Career Aviators Ireland and Career Aviators Canada specialize in helping professionals, managers, and executives find positions in which they will excel, value highly, and love to do.

We have teamed up to create this podcast series called Taking Charge Of Your Professional Future. These podcasts cover interesting topics relating to career discernment and job search strategies.

In coming podcasts we will delve into the career management aspects of outplacement, the rapidly changing future of work, job search, and work culture.

Today’s podcast is designed to get you ready to negotiate job offers post COVID-19.

Are you out of work, laid off, or worried about your job?

It's true that we all feel a little shattered and our economy has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. .Yet, even in the face of this stress, if you have past or current success in leadership or a professional role, this could be an excellent time to launch a job search.

Staff in many companies are working from home and may be more available for the critically important networking component of your search. While companies may not be hiring right now, smart hiring managers are still keeping their eye out for the right people to fill positions for when the economy recovers.

COVID-19 is going to change the way we do business forever and it will create structural changes and new opportunities as the economy starts its climb, so get yourself ready to negotiate offers.

Now is the time to prepare. You can use your increased flexibility in your schedule and the time while employers are not hiring to your advantage. Effective job search is “front- end loaded” with far more time spent in the first phase in comparison to later stages of the search. This first phase requires careful self-assessment to discern your best path, resume reboot, and a lengthy period of highly strategic networking or field research. to uncover positions before they are posted.

Wise job seekers will use this economic down time for their first phase so they will be poised for interviews and job offers when the economy recovers.

Here are 9 critical steps to execute for a successful career transition after COVID-19:

Take stock of your financial situation: Where are you at?. What funding is being offered by government to assist you? How long can you search?. Try to reduce your expenses to create the longest job search runway possible. Once you know your destination, work out an intensive workback plan for your search strategy.
Consult with a career professional who can help you to expedite your search. Just as a realtor, investment advisor or personal trainer adds value to their clients' respective pursuits; a career professional will help you plan your career destination and get you there faster than you can on your own. Landing a job sooner will more than pay for the cost of their services,
Discern Your Direction. Create a statement that clearly states the strengths that you want to use in your next career move, your deepest values that will drive your career and what you are most curious about pursuing.
Set your sites on securing multiple offers.
Consider pursuing a side hustle to help support your job search. It's critical that you not be “handcuffed” to a side hustle. You want to find a side hustle that does not take place during business hours and that will not exhaust you. You need to be free, open minded and positive to conduct the networking needed for your more permanent position. At the same time, a productive side hustle, that ties into your next career move will boost your spirits, bring in a little money and be great preparation for success in your next role.
Consider pursuing online courses to strengthen your search. You have the time during COVID-19 to update your skills in the direction of your search. Online programs, including ones that are free are abundant. Taking such courses will give you the sense of accomplishment and purpose needed to optimize your search.
Tune up your resume. Resumes need to be accomplishment oriented, clearly showing the magnitude of your successes aligned with your target roles.
Recognize, that following COVID-19, we will be more digital than ever before in our history. Now that you have a great resume, you can create a powerful presence on line. You also need to learn how to become a “pro” at using online tools like Zoom and Google Hangouts to conduct your networking and for your future networking.
Create a highly strategic networking or field research strategy to enlist 40 individuals in your target role to be your lookouts for positions before they are posted.

Keep networking as you proceed through resume customization, interview preparation, job interviews and position negotiation to get as many offers as possible.

Use this strategy and you will be poised to land a job that truly “fits”, during or following COVID-19.

Are you considering a career transition? Wayne Greenway is the Chief Executive Officer for Career Aviators.

Career Aviators, a Certified B Corporation® helps professionals, managers, and executives find positions in which they will excel, value highly, and love to do. The profits from our work support programs to help vulnerable youth flourish in the face of highly stressful life situations