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Why you shouldn’t be afraid to start your job search now

Written by: Charlotte Rogers
Published on: 3 Jul 2020

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When it comes to job seeking, some of us can be pretty stuck in our ways. We are used to being able to go to interviews and meet people face-to-face. We want the opportunity to attend recruitment events and be able to talk to the employers and ask questions. However, just because this type of job searching has had to be put on hold, doesn’t mean that we have to stop looking for a job altogether. You might be thinking that the easiest thing to do right now would be to pack up and start again when things go back to ‘normal’. But finding a job right now IS possible, so why would you stop looking? There are so many things you can be doing and with the right information and some determination, you can still reach your goals!

Take advantage of any extra time you may have

If you have more time on your hands may mean you are able to catch up with some of the things you might have been putting off or simply didn’t have enough time for before. Although we might not want to be stuck inside, there is always a silver lining. Even if you are still working, you may have more time before and after work to focus on your job search. You can be using this time to make changes to your CV, work on your cover letter or continue your research. This can be anything from researching jobs online to researching potential contacts on LinkedIn. Even though you might feel stuck in a negative situation, you might never have this much time on your hands for a long time. So, try and do something positive with it! Set yourself some goals and take your time reaching them, you don’t have to rush.

Try new things online

The online world has so many opportunities waiting for you. You can use this time to look for new jobs, but you can also use this time to search for e-learning opportunities. There may be courses that you have had your eye on for a while and now have the time to take, or companies might be conducting webinars that you are interested in. Whatever suits your fancy, try and find something new to learn. Your working day might feel a little repetitive without your daily commute or the chance to meet with friends and family after work. So, filling your day with new learning experiences might help you feel better about your days spent inside. There are loads of different online learning tools out there, including both paid for and free experiences. Think about what skills you would like to improve or what you would like to learn throughout this time and before you know it, you’ll be feeling busy and hopefully happier, in no time! Being online can be just as challenging as your regular working life, so be sure to take a break from it when you feel like you need one.


Interviews are still taking place!

If you are afraid you would be wasting your time job searching because you don’t think interviews are happening, think again! Video interviews have been happening for a long time and can be just as effective as face-to-face interviews. It can feel a little daunting trying something new if you’re not used to it, so feel free to click here and read our tips on how to succeed in a video interview.

My point is, interviews are still happening and zoom and skype aren’t that bad! There are obviously a few differences that you will have to get used to, but you can still impress the interviewer like you normally would. Prepare yourself in the same way that you usually would, and you are setting yourself up to succeed. Opportunities are out there and happening, but you have to be in the game to win!

There is still a job market

This may be hard to believe, but there are still numerous companies looking to hire new employees! Yes, number of opportunities being advertised may have decreased but that doesn’t mean that it’s over completely. People still need engineers. There are still new ideas and projects being approved, there are people changing jobs and there are employers that need you. It’s just a case of finding the right job for you and working hard to make sure that you are noticed when job searching. There are so many interesting ways you can be getting involved in the community, meeting new people and learning about companies!

Virtual events – You have probably seen the aftermath of many physical events being cancelled. However, notice that more and more and seeing the appeal to virtual events. This means exhibitions, job fairs and other virtual job seeking events are still happening right under your nose! It might be time to start your research and see what you can find online.

Use LinkedIn – You may think that now, more that ever, is a really important time to stay connected with your network and you are right. You should want to stay involved in your networking community, just take it online! This is what LinkedIn is for. Talk to your network, share information that you think is important and ask about any opportunities they may know about. It might bring you more luck than you’d think.

Things might seem a little uncertain and overall scary right now, but hopefully this has helped you understand that there is still a demand for employers to find new employees. They still need you! This is just another hurdle that you are going to jump and use to make you into a better professional. This way of job seeking might not be deemed as ‘normal’, but you should definitely be using it to your advantage and keep your job search going. Use job boards, use LinkedIn and stay connected to your network now more than ever. You’ll thank yourself later for not giving up.