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What is new Normal for Jobs seekers during COVID 19 Pandemic?

In the current scenario, searching for a new job is more challenging than it was before. With most companies going remote in the lockdown,
recruitments are seeing a slower pace, the impact of which will stay even once we go out of our homes. This is why you must approach your job search with an open mind and explore multiple options rather than
sticking to your set goals. So plan, but stay open to opportunities, and keep an open mind to experiment with your career. 

You may also be putting in your best efforts to solicit the response from
employers and agencies, but things didn’t remain the same as they were
earlier. All of sudden, health and safety is now the top priority of
employers to navigate the pandemic, and the rest of the processes take a
back seat. 

So what is “New Normal”, how will we search right jobs then? 

Let’s brainstorm and explore the blended (new and old) ways to search for new job opportunities- 

 Here are the following things you can do to find out the right job and give a fillip to your career growth. 

 Attend Recruitment related Webinars 

In recent times, there are several Talent Acquisition, Headhunting and
Recruitment platforms conducting free webinars wherein they invite
leading HR and TA professionals to reflect their insights and analytics
into the recruitment market and job search. You can register and enhance
your understanding of the current job market situations in various
industries and adopt a suitable strategy. 

 Update your profile in Job portals, professional and social media platforms 

It’s always advisable to keep your profile updated and highlight key skills to get noticed by recruiters. Recruiters use job portals, professional and social sites to headhunt both active and passive job seekers. 

Review the job posting and apply relevant keywords. Address any requirements, skills and qualities you have that are also in the job posting. If
you’re not hearing back from employers, maintain momentum by applying to
jobs that match your skills, experience and qualifications. The current
the situation has added a level of complexity to the hiring process and
employers may take some time to figure things out. Set a daily
application goal and reward yourself in small, meaningful ways after
reaching it, such as reading a chapter of your favourite book or virtual
meeting a friend for tea/coffee. 

 Connect or network people through professional or social media platforms 

Discover smart strategies for building a professional network online and leveraging connections for career advancement or finding new career opportunities. 

Connecting to people and building a relationship with them will always spike your dream job hunt. Since employee referral is a prominent source of hiring, therefore, networking can play a very crucial role in your job hunt. So,
try to add to people who work in your dream companies. You can refer sites like LinkedIn for making professional connections or other social media channels like Facebook, Twitter etc can help you market yourself to potential employers. 

It is a good time to begin networking. Start by adding people you know,
like your seniors, friends, classmates, colleagues and mentors. Build a
rapport with these people by talking to them, following what they share,
and writing or sharing articles that interest you. 

 Take up GIG jobs or remote freelance work 

A gig is a temporary job. The employee often works on a specific project for a company, either as an independent contractor or a freelancer. The
benefits of a gig job are that it allows you to work on multiple
projects for multiple companies at once (generally). You can often work from home and have flexible hours. Reach out to your network and search online for gig opportunities. There are many options available through online apps that allow you to quickly sign up and start working at your convenience. You might consider looking for part-time, remote or gig work until you get an offer. Doing so can keep your skills sharp and provide extra pay. Check out our list of online jobs you can do from Google. It will add to work experience on your resume. 

Here are seven career categories that hire for freelance and gig jobs that you can do remotely. 

The Computer & IT category covers a broad range of jobs. You can find postings in everything from computer repair to internet security. 

  • Information Security Engineer
  • Network Analyst
  • Linux Middleware Administrator 

Writers produce a variety of written materials for various audiences. This can range from corporate reports for the executive suite to blog posts and web content. 

  • Content Writer, Project Manager
  • Resume Writer
  • Senior UX Copywriter 

Software developers design and test the software that runs computers, apps, and even online interactive games. 

  • DevOps Engineer
  • Game Engineer
  • User Experience – User Interface Designer 

Careers in accounting and finance include all things money-related. Jobs can include handling accounts payables and receivables, tax return preparation, or financial forecasting. 

  • Mortgage Representative
  • Specialist
  • Accounting Assistant 

Project managers coordinate projects from start to finish. This can include working with internal and external vendors, managing the budget, and dealing with delays. 

