COVID-19: Should I even bother applying for jobs right now?
COVID-19 has sent shockwaves through the business world, and many are asking if they should even TRY to get a job right now. It’s… it’s complicated.
Source: The American Genius
By Lani Rosales, COO + News Director
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, most people are either working from home, or nervously in an office setting right now, or are already unemployed. Many are wondering if they’ll have a job tomorrow, and worse, folks already unemployed are wondering if there is any hope in sight. I won’t sugar coat this – it sucks.
This whole thing sucks. For some sectors, despite the government working toward relief efforts, this is devastating. Truly. For other sectors particularly those in tech or corporate life (which is where our focus is for this story), there is a recovery in the future.
It’s universally awful, but it’s not an impossible situation. In fact, this could turn out to be a major advantage for you if approached properly.
Nick’s take
What sucks is all the lame advice about jobs during the COVID-19 crisis. But Lani Rosales offers uncommon insights about your job prospects — and about employers. I like her candor and no-nonsense directive to “deal with it but be smart.” There’s a bit of throwaway advice (pay for a professionally written resume), but this quick read delivers some very tasty tips and useful perspective. And it’ll make you feel better.
What’s your take?
What did you find in Rosales’ tips that changes your view of getting or keeping a job during the crisis? Let’s compare notes — and talk about how to implement some of these ideas. Please post your thoughts in the Comments below!
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Nick – I feel for job seekers right now. We went from a red hot market to full stop. My company has stopped interviewing and hiring because we cannot onboard properly now. We were not comfortable interviewing when we could not guarantee a start date. I know many companies that are waiting for the economic damage to shake out before they resume. Networking is still very effective to find good jobs. Traditional connections via HR isn’t as good – they have many other challenges now.
The trillion dollar question might be, was it even necessary to shut down a significant part of the economy, throwing millions of Americans out of work.
Sweden did not implement such drastic measures and their death rate is not significantly higher:
Population of Sweden: 10,230,000; COVID-19 Deaths: 2,021; Percentage: 0.019755
United States population: 328,200,000; COVID-19 Deaths 50,177; Percentage 0.015288
This is a great video regarding the corona virus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuzPrhnaiYE
Get lost, Borne.
Ditto. The malignant incompetence in Washington is unnecessarily killing people. Yuor data on Sweden is wrong, and they don’t even have yahoos marching on state capitals with AR-15s. Look at https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/daily-covid-deaths-per-million-3-day-avg?tab=chart&country=SWE+USA
The choice is millions temporarily out of work or millions buried permanently. Go to hell.
Good article, Nick.
A lot more “blog nannies” like Mike B, and others popping up on here. Unless he’s banned from this site, Borne should be able to freely post, just as much as anyone else.
Okay, folks!
The purpose of this website is to discuss how to find, land, keep and prosper at a good job. Not to debate the politics or stats of COVID-19. Not to rant about politics in America. All that stuff is worthy of debate and rants.
But not here, please.
What’s especially not welcome here is personal attacks of any kind. That includes telling people to get lost or to go to hell. This is one thing that I warn people about only once. Please don’t do it.
I love ya all, but the only comment to this point that belongs here is from Dave. (Hey, Dave.) I don’t make a habit of booting people from the discussion. We all “go off” sometimes, including me. Then we are reminded about the standard of conduct here, and about what the topic is, and we get back to it.
The message of the Rosales article I recommend you read is about how to land (or keep) a good job in the time of COVID-19, and how and why your approach must change.
Please stick to that — it’s a big enough subject to fill the entire Comments section.
Thanks for your cooperation. No harm done. We’re all worked up about the politics — but please take those discussions elsewhere and instead offer your insights, advice and experience about jobs.
Nick Corcodilos, Host
Ask The Headhunter
@Nick Corcodilos- duly noted, but with all due respect to your site, Dave has made an attack on my postings previously, as well as some others, and while I personally could care less, he is as complicit as anyone else here. While I speak my mind openly about many toxic and aberrant employers, part of my animus towards such employers is the “do as I say, not as I do” hypocrisy, and hitting one guy with a hammer, while hitting another guy with a feather and giving him multiple passes. 86 me if you will, but I’m calling it like I see it here. Your site is a welcome change from the likes of Alyson Green, but lately, it’s been pulling out more from the left side of the aisle. Just saying.
