aren't set up to sponsor.
• Need to see how it goes in Q3.

However, the agencies that did come back to me and were kind enough to do so, bloody hell I was grateful! It really was amazing at the sheer honesty and transparency of them. By the end of week one, I had spoken with nine different agencies and I was actually feeling pretty confident, like, ah this’ll all be sorted in a week or two.

?How wrong I was! 

As my conversations progressed, so did COVID. But, you have to remain positive and keep cracking on and chipping away at any new leads. 

The common theme was we will hire in Q3 but not before or we can offer comms only. I totally got it, and understood why. 

??However...

In week 6 of my search, I got a call from a company who had messaged me on LinkedIn after someone in my network had told them about my situ. At this stage I was like, okay cool, happy to have another chat but expected things to go the way everything else had. But hey, good to make connections right?!

From the initial call, everything was clear, transparent and honest. I knew exactly what the hiring process was and what the expectations were. 

Over the next few weeks, I was able to meet the whole team and instantly felt like it was the right fit for me. Fast forward to now, and I am extremely lucky/fortunate to have found my place here at S2M! 

What I learnt from it, was even from the initial ‘you no longer have a job’ call, is to be grateful and I said how thankful I was to my old company who ultimately took the chance on me and flew me out here back in February! 

However the purpose of this isn’t to say I have a new job, how wonderful, it’s to say what worked and might also work for you. 

??Key takeaways...

• Always reply to people, even if they say they can’t help you.
• Looking for a job is a full time job. Make a schedule for it. Work with a decent recruiter.
• Follow up on emails / calls if you haven’t heard back from them - but not the same day, you don’t want to be a badger; within 48 hours is usually a good time frame.
• Speak to as many people as possible - friends, companies, colleagues; it really helps with morale and is great for networking.
• You need to know your CV inside out - numbers, projects managed, technical skills, whatever it is, you need to know them without saying ‘I’ll have to check’. 
• There’s tens, if not hundreds, of people going for the same role. Set yourself apart. Know your pitch and deliver it with confidence.
• Be honest and flexible. It’s hard for you, but also hard for the business - this is something most of us haven’t experienced before eg. remote hiring/onboarding, hiring in a pandemic.
• Lean on your recruiter - we know ins and outs of the industry and can offer consultative and transparent advice on things.

It’s tough, there’s no denying it. However, we've adapted to a new normal, and there are people hiring!

There's also a section here detailing some CV tips which could be useful - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/job-hunting-coronagate-market-kate-gabb/

Remain positive. Everyone has a bad day, if you do, leave it and start again tomorrow. 

??Stay positive. Be proactive. Commit to it.