[For more info: larry@larrylitwin.com]
This comes to you from Lauren Schwahn at NerdWallet.com (Courier–Post – 8/16/2020)
Here are four ways to .netune your athome job hunt.
1. Build your skills
2. Give yourself credit (Don’t be shy. Brag about your successes)
3. Highlight your adaptability and flexibility
4. Prepare for virtual interviews
Here it is in total:
1. Build your skills
These uncertain times boast at least one advantage for job seekers: Many re sources for online learning are now free or more a.ordable in response to im pacts of the COVID19 outbreak. So make yourself more marketable by learning or developing a skill, or getting a certi.cation (think mastering Excel or project management). You can .nd courses for just about any topic on plat forms like Coursera and Udemy.
“Then, put that bullet point on your resume. Even if they don’t have a formal certi.cation process, that’s still a big deal to say you invested that amount of time in yourself,” says Julie Kratz, foun der of Next Pivot Point, a leadership training organization.
This can be even more impactful if you’ve had a gap in work experience during the pandemic.
2. Give yourself credit (Don’t be shy. Brag about your successes)
Maybe you don’t meet 100% of the listed requirements for a position or you’re considering a new career path. Don’t let that stop you from applying.
Be con.dent and try not to apologize for or otherwise call attention to any thing you’re lacking, says Jeannie Kim, vice president of content at career site The Muse: “What you should do instead is really play up the things that you do have. Play up the skills you have that are in the job description. Play up the back ground that you have, and make sure that you’re telling the story of how you’re quali.ed to do the actual respon sibilities of the job.”
3. Highlight your adaptability
Businesses across the country are settling into new normals. That might involve recon.guring workspaces or learning to operate remotely. You’ll make a good impression by demonstrat ing you can roll with changes. How do you do that? Showcase personality traits and attitudes like .exibility, em pathy and creativity, known as soft skills.
“With people not able to be in the same place as their coworkers, being able to show that you have strong com munication and collaboration skills is really important right now,” Kim says.
Transferable skills are also crucial to mention, especially if you’re looking to change roles or industries. Those are skills that apply to a variety of roles and can include both soft and hard skills, such as sales, writing or leadership.
Previous telecommuting experience can give you a leg up, too.
“Experience managing a remote team would be huge right now because very few managers have managed like this,” Kratz says. “But even having suc cessfully contributed to a virtual team, especially if you can lead with the ac complishments you achieved on that team, would go really well.”
4. Prepare for virtual interviews
The interview process could be most ly, or entirely, virtual even if the job it self isn’t. Standard interview advice still applies: Dress professionally, ask smart questions and so on. But you should also adopt a few new best practices.
If you’re granted an interview, ask the company what the process will look like. How long will it take? Who will you meet with? Will it be over Zoom, Google, Skype or something else?
Then do a dry run. Test the audio, video and internet connection on your device. Make sure there’s nothing dis tracting or inappropriate in the visible background. Get familiar with the soft ware so you’ll know where the controls are located.
For good measure, set up a mock interview with a friend who can let you
know how everything looks and sounds on the other end. Finally, tell the people you live with when you’ll need access to shared equipment and quiet, uninter rupted time.
[For more info: larry@larrylitwin.com]