Hey cultivator, welcome
back to my channel.
So today I want to actually address the
Corona virus because I know it has got
the entire United States and the world
in a panic and a lot of you guys are
wondering how does this
affect my employment or my
job search and the inevitable
are we going to hit a global recession?
So I am not a financial
expert by any means,
and I'm also not a health expert, but
I am an expert in everything career.
So I want to go ahead and just address
some of the top things that you can be
considering and doing both as an
employed person as well as an active job
seeker.
So let's dive in and go through some of
these tips that I highly encourage you
implement so that you can recession-proof
yourself as quickly as possible.
And also to make sure you're well
positioned until things go back to normal.
All right, so as of March,
1520 20 there have been numerous
reports of toilet paper, paper towels,
and groceries just flying off the shelf.
So I want to say that first and
foremost, don't panic. You know,
anytime there's panic amongst a global
population, that's never a good thing.
But if you are currently
employed right now,
what is actually more important than
all of those essentials at the grocery
store, which by the way it gets
restocked up every week, um,
is to leverage and take advantage of
your healthcare insurance, your dental,
your vision.
If your employer is currently subsidizing
your plans or you have benefits,
I would actually take the month of March
to go get checkups, go see your doctor,
do your annual checkups. Um,
really it makes sure that your
whole health system is okay,
but also just know that in the
case there is actually a recession.
Cobra is really, really expensive.
So when you're paying out
of pocket for insurance,
it's going to cost way more than all of
your groceries and toilet paper for an
entire five years combined. So take
advantage of that right now. Um,
that's actually where your best use
of your time and energy is spent.
Rather than fixating on what
are the daily or weekly needs.
And the next coming weeks. Right?
I highly recommend healthcare and just
making sure that you're all examined and
all is good. Okay, next up, let's
talk about social distancing at work.
A lot of companies have already
implemented work from home schedules,
which is great and if your company hasn't
gotten on board yet or maybe you're in
a position that doesn't
allow you to work from home,
then perhaps you asked for staggering
schedule, whether it's you come in early,
leave early or come in later compared
to the rest of the team and leave later.
Or even staggering your
lunchtime, you know,
instead of the normal 11 to 12,
perhaps you ask if you can
go from two to three, um,
and just really make sure that you are
taking care of yourself and following all
of the health care guidelines.
Meaning you are not getting in
close proximity with anyone.
You're not doing the formal handshake,
but maybe a fist bump or
a elbow bump instead. Um,
and sanitizing your entire workstation.
I would definitely have Clorox wipes
and just wipe down everything. Um,
anything that you're touching
including door knobs,
just continuously wipe them down because
you want to make sure that you're
taking care of yourself first
and foremost. All right,
tip number three I have for those of you
who are employed currently is to start
putting together your job search
materials update that resume,
update that LinkedIn, start building
out your networking strategy. Again,
even if you're currently employed,
the best time to job search is while
you're employed and even if a recession is
coming.
I just want to emphasize that people are
always being hired during recessions.
The thought of everything being on a
hiring freeze or everything crashing is a
myth.
There's always companies still running
and operating in business during times of
recession,
but the only way you can get those is
if you're well equipped and prepared.
By the way,
if you guys are needing job search support
and want to take out the guesswork of
2020 job searching,
be sure to look in the description box
down below for the link to all of my job
search programs.
I will block you from a to Z and just
give you all of the comprehensive tools
and strategies that will get you
there as quickly as possible.
And that's a perfect segue
into my tips I have for you.
If you are currently a job seeker
who is actively job searching,
whether it's you're unemployed,
you're underemployed,
or even just looking to
make a change for some time,
just know that you can absolutely
find a job in any climate. Um,
any recession. If you think
about it, even in 2008, 2009,
there were companies that were hiring.
So just know that first and
foremost it is not hopeless,
although it might feel
that way and you know,
you might be feeling fearful or really
anxious about this entire situation,
especially because of the uncertainty.
But I've been pulling a lot of recruiters
and hiring managers and they do tell
me that they are continuing to hire.
So there's not an entire hiring freeze.
And again,
I just want to be the voice that when
I graduated from college in 2009 my law
firm was on a hiring freeze, but I
ended up finding another full time job,
but for the online education industry,
which was thriving at that time,
just know that at any point our economy
has ups and downs and some industries
will lead others and that's totally fine.
There's going to be an
opportunity waiting for you.
So let me also caveat this
with one really helpful tip,
which is just that a lot of people
are fearful of making a move.
There are people who are
getting job offers right now,
but they're afraid to leave their current
companies because they're afraid that
if there is a recession,
they're going to be the first to be
let go given that they're the new hire.
