Hire Me, Dammit
12 Realities and Tips for Job Hunting in a Post-2020 World
Like so many others, I began 2020 by plunging into the dark and muddy waters of unemployment. The jobs and positions that had been my reliable source of income disappeared as did my decently paying side-hustle (entertainment, acting, public speaking). An entire industry that I had known, developed skills in, and networked extensively in disappeared overnight. Even jobs outside of my wheelhouse (barista positions, serving, bartending) were put on hold or reduced in staffing. We were told it would be two weeks. However, those of us who read analyses and articles on past pandemics — as scary as they were at the time — got the sudden inkling that we were in for a much longer story. We were left with a choice to make: wait it out (if our financial situation allowed us to do so) or pivot dramatically.
I ended up being unemployed for 16 months. I was lucky, in that, the financial aid provided by our government at the time covered my rent and grocery expenses. Not much beyond that but it was enough. I had a few freelancing skills I could lean on though much of it was in the realm of live events and entertainment and thus, trickled in slowly or not at all. Others had a much more difficult time. That said, I wasn’t keen on just accepting the monthly financial aid and doing nothing. To be perfectly honest, (and this may or may not be a hot take) I have no judgment for those who chose to wait for their industries and passions to return! It was a dark, frightening, and confusing time. Still is! At times, sitting and waiting is all we can do. But the loss of identity and loss of purpose hit me hard and, like a kid splashing as they try to tread water, I began job hunting like it was my full-time job in an effort to fill that void.
What transpired was an endurance game like none I have ever experienced along with a sense of failure and worthlessness that felt endless. On the other side of it, I learned a thing or two. And as Omicron seizes nations and cities shut down with different restrictions, many are faced with the same choices we had to make in 2020 — wait it out or pivot. If you are one who has chosen (or been left with no choice) to embark on the pursuit of a job hunt, I hope this advice (and there is a lot) helps you on your journey. It took quite awhile, and many sleepless nights, for me to learn. But in the end, resulted in four job offers in a matter of weeks.
1. It IS an Endurance Game
The hardest part will be those moments where the voice in your head tricks you into thinking that this is the way it will be forever; the moments where you are desperate; the moments where you lose hope.
Ignore the vacuum of social media — ignore those who seem to land success overnight. Grabbing a job that covers your rent and expenses in this economy takes time. Getting a brand new job in a brand new industry with brand new skills that you may not have developed yet takes time. Standing out from the crowd of resumes takes time.
But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. The number one piece of advice I can give is: keep going. Stay in it. Take the rejection and move on.
2. Get Whatever Financial Aid Is Available to You
In the meantime, whether you lost your job due to the pandemic or another unrelated reason, you do not know how long this period will last. Jump on whatever financial aid is available to you at the time — and if it seems like there isn’t any, investigate further. Phone your employment insurance, speak to a human, and find out what is available to you in your specific situation. Do this first.
Next, ignore all of the mindless online chatter that suggests you are a leach of the system by relying on EI or financial aid. It’s out there and it’s brutal. You are not a leach. It is not a moral failure to rely on employment insurance or government aid. I don’t care if you’re accepting financial aid for half a year or more. Do what you need to do so that you can comfortably job hunt.
3. Get Clear On Your Situation
If you manage to get financial aid, you’ve bought yourself some time, and in doing so can look for something suited to your skill-set and perhaps even preferred industry.
If you don’t have financial aid or savings you can rely on, you need to get realistic about your situation, even if this means grabbing a job that you ordinarily would never take. You need to do what you have to in order to keep a roof over your head and food on the table. No job has to be a forever job and where you are right now is not where you will be. So once you’ve figured out your financial situation, get clear on what your timeline is and stick to it.
4. How You Should Be Using Your Resume & Cover Letter
Revamping your resume needs to be a priority. Do not just dust it off from the virtual file folders and start sending it out. Take a look at examples and templates online and make sure yours is readable, slick, clean, and modern. This doesn’t mean making it artsy (unless you are going for a creative/graphic design position), but do make it visually appealing and easy on the eyes.
Now, here’s the key: Both your resume and cover letter need to be tailored to each and every separate job post.
Don’t get me wrong, there were a good number of jobs I would just randomly throw my resume and copy & pasted cover letter at, but I would try to do 1–3 legitimate applications a day. These required tailoring the resume and cover letter, with keywords, to the exact job description and company I was applying for. It’s a lot of work but it will help you stand out.
Finally, in the world of a global pandemic, handing out resumes in person is quickly becoming a thing of the past. If you have the opportunity to do it safely, by all means. But what you really need to do is brush up on your ability to apply effectively online. This will likely be the way of the future when it comes to applications.
5. Highlighting Your Skills, Work Assets, and Work Ethic
Listing your work experience and accomplishments is one thing, but more and more, people need to have a good understanding what your skills are. Creating a section that highlights skills, assets, and work ethic on your resume is a great way to include key buzzwords from the job posting in your application and highlight the things you are good at that may not be included in your job experience.
