This unexpected, enforced pause presented by COVID-19 is a perfect time to think about your career. You may have been cut back, or possibly your job has been totally eliminated. Now is a perfect time to reflect on what you are doing. Is this what you want to do? Or have you been wanting to jump into something different? Take time to look at your options.It is possible your job may not come back to you and you may be forced to look into other careers. It has been said that a person can have ten different careers in their lifetime, so this can be just a stepping stone into your next opportunity!
Let’s take a look at your résumé – what do you need to do to get ready for your next job?
Here are some options:
Stay in your same choice of career–
- Review your résumé, let’s make it stronger.
- As you take a look at what you’ve done, look for outstanding accomplishments.
- What are you the most proud of? What did you do for the company? This is the time to shout about your contributions.
- As you put together your résumé, avoid making it look like a “job description.”
- Write about what you’ve done, show your accomplishments. Percentages and numbers speak volumes. Show your value.
- What did you do to make your company better or the position you were responsible for stand out?
Change your career –
- Decide if your career is going to go in a totally different direction or just a different focus.
- Get specific as to what you actually want to do.
If your response, is “I just need a paycheck,” then that’s a bit different…you are not actually looking to expand your career. You can take any job that comes along, but that may not be your best value. - You are good at what you do, take time to review why you are good at what you do, what would you truly like to do, then get your skills and experience to line up with your desires.
1. Different Direction:
- Visualize your dream job – maybe you already know what you would like to do.
- Do you have the qualifications – if not, what more do you need?
- You can increase your knowledge by taking an online class, reading some books, and expanding your skills in the area you want to take your next career.
- Can you apply your current qualifications and experience to the new job?
- Research your ideal career – is it viable – can you earn enough money?
- If all the answers line up – go to your résumé and begin writing.
- As you write, remember all of your past experiences can apply to the outcome you’d like with your new position – you may have to realign them a bit to make them fit.
- Review your experience and qualifications, begin to tell a story.
- Show your future employer how you can bring value to the company – why you would be such a good catch for them to land.
- Support your story with facts, figures, and skills.
2. Same Direction – climbing the career ladder:
- Define what your next job title should look like.
- Let’s pull your résumé from your past history. Read it as though you are the hiring professional. Would you hire/promote yourself? If so, why? If not, why not?
- Add your last position highlighting what you did to make the company stronger.
- When writing your résumé, be careful not to make it read like a “job description.” It’s very important to actually show how you made things better and what the results were.
- Remember to make it concise and to the point.
- The résumé can be thought of as an outline for “talking points” in the interview. Show your strengths, then you can expand on those in the interview.
- Research companies where you can climb higher on the career ladder.
- Perhaps it’s the same company you’ve been at, you just need to apply for the next progressive position.
- Perhaps your job has been eliminated and the company has gone out of business. Research other companies that you can bring value to with the experience you’ve gained.
When writing your résumé it is vitally important to be honest. If you’ve lost your job, be straightforward about what happened. If the company reduced your hours or cut your position, it’s okay to say so, but also include what your biggest impact was in that position. It is okay to say you lost your position due to the Coronavirus or the company closed due to regulations – this is happening to many people right now.
You may be out of work for a period of time. A way to fill the gap on your résumé would be to list courses you took, volunteer positions you filled, books you read, ways you kept yourself busy while improving your skills, or learning new skills. It is not okay to say your spent your time playing video games with your kids (or by yourself), chilling on the couch, or catching up on old movies!
More things you can do to make yourself ready for your next job:
- Google yourself – see what may be said about you.
- Check your social networks – look at what you’ve been posting. Does this reflect what you would like a future employer to view?
- Check your LinkedIn status and make sure it is up to date. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, now is the time to build one.
- Most employers these days check all of the above before offering you an interview. Make sure they see the value in you on your sites.
During this enforced “time off,” many of us have had time to reflect on our lives. Most of us realize that we actually enjoy going to work, being with others, and contributing to success. Use this time to reinstill passion, appreciation, and focus on what you would like to contribute. Maybe you would even like to start your own business – there’s no time like the present to do that. Always be on the lookout for what you can contribute.
If you would like help with putting together a winning résumé that gets interviews, we would love to help you. Contact us at Info@APersonalScribe, visit our website at APersonalScribe.com, or call 800-910-8262. We have been in the business of delivering top-quality résumés since 1985. Let us help you get the position of your dreams!
Review – Reflect – Advance
