While the country is set to ease out of lockdown, you might be still wondering if it’s a suitable time to restart your job search.
If you’re toying with upgrading your CV, and debating rewriting your cover letter, you wouldn’t be the only one.
While some employers have temporarily paused their hiring efforts, others have made the decision to continue taking on new staff digitally, through video interviews, and the usual phone screenings, online testing etc. ensuring that the rules outlined by the government are still being followed.
And this is great news if you are looking for work – there are still jobs out there!
So just because there aren’t as many jobs available, we encourage you not to give up hope, and to help, here are a few tips to help you on your search, whether your circumstances require you to search for a job like the one you’ve been working in, or an entirely different job altogether.
Upgrade your CV
Whatever job you end up taking, your CV will still need to be updated. You’ll need to tailor it for each job you apply for. Download our CV guide to find out more about tailoring your CV. Although it’s specific to jobs in the motor industry, it will help you get into the frame of mind of focusing it towards the job you want.
Consider a short term job
Just because the motor industry is quiet right now doesn’t mean that you can’t find work – you just need to be slightly more creative in terms of what job you would like to do. Think of it as a stopgap for the time being – you can’t operate in your chosen industry, so find work to do in the meantime, ready to return back to the job you desire when things calm down.
Below, we’ve listed some jobs in other industries who are looking for temporary workers and people to volunteer to help the NHS. Take a look and hopefully you can find something. It might even just help to give you an idea of where to look:
Delivery/driver jobs
Retail jobs
Cleaning jobs
NHS jobs
Temporary roles
Care workers support roles
Maintenance roles
Office jobs
Find events online
Believe it or not, career fairs are still happening – but they’re happening virtually. Log on to careers sites within your industry and you might be lucky enough to find a variety of webinars, events, or workshops to help get you into work or even upgrade the skills you need to work on. A virtual experience is so simple – you’d be a fool not to try it!
We have a webinar coming up too, with our partners CV and Interview Advisors. Why not get booked in?
Search freelancing and work from home jobs
There are tonnes of jobs out there related to working from home. Whether they are in sales, marketing, telecommunications or a variety of other areas, there are jobs where you can make money by simply being on the phone or working from your computer or laptop. Some people even make a bit of cash from completing surveys or reviewing websites. Freelance work is also available if you have the skills to match. Try sites like Upwork or Fiverr, Worksome and Freelancer to find jobs. It might not be the solution to all of your problems, but looking for roles like this could help bring some cash in for the meantime.
Network
When coronavirus began to spread and businesses were closed down or reduced in operations, LinkedIn became a popular place for professionals to reach out and make everyone aware that not only had they lost their job, but that they were skilled and still looking for work. This is a great idea to get your name in front of a large group of people who may know of jobs you can apply for. Use Facebook and Twitter too to reach out, and don’t forget to hashtag your skills or current role so that the audience can get an idea of your ability. Updating your experience on your LinkedIn page is a good idea too.
Apply for jobs
You may not have a wide variety or roles to choose from ,but take some comfort in the fact that rules are easing, so recruiters could be ready to begin hiring at any time. So we would highly recommend continuing your search for jobs on InAutomotive, because we expect to see an influx of roles added to our site soon.
One other important thing to note, is that recruiters may be headhunting CVs to contact candidates once they’re ready to resume their search. So we cannot stress how essential it is that you make sure your CV is updated and uploaded now. This allows recruiters to find and contact you for jobs.
