Lately, many clients are saying, “Hey, I lost my job because of COVID, and I don’t know what to do” or “I’m looking for new work, where do I start?”
The Challenge
In a lot of cases, people are not actually taking any actions. They just know that they’ve lost their jobs and they’re stuck there. If you have a tough situation that you are working through, first take a step back and think about the actions you actually took. And if those actions are not effective, think about the mindset that you’re coming from. If you’re thinking that you know you’re going to do the same exact thing that you did before. That’s not going to work. What we really need to think about is how do we take those skills and apply them again to this new economy.
I want to share with you a story about a chef that was laid off from a restaurant that she worked at. She told me, “I can’t work anymore.” I asked her what she loves doing and she said her passion was cooking. So, I thought, why not pivot that into being a virtual chef. There are so many people that are looking for companies that will drop off food that are still continuing to cook. And even if it doesn’t happen now, why not ramp up that business. I told her to use very low investment methods such as social media, build up a following and just take photos of beautiful food. What she ended up doing is creating videos around her cooking and food and sharing them on social media. She got a lot of engagement and paid work from this as well, but in a different way than she had been thinking. There is so much opportunity out there to recreate yourself and pivot.
What are your thoughts about the current situation?
What if you are taking action already? I believe that your thoughts and your mindset create your results. So, you could be taking all of these actions, but if you are coming from a place of lack, then that’s what’s going to show up for you. The reality: We are in an unusual time, and things are different, but companies are absolutely hiring! However, if you’re looking for the same exact job that you were 2,3, or 4 months ago, then maybe that same exact position doesn’t exist in today’s new environment.
If you 100% believe there are no jobs out there, then you’re not going to be open to thinking about other places that you’ve never targeted before or thinking about other industries. You will be in the vibe of, “I was in XYZ industry, and now everybody’s laid off.” So even if you are taking action (LinkedIn, going to job boards, etc.), you may not get the results you want.
I was speaking with a client about her layoff in the hospitality industry. Yes, a lot of hospitality companies and a lot of hotels are shut down at the moment. But if we think about it more broadly, there are markets in which hotels are opening back up.Also, if we look at hospitality now, it’s more than hotels, Airbnb is such a huge player in hospitality and actually it’s the only hospitality company in the world with zero hotels, so people are still wanting to rent out places, stay at places. And this particular person that I was talking to happens to be in creative digital marketing, and I told her this is the perfect time for you actually this is such a perfect time for you to get out there and, you know, bring your trade bring your skill, even to hospitality one is I think that she could translate her skills to any industry. But if you wanted to stay in hospitality, you know that’s what hotels hospitality industry, they are making sure that their clients stay engaged with them during this time because it’s so important that they don’t just lose their base completely right so that’s the other thing that you know I would really kind of urge you to do is think about what you’re doing and what your skills and experiences are more broadly.
What you can do
Look at your skill set and understand what is at the core. The core isn’t your role or your title or whatever one company calls this particular thing. What you’re made up of is your skills and your experiences. Consider what you know how to do, what you’re really good at and what you enjoy doing. Now look at this new redefined economy that we’re in and let’s figure out how to apply those skill sets. Finally, look for jobs that match those skill sets. Do not fall into the trap of looking at the same roles you are used to.
I was talking to this woman who is a healthcare operations manager who was laid off. My coaching to her was that healthcare is expanding at this time, and not just on the clinical side. However, it is important to understand what your core skills are and what you are good at. For her, it was demand planning, building the community, These skills are so translatable to ANY industry. Also, if she wanted to stay in healthcare, there are a ton of tech healthcare pop up companies and healthcare consulting companies. This area is rapidly hiring at this time.
I really hope that this helps you, especially if you’re out there searching for jobs.