So because of that, it's
actually less competitive.
Right now there's less applicants for
the jobs that are available and that is a
really great thing for those of you who
have been out of employment or feeling
underemployed for some time.
Tip number two I have for you is to
get really comfortable with video
interviewing.
A lot of the companies I've polled and
surveyed have shared that they're hiring.
It's continuously ramping up. However,
they are no longer bringing candidates
onsite and in lieu of that they are just
having Skype or FaceTime or zoom calls
or whatever other platform to get to know
the candidate.
So if you're looking for tips on
how to ACE your video interviews,
then you can check out this
video. A link up here. All right,
tip number three I have for you, and
this is probably the most painful one,
is to be patient.
I know a lot of you pre Corona virus
outbreak were saying that hiring timelines
just take forever these days.
And maybe you interviewed for a role
a month ago and still haven't heard a
status updates,
but we must understand and
really acknowledge the fact
that now with this Corona
virus outbreak, companies
are really separated, right?
A lot of employers are working remotely
yet they're still communicating
cross-functionally and they're still
trying to get their communication channels
down. So if you thought
things were slow before,
just multiply that by two and also
multiply your patients by two because the
only thing you can really control
is your follow-up. Um, you know,
I always say follow up once after you
haven't heard back given the expected
timeline that you were supposed to
hear back and then just let it be, um,
start to focus on other opportunities
because there are many more opportunities
out there and the best position you
can be in is having multiple competing
offers. And finally,
don't forget to continue building
your relationship capital.
Your relationships are going to be your
greatest currency and all of this for
those that are in my job
search programs, you know,
I'm currently having you reach out to
your potential hiring managers to your
potential colleagues because
now is the time to do it.
While things are slower in
certain companies, right?
People are working remote instead of
going through that hustle and bustle come
Monday,
a lot of people are just
finding themselves socially
distancing from everybody
and having so much more Headspace and
having so much more downtime and just more
relaxation. And peace of
mind during this period.
And so it's actually the best opportunity
to start building those relationships
and networking.
Now I also want to emphasize that
everything in this economy is cyclical,
right? If you look back
at the stock market,
you could actually even see like
the week few, it's gone up and down,
up and down.
You could see the year view or the
five year view or the 10 year view.
It's generally gone up and
down, up and down, up and down,
and the same will happen.
So even right now,
as we're experiencing some dips
just right around the corner,
there's going to be an app, right?
And it's really important
for us to recognize that
everything that is happening
right now is very temporary.
But what we do today will really
determine the outlook of our future.
So take this opportunity at the slower
time of the economy to really start to
get intentional and build
out your strategy and plan.
If you need help with networking or
any of the other job search strategies,
be sure to look down at
the description box below.
I have the links to my job search
programs and you can learn all about the
tactics and the strategies needed in 2020
to make sure that you beat out all of
the other candidates and any economy.
I don't care if we're
hitting the recession,
people are still working
during recessions.
People are still getting
hired during recessions.
Will you be one of them is the question
and I sure hope so by putting in the
steps that I talked about in this video
and also recognizing that what you can
control is your reaction and your
responses to everything that is going on
around you.
I told my students earlier today that we
can't control what is happening around
us, right?
In terms of the spread of the pandemic
or who's being infected and so forth.
But what we can't control is how we
show up on a day to day what we want to
believe and like to believe and how
we want to act and respond to that.
So that is my goal for you to not so
much get paralyzed by all the fear and
anxiety and the uncertainty,
but instead to start to be proactive and
start to lay out the groundwork so that
you can make sure that you have recession
proof yourself versus what I see so
many job seekers do,
which is start job searching
only when they need a job.
And usually that was like,
shoot, I just got laid off.
I need a job tomorrow. But
it doesn't happen that way.
Most job search processes take 90 days
on average and that's exactly why they
tell most Americans to save up at least
six months of bills because you want to
make sure that you're okay if
there's a case of an emergency,
right?
But a lot of us haven't done that and
so we must start to think about what we
need to do today.
How do we start to invest in our future
today so that we can reap those rewards.
Let me know down in the comment box below
what your thoughts on the Corona virus
is, what your concerns are,
what you have been experiencing in the
workplace or in your job search as a
whole.
I'd love to read your comments and just
have a healthy discussion around how we
can make sure we are taking the time
to take care of ourselves first and
foremost,
and just making sure we're practicing
safety and staying safe and all of this.
Um, and also being kind and
compassionate, not just to ourselves,
but to others around us.
I hope that you continue to cultivate
your life and career and it can't wait to
see where you land in your next career.
