How to Find a Job in the New Era of Work

Either way, you need to remember that it is possible to find a new job during this time – or indeed, at any other time of economic downturn or uncertainty. After all, as our CEO Ajay Malhotra explains, “the world is always going to need talented people.”

So, what steps can you take to help you secure a new role?

1. Build your career confidence

Whether you have started to feel that you are not qualified or skilled enough to move ahead in your career, or you have been missing the positive reinforcements and praise that you would normally experience in a physical office-based environment, your confidence may have been setback in the past few months. If so, take a moment and proactively identify your strengths and the areas in which you deliver the most value. Then, focus on reinforcing those strengths in your mind, instead of concentrating on the areas where you may be falling behind.

When it comes to addressing your weaknesses, do so with a growth mindset. After all, these do not need to be framed as ‘weak’; they are merely opportunities for you to grow and become a more well-rounded professional.

If you are unsure about how you can regain confidence for your career, this Harvard Business Review podcast should give you some concrete ideas for steps forward. It answers the questions of several listeners who have struggled with confidence in their careers, touching on themes as the importance of soft compassion – acknowledging your positive qualities even in light of receiving negative feedback – and investigating and learning from previous mistakes, without allowing them to hamper your confidence today.

There are many ways of beginning to build your career confidence back up for the new era of work. One good starting point could be to look back at your accomplishments and successes while thinking about the challenges you have successfully overcome. You might also cultivate confidence by reflecting on what is still going well for you and concentrating on your journey of professional progress and growth, instead of comparing yourself to others.

The more confident you can be about your career as you look for a new job, the more effective you can be in marketing yourself to employers and making the case for the value you can bring to every role you apply for.

2. Be open-minded when considering opportunities

Being open-minded and flexible when considering the possibilities for your professional future is vital at a time like this. For instance, instead of thinking about the next traditional step up the career ladder for someone in your profession, why not consider whether a lateral career move could be more beneficial for you? Such a sideways move into a role could help to build a skill set you may presently lack and get you closer to your ultimate career goal.

For example, take the case of a finance manager who has developed a strong skillset in management accounting and calculating profit and loss statements. The job that person aspires to have in two or three moves’ time, is a finance director. Having looked at the typical job specifications for this level and seniority of the role, this finance manager soon realises that they lack the relevant technical skills needed in preparing statutory accounts and managing the balance sheet. Therefore, to get this experience, the finance manager establishes the need to move into a more technical financial accounting role, which is a lateral move. A lateral move, then, might not take you immediately into the role that you desire in the longer term. What such a move enables you to do, however, is to ensure you have all the skills you need to achieve your future career ambitions.

It is important to also keep an open mind about the industries on which you concentrate your job search. Some sectors such as digital and technology, supply-chain, online education, healthcare and pharmaceuticals are hiring more than other sectors at the moment. So be strategic about how and where you look for new roles. Besides, do not assume that any role that you take should be a permanent one. Temporary or contract roles, for instance, can be invaluable ways to build your skillset and gain experience in different areas, and that is before you consider that such roles can sometimes be made permanent later.

3. Accept that your career will likely be non-linear

As explained in the book ‘The 100 Year Life’, increased life expectancy will provide many of us with more time to continue exploring opportunities and shaping our careers in directions that we might have never imagined or expected, especially when we were just starting our professional lives.

A lot of us might end up working well into our 70s and even 80s. That’s a long time working and we will likely need to inject some variety and interest into our longer working lives by switching jobs more often, changing industries, starting our side projects, and perhaps exploring entirely different career paths from time to time.

As shared above, your next move does not necessarily have to be a step up. Instead, you might step sideways into a new industry, or step out to go back into education. Or perhaps there is a step within your current organisation that you could take, that would also help you to feel you are making interesting and rewarding progress in your career?

The key point to remember is that the next job you have will not be your last one. You will have many more working experiences over the years to look forward to.

4. Reflect on what you want from your career

During this time, it is imperative to consider what you ultimately want from your professional life, to ensure you are making the right career decisions for yourself. After all, when was the last time you took a moment to step back and think about your current situation? Are you genuinely happy with where your career is headed, or the industry you are working in? Does your career feel meaningful and purposeful, and allow you to do what you are naturally good at? What about your skills, are they being properly utilised in your current role? Perhaps there are some skills you that you would like to develop further?

If there has ever been a better time to reflect on your career, it might well be now, when you may have a bit more time to think about these things than you did before the COVID-19 crisis. The changes that the pandemic has brought may also present you with an opportunity to be bold about what you truly want in your life and career.

