The Unexpected and Positive Surprises of the COVID-19 Pandemic- Lessons to Apply to Your Job Search
This past weekend, I spent a lot of time remembering my youth- mostly my undergraduate and graduate college days at SUNY/Buffalo. The reason? One of my dear friends at the time ( a freshman suitemate) and I spent an hour on the phone trying to summarize our lives after 20+ years of no-communication. The last time we saw each other was in 1994- 26 years ago. She had to remind me that her second child had just been born. We lost touch. It happens. Always remembered her- great memories of our undergraduate days in snowy/windy Buffalo!
She reached out to me a couple of weeks ago, as she said, as a result, somewhat of the Pandemic. How did she do it? I think she started on Facebook (I am not all that active on a personal basis), probably didn’t go to LinkedIn ( she is not active on that, though I am more so) and with googling and finding a picture that resembled what she remembered I looked like when I was 18) got to my website and found my phone number and email address.
After a few rounds of email and some initial catching up ( she- still married to her high school and college sweetheart/ 2 kids in their 20’s and living in the LA area; me- never married, moved around the country in the height of my first career at American Express, now happily settled in the DC area for the last 15 years)- we re-connected on Saturday night.
And, as the saying goes- you don’t forget how to ride a bicycle. You pick up your friendships where they hopefully left off. Why am I writing this post?
As a career coach, I remind my clients that they should not leave any stone unturned, as it were. You never know where an opportunity, a possibility, an interesting conversation is going to come from as you consider your future/your next role.
As many of us continue to practice social distancing, are more home-bound that we may like, these conditions make it more challenging for job-seekers to remain as connected as they can to others. Networking/networking/networking- the mantra of a career coach ( me included) is now reduced to email/phone and Zoom- so much for spending time in your local coffee shop.
Job seeking is hard enough- then add on a pandemic, an election year and higher than usual unemployment rates. BUT, it is not impossible. DO reach out to your friends/former colleagues-and think of those you have not been in touch for many years. It will be great fun to re-connect and you never know how they may be able to help you. They won’t shame you. They won’t blame you for not being in touch. They will be thrilled to hear from you. Be diverse and creative in your job search activities. Take your LinkedIn Connections- export them onto an excel sheet and sort away. Prioritize them. Set a weekly goal on how many people you will contact. You never know who you will find and how they will be able to help you.
On a sad note, she told me that a friend of ours had passed away- way too young- at age 42. In fact, he was my first college boyfriend. But what a life he had- wife/family/a successful career as a pediatrician. If he were alive today, I know he’d be giving his 110% to his patients during this health crisis. Rest in peace, David.
Call someone and ask for help. They will be happy you did.