So, the pandemic has changed everything. Newsflash. For many of us, the pandemic has been a ‘good’ thing in that it has helped us navigate our lives in new ways and has shone a light on what is really important at the end of the day. As with most situations in life, there have been winners…and those who have been less lucky.
But, it is a new year and in the spirit of embracing change and looking ahead, we’ve looked at a few ways that you can reposition yourself in the job market if you’ve been on the ‘other’ side of the scale, because believe it or not – it’s not all bad news, if you look for it you may realise that the opposite is actually true.
FIRST, WHERE ARE YOUR SKILLS AT?
To position yourself in this post-pandemic era, you have to first know what it is you’re able to offer a prospective employer, and if what it is you’re offering is commensurate with what the labour market is needing. You’ll find that so many of the industries that were thriving before the pandemic have either fallen on hard times, or in some cases – are no longer operational at all. Office cleaning companies, maintenance firms and onsite security have been particularly hard hit.
So to make yourself competitive, take a look at these critical skills that you’ll need to position yourself more favourably, come interview day.
THEN, WHERE ARE YOU AT – GEOGRAPHICALLY SPEAKING
As we have now all discovered that while workers are necessary – offices are not, it has opened up a whole new world for the digital nomad and young people all over the world are working from exotic locations and getting paid for the privilege. This does mean that you’ll need a certain level of tech-savviness of course, so if you’re not naturally inclined to the digital environment this may not be an option for you. However, many people have discovered that they have transferable skills that are not bound by time zones or land borders, so if you’re a great organiser or a top-class executive assistant, this could be an option for you.
WHAT’S YOUR WORTH, AND HOW DO YOU INCREASE IT?
Part of the challenge of working for yourself or working as a freelancer/consultant is knowing what you’re ‘worth’ in terms of pounds, euros, and dollars. An easy way to do this is, is to take what you would have been earning as a salaried person, and then divide that into the amount of daily/weekly hours that you would have worked. Voilà! There’s your hourly rate. STL Training can teach you negotiation skills among a whole range of courses and if you mean to charge a premium, well experience alone won’t do it – you’ll need to show some paper qualifications too.
MAKING YOURSELF VISIBLE
If you’re not online and actively engaging with the digital population – you’re not going to cut it this year. Even if you’re aiming for an office job, get that LinkedIn profile page up and running and do it well – you have no idea how many employees make decisions based on what’s on there.
It is also a good time to get rid of those photos of you doing tequila shots on Facebook too.
Mummy and me X2 