I stumbled upon a great guide by the Washington Center, for students who are graduating during these tough times of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a Spring 2020 graduate myself, I found this guide incredibly useful and wanted to share it with all of you!
Keep on reading to gain new insight on ideas, mindsets, and resources that will help you develop immediate and long-term action-plants during these confusing times.
Phase 1: Getting Started.
Sit back and take the time to think critically about your approach in jumping into the post-graduation life. Especially now, this is a different, strange time for all of us – be adaptable and step out of your comfort zone.
- Be Practical
- Companies that you have been interested in may not be hiring right now
- Compromise and utilize a practical approach – this will set you up for long-term success
- Focus your job search on companies that are still hiring during these times
- Stay Connected
- Network, network, network!!
- Most people find jobs through networking and personal connections
- Stay connected with people in communities
- Be Action-Oriented
- Be assertive, action-oriented, entrepreneurial, and gritty
- Actively seek out opportunities
- Connect with as many people as possible
- Be comfortable with the unknown
- Share How You’re Feeling
- Reach out to counselors, advisors, coaches, etc
- Share your feelings – accept and be okay with feeling vulnerable
Phase 2: Immediate Actions
In the past couple of months so much has changed in the job field, and it will be continuously changing as we enter into economic struggles in the future. The best way to enter the job field at this time is to take immediate action. Virtually market yourself to employers that need certain skillsets to help them during these unprecedented times.
- Who’s Hiring Now – Many companies are STILL hiring!
- Follow Federal and State governments hiring status
- follow #GetHired on LinkedIn for real-time information on companies that are still hiring
- Visit Candor to see an updated live feed of companies who are hiring and who is not
- Virtual Career Fairs Resources
- Visit JobFairsIn for open virtual job fairs
- Visit for LiveCareer tips about virtual job fairs
- Visit The Balance Careers to see answered common questions about virtual job fairs
- Remote Work Opportunities – Many companies will likely utilize more remote work in the future, check out some of these resources to find remote work:
- Virtual Networking and Informational Interviews – Networking is sooo important! Make sure you are still networking with professionals virtually during these times. Visit these websites for tips:
- Virtual Interviewing Best Practices – Virtual interviews are just as important as in-person interviews. Ace your next virtual interview by checking out these resources:
- Round-out Your Skill Set – Schools and educational companies are offering free services and resources during these hard times. Take advantage of them to learn new skills!
- Coursera is offering 100 free courses till May 31st
- Harvard University is offering a variety of free online courses
- Yale’s free Science of Well-Being course is their most popular course ever!
Phase 3: Resources for Long-Term Sucess
This is the most challenging time to be graduating, luckily, we have so many online resources that can help us create long-term plans for our future. Here is a list of resources that will help you along the way!
- Personal Budgeting Resources- The job market is tough right now, this may cause reduced income over-time. Use these resources to help you budget your money wisely.
- Invest in Life-Long Learning
- Stay up-to-date with innovation and marketing trends, and use this extra time wisely to learn be constantly learning new skills
- Commit to Lateral Movement
- Studies have shown that changing jobs may help people’s income over time. Don’t choose loyalty with a certain company over mobility for yourself.
- Negotiate Everything
- Don’t settle for less! Practice negotiation skills
- Studies have shown that low entry-level salary can reduce your income over time.
I hope you had some helpful takeaways from this blog post! To read the original post, click here.