Covid-19 Job Hunt To do#1: Re-examine ourselves

Let’s cover the topic of re-examination or self-introspection. For anyone interested, it’s the first item I’ve covered for 6 things to do to prepare ourselves for the job market post Covid-19. As these articles are meant to be independent and self-contained though, feel free to dive right ahead.

One of the strangest behaviors of human beings is that during times of negativity — depression, worry, or otherwise — we often think more. We doubt ourselves. We question our past choices, our current thoughts, and our future fates. We’re usually told to live by heart though, and that the thoughts that pop into our minds during these times are just the devil’s playthings meaning to bestow mayhem and sorrow and nothing else.

But I don’t think that’s true. And neither do some scientists. In fact, the excessive thinking we do during depression for example might actually be an evolutionary adaptation meant to boost our cognitive capacity and serve as the extra oomph to break previous negative habits. And if that’s the case, then while we have the unfortunate luxury of being holed up in our homes, distanced from the fun of friends and the outdoors, but also protected from the daily distractions of normal personal and professional responsibilities — we owe it to ourselves to really use this time and make the meaningful confirmation and changes to our thinking.

And that can entail many things:

1. Priorities: What am I really looking for in life? Do I work to live or live to work? Is money the goal or a tool? Maybe compensation isn’t and shouldn’t be what I prioritize facing forward. Instead it might be work life balance. Or I believe that the company pushes humanity forward. Or if its just fun to do it.
2. Preferences: Do I like the work I was/am planning on doing? Can I really see myself doing it for the next X years? Yes I may have invested Y into getting to where I am now… but is that really worth sacrificing X years to pursue it? Is it really the best choice or is it just sunk cost fallacy?
3. Security: (If you were furlouged/let go) Why did this happen? If there were other people who remained: what could I have done to be one of them? Do I want to be one of them? Am I comfortable with the vulnerability that this pandemic has shown me in terms of employment? Maybe next time I should look for a bigger corporation that has more security, or a different position that is less prone to lay-offs, or maybe I’m fine with it. Because I love my job, despite what’s happened and I have to take the bad with the good.
4. Goals: How does this impact my goals moving forward? I saw myself as a XYZ in X years, how realistic is this still? More importantly… do I even still care about this goal? If not, then I need to really dig deep and find out what’s important to me and set that as my goal moving forward. If it is, then how can I get it back on track as soon as possible?

For me, this time of being away from friends, family, and distractions both fun and not have let me to become aware of something myself: that after college and working I’ve become a wholly uninteresting human being devoid of hobbies and skills. And I find that to be a much bigger worry than my 401K trajectory or ability to jump companies. Without the blaring voice of my friend singing karaoke next to me, the hours of crowded commute, or the muted darkness of exhausted weekday sleep — I realize that young me would have thrown up in despair at the empty vessel that the current me has become. So now I write, I reach back out to connect with family, I read, and I‘m trying to figure out what it means to be a person outside of applying to jobs, practicing for interviews, and working at the office again.

And that’s not even mentioning the multiple career shifts I’ve had in my short professional life. From finance to economics to tech to marketing and then back to tech.

And the good news is that this isn’t only good for your personal life and happiness. It’s good for your professional one too. Because it’ll make you happier and more assertive. When you know what you really care about, what you’re willing to sweat for, and what you’re not willing to give up — then you’ll bring that confidence, self-centered calm, and happiness to your interviews too. People can tell when you’re interviewing for a marketing position but secretly wish that maybe you gave engineering a try. They can tell when your boundaries are low and that you’d say anything to get a job. They can tell if you’re unexcited about the job… or worse, if you’re unexcited about life.

And if there’s one thing this pandemic should teach us: it’s that life is precious. But its also scary. And unexpected. And hard. So it’s only right for us to make sure we come off auto-pilot once and again and make sure we use it right.