  • Epic Management Project Manager
  • Project Manager
  • Office Manager 

Administrative professionals provide
support for executives, including handling incoming and outgoing
communications, managing projects, and scheduling travel. 

  • Virtual Assistant
  • Pharmacy Technician
  • Design Administrative Assistant 

As an educator or trainer, you’ll help teach people new skills. You can work as a corporate trainer, part-time professor, coach, tutor, or instructor. 

  • Instructional Designer
  • IELTS Tutor
  • High School Teacher 

 Reskilling and upskilling is in demand- Develop relevant & trending skills, always be learning. Invest in you! 

Upskilling- the process of learning new skills so you can do the same job, or of training people to do the same  job 

Reskilling- the process of learning new skills so you can do a different job, or of training people to do a different job 

 Right skills and competencies can help you get your dream job. 

As world witness technology and the digital landscape change, some jobs are going to become less relevant while others are going to suddenly become crucial. Skilling, reskilling and upskilling is the new norm to stay afloat in this era of rapid change. 

 So, it would be a good idea to have trending and relevant skill sets on your resume. 

 Subscribe to online courses and certifications from numerous edutech websites to hone up your skills and highlight in your resume to get hired. 

 Moreover, companies will be focusing on following Behavioural competences in the candidates, hence its good time to reflect on them. 

  1. Complex problem solving
  2. Critical thinking
  3. Creativity
  4. Adaptability
  5. People Management
  6. Emotional Intelligence
  7. Decision making
  8. Negotiation 

Prepare for interviews 

Online video interviews are new normal, companies are taking the final decision without meeting candidates in person. Hence, it becomes important to prepare for a new normal – prepare for video interviews. 

Before Your Video/Online Interview 

1. Hardware Device- If you have multiple devices (such as a computer, tablet, smartphone, etc.), choose the one you are most comfortable with — and the one with the most reliable technology. For most, a computer will be best. If necessary, invest in purchasing — or borrowing — the best technology
to use for the interview. 

2. Location for the Interview-The the ideal scenario for your interview location is a secluded room in which you can shut out distractions (and noises), control the lighting, and display a generic background. Ideally, you’ll want to have some diffused lighting so as not to create shadows or glare, plus a plain wall as your backdrop. You should also have a location in which you can be seen on camera from about the waist up. 

3. Test Technology- Test your connection. Test your camera. Test your lighting. Test your sound. Test the video program. Make sure you understand how it all works. And test it all again right before the interview commences. 

4. Practice One Mock Interview – Under as close to identical circumstances as possible, schedule an interview with a friend, colleague, or family member. 

5. Dress Professionally/ Look Directly into the Camera 

6. Have a backup plan- Have a backup plan ready if something goes wrong the day of the interview.
For example: confirm with the interviewer, in advance of the interview,
that you’ll switch to a phone call should technology or connection issues crop up. 

7. Interview Preparations- Conduct
research on the employer, prepare responses to expected interview
questions, formulate a few questions you want to ask and determine the
best professional outfit for the interview. 

Here are common interview questions you must prepare before giving an interview: 

  • Tell me about yourself?
  • How would you describe yourself?
  • What are your biggest achievements?
  • What is your greatest failure in life?
  • What are your strengths and weaknesses?
  • What are your hobbies?
  • Where do you see yourself five years from now?
  • Describe yourself in one word?
  • What is your dream job?
  • Why should we hire you? 

After the Video/Online Interview 

1. Write a Thank-You Note- Follow up your interview with a thank-you note to your interviewer. 

2. Follow-Up on Progress- The
hiring process takes times, and most likely with several more rounds of
interviews, so you’ll need to be patient — but that does not mean you
should not follow-up from time to time to express your interest in the
job. 

 All the best & a few tips to stay positive 

Few basic practices to stay healthy and productive amid COVID-19: 

  1. Prioritise most important. Be patient with yourself and those around you while adjusting, and remember that it’s perfectly acceptable to prioritise the health of you and your loved ones.
  2. Practice patience. Stressful time, and while you may feel frustrated, it can help to feel empowered y taking action for yourself when it comes to your job.
  3. Stay safe & healthy. To stay healthy you need to reduce stress. Take time to focus on your mental and physical state by taking small actions such as going for a walk, drinking enough water and getting enough sleep. 