What do I mean by assets? I’m talking about the general stuff. The strong written & verbal communication stuff. The versatility. The leadership abilities. They’re assets because, often, they come from lived experience from which you will be able to provide examples in an interview.
What do I mean by work ethic? I’m talking about your confidence in taking initiative. Your ability to work individually and with a team. Your eagerness to make a difference in the workplace and community.
What do I mean by skills? This is the tangible stuff that’s specific to you. The HTML, the coding, the graphic design, the social media experience, the video editing, the writing.
Use actionable verbs in your resume. Words like: directed, enforced, decided, processed, maintained, supervised, coordinated.
6. Have Two Resumes and Get Past the ATS Systems
ATS System stands for Applicant Tracking System and it’s as annoying and ominous as it sounds. This is when your resume is sent through a screening system often before even reaching the hands of a hiring manager or recruiter. It’s meant to wean out candidates who aren’t a match to the posting. The problem? Most research behind ATS systems online report that they read left to right.
That means your splashy design or resume that’s neatly organized into columns will likely get thrown out — and unfairly, in my opinion! But I get it. I understand why something like this is in place.
That said, your beautiful, flashy resume does deserve to be seen and is the right resume to be seen by the right person.
HINT: If you’re uploading your resume through an online application portal, chances are good it will go through an ATS. Save your well-designed version for when you can apply to a direct email inbox, whether it belongs to a recruiter or hiring manager.
7. Brush Up On Skills
So you listed your skills and decided that you really don’t have enough to be applying for those sweet remote social media intern roles you’ve been targeting. No problem. There are so many FREE online courses (more since the pandemic began) that will give you legitimate certification to add to your resume in very, very little time (I’m talking days and weeks).
Try HubSpot and Google Skills. Both will give you certificates with authentic code numbers and expiry dates that you can add to your LinkedIn profile and resume.
8. Break Your Day Up
If all of this seems like a lot so far, I’m not going to lie to you… it is. It really is. And it can very quickly lead to burnout. That’s why I placed this one before the end — so that it’s not an after-thought, but instead, highlighted as a necessity.
Breaking your day up into a routine can help. Perhaps the first couple hours of the morning are spent revamping your resume, writing cover letters, or sprucing up your portfolio. Perhaps the next hour is spent scrolling through the job boards. After lunch, you do one of your courses, expanding your skill-set. After that, you RELAX. You take time off. You don’t spend all-night scrolling through jobs. You watch a movie. You zone out on TikTok. You have a life. If you are in a position where you are privileged to do so, try and bring some sort of balance to your hunt. Burning out before you even get started will lead to more problems down the road.
9. Narrow Down Your Job Boards
It’s good to peruse every job board you can find, but have a top 2 or 3 that you check every day as part of your routine. Indeed and LinkedIn will be the most plentiful when it comes to options and using filters to narrow down a specific search.
Do not — I repeat, do not — sleep on LinkedIn. And that brings me to my next point:
10. Revamping your LinkedIn Page Is a Must
A lot of people think LinkedIn is just for the cool finance bros, littered with posts about how waking up at 4AM and taking a cold shower is the only way to be the boss of your domain. And while that’s true (that it’s filled with finance bros, not the 4AM thing), it’s also filled with legitimate connections and authentic opportunities to network with people who may be able to open doors for you.
Start with a strong, professional profile picture. A clean and clear headshot.
Make a background photo that highlights your name, area of expertise/interest, and bullet-point accomplishments. Canva has numerous excellent and free templates to do this with.
Fill out your profile COMPLETELY, listing descriptions under each job (just like your resume). Recruiters and hiring managers WILL take a quick glance at it — especially if you apply for a job through LinkedIn.
11. Send a Thank You After Every Interview & EVERY Rejection
The other great thing about LinkedIn is that it is an easy way to find who the Hiring Manager is for every position you apply to. Once I applied to a job (even if I applied elsewhere or through their website), I found the hiring manager on LinkedIn and sent them a quick message, expressing my interest in the position. More times than not, I got a response, saying they’d keep an eye out for my resume.
This also opens the door to thank hiring managers after receiving a rejection or after an interview (though for thanking them after an interview you should be using the email they contacted you with). Why is thanking them after a rejection still important? Because… you just… never know…
I was rejected by a job and two weeks later ended up getting an offer from them because the candidate they did choose didn’t work out. I had already accepted a job at that point, but boy, did it make me feel good and validated!
Now, don’t be unprofessional. If you were rejected, you were rejected. Don’t plead. Thank them politely and move on. But by thanking them, you show integrity, and you may just stick out in their mind should another opportunity pop up down the road.
12. Talk to Friends
Being unemployed can be one of the most vulnerable things you can experience. It attacks the fabric of what our western society has built self-worth upon. Talk to your friends. Not only will they maybe become aware of opportunities, or even have an “in” for you, but they will be a support system to lean on and rely on when the days get rough. And they will get rough.
But every storm passes. And this one will too.
If you’re in the thick of it right now, sending out resume after resume, I see you! Hang in there. This, too, shall pass.
And, most importantly, you are so much more than whatever job you may or may not have right now.
Keep going.
You’ve got this.
