Preparing yourself and your resume for a different job

I have been wanting to write for a while but have been doing what some parents in our nation are doing, working full time and juggling home-schooling our children. For those who have lost their jobs in this COVID-19 crisis, my heart goes out to you and your families. Everyone processes change at a different rate. Wherever you are on journey of figuring out “what’s next,” I wanted to provide some knowledge so you can hopefully find a job, even if it is a “today job” and not a lifetime role.

My father once said to me, “You do what you need to do to survive and provide for your family.” There is no shame in hard, honest work. When I was in my first job as a TV news reporter, I had a second job working at Blockbuster video (For those who don’t know what Blockbuster is, we had to rent videos from a store before streaming). My job was to put return videos back on the shelves and then straighten the shelves so each video jacket (container) was perfectly aligned with the others on the shelf. I hated the job, but it helped pay the bills because my first reporter job only paid $9,700 after taxes (25 years ago).  

My point to this story is while many companies have laid off or furloughed employees, and you may be one of them, there are companies hiring, including pharmacies, Amazon, and the postal service to name a few.

1.     Search for jobs. Take the time to search Monster, Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, SimplyHired and these company websites.  https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2020/04/03/companies-hiring-coronavirus/#4c4020ef1a9f. Google “Companies Hiring Now” and you will find more. Manufacturing for one is continuing to hire. To find manufacturing jobs, go to Indeed.com, put in the name of companies near you which manufacture or the word manufacturing and your location and they will pop up. 

You’d be surprised, there are still a lot of roles being advertised. Also note, just because you are a temp, doesn’t mean you won’t earn health insurance. Many staffing agencies do provide limited health insurance after a period of time.

2.     Do not send your resume out as is unless you have worked in the same role before. Before you apply, make sure you tailor your resume with key words from the job description. If you are a professional who is applying to hourly positions, consider putting a summary at the top as to why you are applying for a specific role. Example:

Current Summary of a Sales Operations Professional:

Seasoned Sales Operations Professional with expertise in sales analytics & reporting, CRM administration, sales compensation, Salesforce.com effectiveness, commercial contract management, and customer data management in alignment with sales team goals.

New Summary, applying for a Retail Store Associate job at CVS (See job description below):

Dedicated Sales Professional with exceptional emotional intelligence skills who can anticipate customer needs and leverage appropriate problem-solving techniques independently and within a team to provide differentiated customer service in high impact, customer focused roles.

CVS Job Description (highlights show how key words were used above):

Retail Store Associates play a meaningful role within the CVS Health family. At CVS Health, we’re shaping the future of health care for people, businesses, and communities. With your talents and expertise, you can help us play a more active and supportive role in each person’s unique healthcare needs. Join our team of thousands as we positively impact millions…one customer at a time.

The Retail Store Associate position provides an opportunity, in a leading retail setting, to excel in a growing, high impact, customer focused role, working both independently and as a member of a team, to positively impact the lives of others.

Essential Functions:

? Providing differentiated customer service by anticipating customer needs, demonstrating compassion and care in all interactions, and actively identifying and resolving potential service issues

? Focusing on the customer by giving a warm and friendly greeting, maintaining eye contact and offering help locating additional items, when needed

? Accurately perform cashier duties - handling cash, checks and credit card transactions with precision while following company policies and procedures

? Maintaining the sales floor by restocking shelves, checking in vendors, updating pricing information and completing inventory management tasks as directed by store manager

? Supporting opening and closing store activities, when needed

? Providing customer support to all departments, including photo and beauty, ensuring departments are fully stocked and operational while remaining current with all updated services and tools

? Assisting pharmacy personnel when needed, including working regular shifts in the pharmacy as part of opportunities for growth and career development

?Embracing and advocating for new CVS services and loyalty programs that support our purpose of helping people on their path to better health Required Qualifications

The goal is to look at your resume through the lens of the job and tailor your resume to showcase the skills needed for the role. One resume will not fit all jobs. You may think, “I had a high level professional job, customer service is easy and they should hire me.” Well, they won’t if you have never done customer service before or worked in retail before and your resume is not tailored to show you can do it and do it happily. There are too many other people out there with customer service experience and retail experience who will be a better choice than you.

3.     Reach out to your network.  Find someone who works at the company you want to apply to. Reach out, explain your situation and that you are interested in a role. Apply online first, then send your resume to that person. The applicant tracking systems (where you apply for most jobs) may be a black hole without someone flagging your resume to be reviewed.

4.     Be earnest but not too detailed about your personal situation. Explain your need for the role, but saying your family won’t eat unless you get it or you only need it to pay your bills is too much and could make a hiring manager a bit uncomfortable. Explain you were furloughed or laid off and you need a job and know you can transfer your skills to this type of role and be exceptional at it. Then explain how your skills are directly applicable to the job you are interested in, how you have heard great things (details if you have them) about the company and that you’d like to be seriously considered for the role.

5. Attitude matters. If you say the only reason you are interested in this role is because you’re stuck, you will not get the job. If you are applying for any job, go after it with vigor. Follow up with a thank you note after an interview. If someone made an introduction, let that contact know what stage you are at in the process and whether you have heard from someone. And most of all DON’T GHOST – meaning, don’t disappear after you make contact with someone at the company, even if your old job calls you back. Be courteous. Someone took time out of the day to interview you and help you. If you found a better opportunity, be courteous back.

While some companies may be hesitant to hire you into a role that you may leave as soon as this crisis is “over,” some companies are fine with hiring people who may leave because they need to fill immediate temporary roles and they are temporary during the COVID-19 crisis. So, there could be a solid mutual understanding. You may actually find a role you like better. And if you do depart from this new job, remember, 2 weeks’ notice is still professional, no matter how much you don’t like the role.