Explore the role of “Digital Technology” in Recruitment

Whether it’s unplanned external shifts or new business realities,
businesses today need to be agile enough to deal with emerging issues
almost real-time. The time that HR leaders have to make a decision is
far lesser than it used to be. Consequently, the COVID-19 pandemic has
compelled all the businesses to identify areas needs quick and permanent
digital shift. 

The digital age is changing the way all fields work, across the
board, and HR is no exception. As a result, a plethora of tools and
platforms now exist to help HR departments work more efficiently. If
you’re an HR manager, you probably already use one or more of them
daily. 

Digital recruitment is an advance way of recruiting. It makes the
hiring process simpler, efficient, quicker, and far more lucrative.
Hence, if you want the recruiting process to be meaningful, make sure
you follow digital recruitment practices. 

Let’s understand Recruitment in the Digital landscape – 

When HR team leverages on latest technologies to conduct its
recruitment processes like sourcing, assessing, employer branding,
select and recruit candidates for open positions that is when we call it
Digital Recruitment. DR includes everything like career websites or
portals, Applicant Tracking Systems, leveraging job boards, recruiting
through mobile, social media hiring, and online assessments. It is
highly useful for online recruiters to search employee profile, assess
them for experience and skills and send them a quick response asking
them for a chat or about an opportunity. In current COVID-19 crisis,
most of the companies presently use one or more of the above-mentioned
tactics, still, they have a long way to adopt the technology. 

Digital Recruitment process: 

A digital recruitment process is an upgrade to the traditional
approach and offers plenty of benefits. Companies intend to grow during
and post Covid-19 pandemic, are considering digital recruitment an
integral aspect of their recruiting process. It is an efficient and
cost-effective solution that saves a lot of time. It eliminates all
hurdles of travelling distances within the recruitment process. It is an
excellent solution that allows recruiters to schedule and conduct Video
interview sessions online. It creates flexibility for candidates to
take an interview at any place and anytime. Further, it helps to hire
managers as well as employees to work at their comfort and deliver an
enhanced experience to the interviewers as well as candidates. 

It involves many automated features such as sending emails to notify
the end of an interview. This makes the work quite easier and efficient
for recruiters. 

Digital Recruitment approach: 

Digital recruitment strategies can revamp your entire recruitment
process. So, here check some of the latest digital recruitment
strategies that you must consider.  

  • Use of Recruitment Applicant Tracking System (ATS): 

ATS is a newly emerged recruitment software that offers numerous
benefits to the companies. It helps to enhance the efficiency of the
hiring process as it lets you log all the hiring campaigns and find out
candidate information in a single system. With the talent adding
information to your system, it offers access to a pool of workers for
similar kinds of roles in the future. 

Further, it is easier for candidates as it allows them to cater to
new hiring expectations like mobile-based application environments.
Moreover, you can do away with filing and streamlining everything so
that no excess files lie in your office.  

  • Smart Phone Career Websites: 

You may not find it obvious to optimize career website for mobile,
but without a doubt, it is what that most other companies are already
doing it. Even, many modern recruiting companies invest a huge sum in
their mobile career website. 

It is no more only about the increased use of a smartphone, it is
about optimizing the mobile website to attract high performing
candidates. It is important to do this as around 70% of job seekers
check the websites of companies and look for jobs on their mobile. 

If in case your career website is not mobile-friendly, you may lose
such candidates as they will switch to other websites. Hence, a company
must ensure that its landing pages, career websites, or other digital
hiring resources are readable and work efficiently on mobile devices.  

  • Use the Power of Social Media and tailored your Digital Strategies: 

Leveraging social media into your hiring process renders innumerable
benefits. Right from the quality of hire to enhancing the recruitment
process, social media can improve the quality of the recruitment process
to a great extent. The best thing is that it is an excellent platform
to make people aware of your brand. 

Many millennials rely on social media platforms to collect more
details about the company. Such factors make it critical for companies
to adopt a social recruiting strategy. But there are various social
platforms available. You can find the best one that contains landing
pages and job postings matching to your openings. 