Our Executive Director at NADIA Global Group, Ian Giulianotti may have summed it up best when he said, “my advice to people is to follow your dreams, don’t hit the stop button. Reflect on what you want from your life and career, understand your potential and how you can realise that potential”.

So, use this time to reflect and be clear in your mind about exactly what you want your next career move to be. This level of clarity and focus will allow you to better target your job search and apply for only the most relevant opportunities, thereby increasing your chances of success. This newfound understanding of what you want will also come across in the interview room, allowing you to further demonstrate to the employer why you are the best person for the job.

5. Demonstrate your relevant soft skills

Do you possess the soft skills that will be increasingly sought-after by employers in the months and years to come? If your answer is yes, then, if you were sitting in an interview room now, could you provide tangible evidence of these skills? There are certain soft skills that you are likely to need to build on and develop in the new era of work, including adaptability, a willingness to learn, emotional intelligence, interpersonal and communication skills, problem-solving skills, and creativity.

Do not forget either that you will have also developed many transferable skills throughout your career, which may prove helpful when demonstrating your suitability for a new role. According to a recent survey of unemployed jobseekers – as reported by Forbes – 57 per cent of respondents were unable to identify their transferable skills with a high degree of confidence, and 58 per cent were not sure how to include transferable skills on their CV.

Now is the time to familiarise yourself with your skillset, so that you can be as prepared as possible for the fast-changing job market and steal a competitive advantage over other candidates during the job search process.

7. Update your CV for the new era of work

We may be entering a new era of work, but your CV will still be important when marketing yourself to employers, just like it was before COVID-19. If you are unsure where to start, take a look at this CV Guide, which will assist you with key aspects such as planning the structure of your CV, writing your statement and how to best showcase your skills.

Just as important is the need to customise your CV to the open position you are applying for. Key to this is researching keywords and ensuring your CV includes them: look at job descriptions for your ideal role so you can determine what these keywords are, and where they can be incorporated. For example, you may include “project management”, “governance”, “efficiencies”, “health and safety”, “financial reporting” or “budget management” under your responsibilities.

Another crucial element of your CV is almost certainly your personal statement. Our recruitment consultants at NADIA Executive Search & Selection describe it as your CV’s “elevator pitch on paper”, and as it is the first section that is typically read, it must be powerful and tailored to the job you are applying for to successfully showcase your suitability.

8. Perfect your brand

Your ‘personal brand’ is how you promote yourself, and it will be instrumental in your efforts to land new opportunities, especially in the current climate. Now is a great time to fine-tune your brand, including optimising your use of social media to more advantageously showcase your expertise. You can Google your name and review your social media profiles that pop up. In particular, it is important to regularly update your LinkedIn profile, adding any new skills you have learnt.

You can also use the time you have right now to share relevant industry news with your network, and consider writing blogs to share your personal opinion on new developments or trends. This will help to increase your visibility in relevant circles and boost your chances of a recruiter or employer finding you.

When you are updating your LinkedIn profile, adjust the relevant setting that communicates to recruiters and employers that you are “open to work”, and consider posting an update to your network asking for their assistance with your job search. It is crucial now to use social platforms to network as it might be some time until face-to-face events can happen again. One great step here would be to join relevant LinkedIn Groups, sharing your expertise and seeking advice from people in roles that you aspire to be in.

9. Develop your remote interviewing skills

Remote interviewing is increasingly likely to be the norm going forward. So, now is the time to perfect your virtual interviewing skills, including ensuring you present yourself in the best possible way when being interviewed via a laptop, tablet or even mobile screen.

It is true that many of the same tips commonly given for face-to-face interviewing also apply to remote interviewing, especially around the preparation and how to best answer common interview questions. However, certain priorities are particularly, or even only, valid for remote interviews.

Do you, for instance, have an environment that lends itself well to video interviews? Are you also comfortable with using the technology, and aware of your body language? Other good reasons to give the chosen virtual interview software a ‘test drive’ before the actual interview include the opportunity this provides to ensure you will not be speaking too quietly or too loudly for the interviewer, as well as to check for any time lags, which will help you to avoid inadvertently interrupting the interviewer.

10. Update your skills

If you have more time on your hands, try to use it for something productive. Take an online course and add to your skills and experience. There are a huge number of opportunities for remote learning by Accredited Training Institutes. You can add a new set of transferable skills to your profile in areas as diverse as data science to digital marketing to team building. Show employers, you can use a crisis and turn it into an opportunity.

It is entirely possible to find a new job even now. By following the above steps, you will be able to better demonstrate your value to employers and maximise your chances of job search success in the new era of work. 

If you would like to know more about any of the information contained in this publication please contact NADIA Global Group by email: contact@nadiaglobal.com or call: +971 800 2566.