Nick I agree.
I think that the Author’s advice to prepare for online, video interviews is excellent. My other thought is that during this period that job seekers should approach this situation like it is the December Holiday season when many decision makers are on vacation. It is a time to network like crazy and get to know some new ,key people. This is a GREAT OPPORTUNITY to reach out and develop relationships that might never get made under normal circumstances when people are buried at work. Take full advantage of this unique situation. You should then find yourself in a situation to fully leverage your newly developed networking relationships.
Go get them!
My friend was laid off last week due to COVID 19. Immediately filed UI. He’s done me some solids in the past, and we worked together at a steel company years ago. I gave him some names of my better accounts. All have frozen hiring, but one has a face-face interview scheduled with him next week. Their business has dropped 50%, but they’re optimistic it will rebound quickly. A contract temp to permanent deal, but may be a way of getting his foot in the door. He’s 64, and wants to hang it up in 18 months. I told him to keep this under wraps. Not giving any ageism ammo for these employers. He also has two phone interviews scheduled next week. Found through his networking leads. As Mike Rowe said “don’t chase dreams, chase opportunities “.
My millennial boss (sharp kid) has been wanting to hunker down and wait it out. I’ve pushed for keeping our face in front of our customers. Not this donut dunker emailing. Strike while the iron is hot. Our competitors have their tales between their legs, but we need to be out there. Some accounts have let me in on the condition observing safe distancing (whatever), while others have met me in the parking lot. Point is, showing them we want to retain their business, and I for one give a rip! Yesterday, I stopped in to see my #1 account, a large metal fabricator. Laid off all their temps, but kept their regular employees. They, and other good accounts, expressed appreciation for the attention. They also are still busy, and under staffed. I then cold called in industrial parks, and with a few exceptions, observing safe spaces, was able to talk to people. The feedback I received, from manufacturers and related industries, is things will start coming back once our politicians lift these goof ball shelter in place rulings.
Nick, I am a loyal reader of your commentary and advice. Part of finding great executive talent is researching their social media posts to include Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. To those who use bad judgment to aggressively express their political beliefs (either side of the coin) on social media sites, I say thank you for saving me the time to pursue you for a job.
@Jeff: I shake my head in disbelief every time I see someone go off on FB, Twitter or elsewhere about some political, social or personal topic — when they depend on having a job to earn a living. I’ve pointed out to loads of people what you just succinctly explained. Maybe they get it, and then they forget? I dunno. It used to be you had to hire an investigator or researcher to fully vet someone, or do it yourself (some of the most fun I had as a headhunter pre-Internet). Now it’s so easy that you can reject applicants in seconds.
Is this unfair to job applicants? I dunno. Do these applicants ever really know when they get rejected for their social media gaffes?
Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks for the reply. Sadly, our social media culture emboldens people to swing away. I can semi tolerate this for recent grads to 30, but beyond is with intent and full knowledge they’re swimming against 50% of their peers, and value their idealogy over career(and family).
@Jeff: I’m just as guilty as anyone of “going off” on social media and then regretting it. Sometimes you can go back and delete it, other times you can’t. It’s akin to the proverbial bomber plane flying miles above its targets. It’s not so hard to push the button to drop the bombs when you can’t see those on the ground you’re about to fry. Social media eliminates inhibitions by giving us a sense of distance. It can bring the “mean” out in anyone.
I’m glad you cut younger people some slack. Especially in times like these, when fear is high on all sides, it’s important to try and meet people on neutral ground to talk business. This is why I don’t like video interviews or interviews mediated by technology. It makes it so hard to judge a person.
Having said that, I also think social media can highlight personality traits that could prove counterproductive on the job. We used to say “we can agree to disagree” and still work together. But it’s not so much the particular ideology that people reveal online that causes problems; it’s clear signs that they cannot leave it at the door when they go to work. That’s what I look for when I scan social media to learn about a person, regardless of their age.
Thanks again for your insights as a hiring manager. I hope everyone’s listening.
You actually troll Facebook, blogs, and Twitter to find possible dirt on candidates, and then disqualify them? That’s just creepy! Get a life, man!