7 Realistic Ways To Job Hunt During The Pandemic

It’s no news that a number of industries within Canada and around the world have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. But even with this, there are still a number of companies that are hiring. With a number of Canadians are being laid off during the COVID-19 outbreak, people who have been looking for work are finding it even more challenging.

It’s worth trying out these companies hiring to get your next role. Below are realistic ways to job hunt during the pandemic.

Read: Here are Jobs in High Demand During Coronavirus

1. How urgent is your job search?

If you have the luxury to put your job search on hold, this might be worth considering. Some people need time off work to really determine what they would like to do next. However, this is not for everyone.

Read: In These Uncertain Times: You Don’t Have To Have It All Figured Out

2. Do your research

The crisis has really given a glimpse into the culture of so many companies. We can see how companies are staying on top of communication on their social media channels and website and even through conversations by their employees. And also how their leadership team is taking care of its employees and responding to the pandemic.

As a result, what you can do is take all of this information to your advantage during your job hunt.

Apply to recent jobs rather than positions posted a while ago as this may now be outdated or the company may be on a hiring freeze. Set up alerts on Google for companies you are interested in. Glassdoor also provides alerts on new jobs posted so that you can apply to it as soon as it drops – making you fall among the first few applicants which raises your chances.

Investigate companies that are really weathering the storm and whether they can survive the next few months. In fact, if you get an interview, feel free to ask them what their plans are to survive the impact of the pandemic. You certainly want to work for a financially stable company at this time.

Read: 7 Things to Do If You’ve Lost Your Job Due to COVID-19

Read: 7 Tips to Get your Dream Job as an Immigrant

3. Online networking

At this time of social distancing, so many businesses are taking their businesses online even more than ever. It only makes sense that you equally increase your networking skills online to improve your chances of landing a job.

Professional groups on LinkedIn or Facebook are great places to start. You’ll need to improve your online brand and really market yourself as someone capable of doing great on the job for recruiters to reach out to you. Adding keywords suitable to your industry and role on your profile is important now more than ever.

You can also take things a top-notch by scheduling virtual coffee chats with possible employers or recruiters to truly show your personality and strike a relationship. If we’re being honest, culture plays a huge role in hiring and since we can’t go into offices as we knew in our ‘normal world’ we can take some of those skills online.

If you decide to explore the option of setting up a virtual chat, try to work on positioning the angle of your camera to the side to display your entire face and choose a location with good lighting.

4. Follow up

Before wrapping up an interview, don’t feel ashamed to ask the recruiter for the next steps and timelines to hear back. Take the initiative to follow up if you haven’t heard back following the timeline.

Remember, people are busy and getting used to fulltime remote work and it may be nothing personal. There is no harm in touching base via email to know the status of your interview, it only helps you plan accordingly.

It’s also a good idea to connect on LinkedIn with the hiring manager. This helps leave an impression on the recruiter. You can then follow up on LinkedIn in a less formal way. It’s good practice to connect with potential recruiters while applying for a role from the start. It feels more natural moving forward with the interview process.

Read: 5 Mistakes Job Seekers Make On Their Resume

5. Think things thoroughly

Try to not jump at the first available job opening or offers. Remember, just because you are currently job hunting in such an uncertain time doesn’t mean you still can’t take charge of your career. Really try to get clarity on what you want for the next phase of your career.

You could actually use these slow times to really target just the companies you’ve always wanted to work for and reach out to them directly. Often times there might be roles not being advertised and this is where you can use your connections from your online social networking.

Yup! See how online networking can become so handy?

6. Ask specific questions

Don’t feel shy to ask questions related to the pandemic. Everyone in the world is going through a very unique experience and employers understand this. Find out what the interview process is going to be like since it’s going to be online anyway.

Find out how they are supporting employees during this time. How they are enforcing their culture and what that looks like. Tools they are using to improve their communication and more.

7. Work on improving your skills

To really increase your chances of landing a job in a competitive job market during the pandemic, you may have to consider boosting your skills to make you an even more qualified candidate.

There are a number of sites offering free training and courses like EdX, Microsoft training, and more. What you can do is analyze the job posting you want and figure out what skills you may be lacking. You can do a quick Google search for free training options and learn those. You may also add this to your resume explaining that you are currently learning this skill.

During an economic slowdown, it’s important to focus on things that you can control like actively networking, applying to available and recent job opening and improving your skills. At the end of the day, keeping positive and not letting the negativity out there hold you back from reaching your goals is really important now more than ever.

Hopefully, these tips have helped show you realistic ways to job hunt during this coronavirus era. Do stay healthy and safe and wishing you the very best in your job hunt. Use our Job Board to also find your next role!

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