Yewande Jinadu: How to Stay Proactive As a Job Seeker During these Difficult Times

With the recent rise of Coronavirus cases all over Nigeria, there are lots of people spreading fear and panic amongst Nigerians. People are talking about how COVID-19 would affect the economy, businesses, and so on, but job seekers have no idea how it affects them. Thanks to one of my mentors, Lara Yeku, who reached out to me about co-hosting a free webinar to enlighten young jobseekers about how it impacts them, I got a request to host the webinar and I’ve decided to share some of the things I discussed during the webinar.

Bad News

• Lots of people may lose their jobs or be put on unpaid leave.
• Fresh recruitment would be put on hold and candidates who have progressed in the interview process would experience delays.
• Recruitment would be more competitive.

Good News

• Remote working would be encouraged and people would have better work-life balance.
• More remote opportunities would spring forth and people would make more money from home.

What You Should Do As a Jobseeker

Take advantage of remote job opportunities

Rather than stay at home waiting for a recruiter to give you a call – especially when the recruiter is probably dealing with how to keep the business stable at this tough time, do yourself a big favor by registering on websites that need remote workers like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, etc.

Work on Building New and Relevant Skills During this Period

This should give you a rethink of the kind of skills you should acquire. Digital skills are in high demand. Some skills you should consider learning during this period include Blogging, Graphics Design, Software Development, Social Media Management, Virtual Assistant, etc.

Give your CV a boost by doing online courses

Rather than staying at home doing absolutely nothing than Netflixing and getting fat (no shade, haha), why don’t you consider how you can use this period to do an online course that would boost your CV. Schools have closed and education is now online, it would be wonderful to be smart and invest your time and money into relevant online courses.

Embrace New Career Paths

This isn’t the time to be rigid about what you know. This is a time to embrace something new that would lead you towards career fulfillment. If your desired field of interest isn’t working well for you, what other options can you consider? Start now!

Upskill

Think about it: what is that skill that is relevant in major industries at this point in time and how can you position yourself better? When you have that answer, please upskill and up your game. That’s the only way you will stay ahead and relevant.

Build a Digital Presence

With the cancellation of major physical networking events, now is the time to leverage technology for networking. You need to be visible to be noticed (both online and offline). Pick a niche that you’re passionate about and show it to the world. Leverage on LinkedIn and other networking sites to build relevant relationships.

Don’t give up

I know there are a lot of messages of doom flying everywhere and you may be tempted to slow down your job search or even put a halt to it by accepting your fate. It’s better to be more innovative about your search rather than give up entirely. It may be more difficult but some people would come out of it much better, so please keep searching and keep the hope alive.

I wish you the best on your career journey!