Hence, the best way to use social recruiting at its best is to create
your social recruiting platform and understand the presence of your
target candidates. This includes postings jobs on LinkedIn, to
showcasing videos of company culture or employee stories, to tweets
about the organization, Twitter events, and more. 

There are infinite combinations available and only an organization
that know its target audience and goals better can create a customized
strategy that meets its requirements.  

  • Couple It with the Latest Technologies: 

Your digital recruitment strategy is incomplete if it is not
supported with adequate technologies. Hiring managers can utilize a
recruitment management system to post job openings on their website and
innumerable job boards, rank applicants, and screen. Also, they must
integrate digital recruitment with human resource management tools for
hassle-free and uninterrupted operations. 

Organizations can utilize online assessment tools for identifying
individuals who are high – performing and screen them by using
convenient tests that can be administered remotely. Moreover, there are
many tools available that can let recruiters determine passive
candidates or those who are presently not planning a job change. 

Organizations who are relying on checklists of college degrees and
those who possess experience in screening candidates are greatly finding
the approach redundant. 

Practices & Trends in Digital Recruitment: 

To ensure you keep the pace with the future world, here check the latest practices and trends in digital recruitment.  

1. Augmented and Virtual Reality: 

Many businesses possess VR headsets, which are designed to engage the
candidates and offer them better content. Using VR let a candidate know
that the business practice innovative and cutting-edge technologies. It
provides positive images even if it is expensive and timely to
integrate into the recruitment strategy. 

2. Artificial Intelligence: 

AI is playing a great role in the way of finding new talents. Its
advent has been meteoric in the leading media publications of the world.
It considered recruitment as one of the challenging jobs that modern
businesses hold. AI can alleviate a bigger proportion of hard work.
Hence, it is essential to streamline the process and for this, there is
nothing better than AI. Some of the Ai tools that will lead the charge
are:  

  • Sentiment Analysis: It is useful to adjust job specifications in the event of biased decision making.
  • Chatbots:
    With this, it is possible to quickly assess candidates and hire more
    suitable candidates. They offer a reactive way of dealing with the huge
    talent and have to potential to save recruiters lots of time.
  • Talent Rediscovery:
    The ATS or Applicant Tracking System lets recruiters scan the data
    records and find details of previous candidates to determine the best
    fit.  

3. Video Interviews: 

No matter where a candidate lives, dragging him/her down to the
interview room is no more an advanced way of hiring. It is a waste of
money and time for the company as well as the candidate if it does not
seems suitable. With easy access to Whatsapp, Zoom, Microsoft Team, Skype, Google Hangouts, and other communication channels, it is possible to interview candidates’ right from their place and at any time. 

It is a great way to save time and removes the less suitable
candidates from the screening process. This way, you can bring only the
top selection candidates to your table. This is highly useful if the
potential candidate stays aboard.  

4. Virtual Job Fairs: 

Virtual job fairs allow employers to reach to a large number of
potential candidates from a wider geographical area. It lets them
interact with job seekers at a virtual level without the expensive and
time of travel. Moreover, it reduces waste and cut pre-screening time
and helps to email suitable prospects for the scheduled interview.  

5. Recruiting Blogs: 

Recruiting blogs allow the company to show an employee everything
about your organization. Social networking blogs allow job seekers to
check with the companies and offer them a way around.  

6. Social Networks: 

Many companies hire through social networking websites like Twitter,
Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Such platforms daily demonstrate that
companies can search the best talent quickly without involving huge
financial investment. 

Though each social platform varies in its offering, however, most
offer employers the ease to screen without getting screened. It might
sound predatory but when a candidate of your interest is active on
social networks you get to know how they work with others, the way they
handle clients, conflicts, and a lot more. All this lets you identify
whether a candidate is a perfect fit for the company or not, to
eventually boost the chances of longer retaining longer.  

7. Online Recruitment Portal 

These are the most familiar sites of digital recruitment methods, but
they offer improved services every day. Using such platforms can help
recruiters to search and match a perfect candidate, establish a social
recruiting presence, and enhance the job posting with targeted
advertising.