April 9, 2020

With the global coronavirus pandemic causing widespread confusion for workers and layoffs happening across industries, you may find yourself in the market for a new job. If you do, it’s best to be as prepared as possible in order to find the right opportunity.

Here’s some advice on job hunting during the coronavirus pandemic:

First, it’s important to understand the conditions under which you’re likely to be interviewing. Since in-person interviews are probably cancelled for now, you should expect to participate in numerous phone and video interviews. So, what are the best strategies for doing well under such circumstances? According to Forbes, it’s essential that you go into it like a regular face-to-face interview.

“You may be doing the interview from your living room, but don’t let yourself get too comfortable. Wear exactly what you would if the interview were in person. It’s tempting to wear a nice shirt paired with pajama pants, but doing that will negatively impact your performance,” according to the publication. “Putting on business clothing signals to your brain that it’s time for work, not relaxation. It’s a simple yet powerful mind trick that truly works.”

Along with treating the video interview with importance, it’s also even more essential that you take other forms of communication into consideration. While it’s always key to send thank you notes throughout the job hunting process, the act becomes more crucial these days. After all, there’s no human contact beyond video or voice chat. Therefore, you should do anything and everything you can to shine during the process in terms of communication.

Some tips on how to write an effective thank you note? According to Forbes, you should keep the letter concise, talk about specifics from the interview, refer to the position and heavily proofread the copy to make sure you put your best foot forward.

Additionally, coronavirus may cause many industries to institute hiring freezes. So you should expect the job hunt to take longer than average (such as many months). As a result, try and do as much networking as possible via phone and video calls so that you have people who can give you a heads-up on relevant job openings once the time comes. This may give you an edge on any competition for those roles. 

The coronavirus is likely to dramatically change the way we work for months to come (if not longer). If you’re in the market for a new job, now’s the time to do your best and research so that you can ace the recruiting process and find a position in which you thrive.