Post Covid19 Job Prospects for the Class of 2020
In a post-apocalyptic world where Covid19 dominated & changed the world around us forever, should graduating students in 2020 stay at school or enter the workforce?
In what ways has Covid19 created opportunities in world that is still changing & morphing into it’s new reality?
Do kids these days have it good or bad when it comes to employment prospects during a global recession?
Is there more to this than meets the eye?
In any other year, thousands of university graduates of eager & ambitious students leave the university system to enter the workforce. This year, most of those ceremonies have taken place online as a result of the fallout from the Coronavirus outbreak (Covid19).
What are the prospects for this year’s crop of graduates? On the face of it, things do not look good! Ostensibly, the overall picture for this year’s graduates looks fairly grim, but is it though?
Rapid changes in the workplace & overall professional ecosystem requires swift adaptation by those that are about to enter the workforce. Conversely, one would need to consider developing a new set of skills that would enable them to gain a competitive advantage over others in such a turbulent job market & an overwhelming rise in unemployment rates on a global scale.
Based on my experience as a business owner & my insight into what has transpired around us due to the Covid19 outbreak; here are the top 12 Skills that post-Covid19 employers would value about prospective candidates, who are about to enter the workforce:
1. Digital Savviness: Mastery of digital communication software/platforms to accommodate disruptions due to social-distancing, curfew hours, and quarantines.
2. Being On Top of your Game: Job-specific software proficiency to get work done remotely & effectively work across country boarders.
3. Flexibility: In-office work becomes a status symbol & an augmented system that combines working from home & at the office would become the new norm.
4. Showing Your Greatness: Conventional degrees, diplomas, and course certificates will become less important (depending on the type of job your applying for in your respective industry), where emphasis would be placed on your set of skills & proven track record of adding value & bridging gaps, so hone your skills that are directly or indirectly related to the job you seek.
5. No Brain, No Gain: Being physically & psychologically healthy is more important than ever due to mandatory on-the-job medical screenings, so hit the gym if you haven’t already & make it habit & not an obligation.
6. Adaptability: Knowing how to forge distant relationships & cyber professional networking due to the changes in the workplace environment is vital.
7. Competitiveness: The conventional working hours of eight-to-five office hours will become a historic relic, so be prepared to work longer hours & harder than your peers & be willing to work for free to get your foot through the door.
8. Shape-up or Get-out! Men will be faced with more competition from equivalent women professionals who are now able to access positions that might’ve been difficult pre-Covid19, so men; better shape-up or be prepared for a fierce commotion.
9. Stop Living in the BC Past (Before Corona): Business as usual is dead because there will be a new reality post Covid19, where businesses will experience dwindling numbers of middle management positions, where the focus would shift towards execution.
10. No one Owes you a Job! Covid19 will expose job redundancies within an organization/company, so make sure that your skills & competencies are not easily replaceable.
11. Develop Foresight Into What’s to Come: Various industries would move towards acceleration of automation & adoption of new technologies, so be on top of technologies in your field & acquire the skills necessary to bring that value to your employer.
12. Let’s Get Digital: There will be a surge & noticeable increase in demand for digital skills aimed at bridging the physical divide due to social distancing, so be on top of your digital skills.
There’s no denying that there’s a lot of uncertainties in the world around us right now. Travel, hospitality, entertainment, congregational events, and brick-and-mortar establishments have all been severely affected by Covid19.
This doesn’t mean that we’re powerless in the face of it, however. In fact, using this time to improve your employment prospects & skills through unconventional & progressive education is arguably more vital than ever!
Now What!
Do you agree with my assessment about the new job qualifications that are required for the job-market post Covid19?
What would you add or amend from the list above?
What do you see as the light at the end of the Covid19 tunnel? What is the sliver-lining in your line of business in the mist of all the bad that has happened around you?
What will you do next?
