Successful job seekers called on to be flexible
Among the many attributes ascribed to the 50+ worker, being flexible ranks up near the top. This has never been more true than over the past 14 months.
Just as job seekers were beginning to get acclimated to the new job search of the 21st Century with Automated Tracking Systems, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, online jobs boards and the like, along comes the Covid pandemic and, along with it, a whole batch of new-normal job search trends and practices. Never before have job seekers been asked to be more flexible.
The most obvious and prevalent difference is the virtual, or Zoom meeting. As if face-to-face, in-person job interviews weren’t stressful enough, now an applicant must deal with all the extraordinary conditions and practices of the online interview. When you interviewed in someone’s office, you never had to worry about your background, interruptions and loud noises from kids and pets, lighting, etc. To land that next job, adapt you must.
Even though most everyone knows and appreciates the importance of networking, how does one easily adapt to online networking – or, online informational interviews for that matter? We know a long-term job seeker who hasn’t handed out a business card in months. Jobs groups and other similar gatherings have continued to meet, but it’s certainly not the same.
And now there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. Many Covid restrictions either have already been, or are about to be lifted or relaxed. A significant portion of the population has been vaccinated and are eager to be more social and to ditch the distancing.
What will the job search look like going forward? How many of the Covid-instigated changes will endure? What new complications will arise?
More important, how ready and how flexible will you be when confronting the new job-search normal? Remember: it’s always been said that people of our generation are, if nothing else, flexible.