Is now the right time for your job search?

Things are a bit crazy right now, to say the least, and people are concerned about job security and paying rent. As a Career Coach, the big question that everyone is asking me right now is: “Is it the right time to start my job search?” 

The answer is YES…and NO..

Here’s the thing, the recruitment process has definitely slowed down and if you have an interview already scheduled it has either been cancelled, rescheduled, or moved to a virtual meeting. So, recruitment activities are still happening in some industries just at a much slower pace.

So, if you are unemployed right now, absolutely still apply for jobs, just keep in mind you’re going to have to be extra patient and expect response times to be significantly delayed. But don’t get discouraged, keep actively searching and applying! You’ll be that far ahead when things get back to normal. 

And if you are employed right now, but have been flirting with the idea of jumping ship, perhaps, it’s best to hold tight a while until we’re back to business as usual. 

Either way, whether you’re employed or unemployed right now, you probably have some extra time on your hands and here’s how I have been suggesting my clients use it to their advantage and land their dream job.

1. Reflect on your career journey so far and envision where you’d like to see it go.  

This is an important step and you really want to stop and spend some time here to ensure you don’t find yourself in a similar position (pun intended) down the road. You can do this by walking through your resume and reflecting on your accomplishments, and what roles made you the most and least happy. 

2. Perfect your resume.

And I mean really perfect your resume. One tip I give my clients is to pull up 3-5 job descriptions of their ideal job, go through it in detail, and make sure all the transferable skills and experience you have is captured in your resume. You want to use similar language/buzzwords and make it smack-in-the-face obvious that you are a match.

3. Give your LinkedIn profile a makeover

Once your resume is perfected you can now transfer the majority of the information over to your LinkedIn profile — the point is to make your profile as optimized as possible so that when you apply for jobs online you rank higher than other candidates. Thanks to those awesome buzzwords you’ve added in step 2 this’ll be easy peasy. Oh, and remember to fill out the skills section on our profile, you can add up to 50!

4. Finally, scratch those learning courses you were thinking of off your bucket list! 

While going through those job descriptions, you may have noticed that your target jobs are asking for specific skills that you may not have or there are some skills you may want to brush up on. Either way sites like Lynda.com (from Linkedin) or brainstation.io/ offer thousands of online courses ranging from Software Development to Photography, check it out!

Pro tip: Lynda.com is totally free if you have a library card and you don’t even have to live in Toronto.

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMEDB0187&R=EDB0187

This is a tough time for everyone, however, this doesn’t mean we can’t find the silver lining and put that extra time on our hands to good use and invest in your career. 

You’ve got this!

Jen Narayan, Career Coach

careerrealtalk.com

[email protected]

linkedin.com/in/jnarayan

P.S. Here are some other relevant career blogs you may find helpful: