After Covid-19 broke out back in March, we didn’t imagine how much our lives would change. Many Americans find themselves unemployed or with fear of being laid off. Others suffered hour cuts and have to struggle to support their family or themselves. If you want to get your career back on track in our new normal, here is some advice for you.
Leadership and Entrepreneurship
Not everybody can be a good leader. It requires different interpersonal and soft skills to know how to lead others. However, leadership is not something exclusive to managers or bosses. An employee can also display leadership by inspiring others to be better, communicating their ideas effectively, and using feedback to improve their performance.
Also, professionals with leadership skills have empathy and can build strong relationships with their coworkers. And they are self-aware, which means they see their own flaws and try to improve them. So, if you have the chance to enhance your leadership skills with a course or workshop, take it.
Entrepreneurship is another valuable skill that you can cultivate during the pandemic. Entrepreneurship requires strong leadership and a host of other soft skills. However, given the uncertain times we are facing, investing time and money into improving your entrepreneurial skills can really pay off in the long run.
Resilience and Emotional Intelligence
Resilience is the ability some people have of overcoming difficult situations and coming out stronger. Some signs that you are resilient are that you always look for the bright side of any situation, no matter how challenging, and concentrate on the things you can control to make the situation better. This also means you can adapt to changes quickly, which employers look for when hiring a new employee.
Emotional intelligence is the skill to understand and manage your feelings. This is a key part of having good interpersonal skills, and if you understand your emotions, you can have empathy for other people’s feelings. Emotions can have a strong effect on our mood, and if they are negative, they can badly impact our career.
If you instead know how to manage your emotions and use them to your advantage, you will be more likely to succeed at work. Emotional intelligence is also on LinkedIn’s most in-demand skills in 2020. This means most employers look for emotionally intelligent professionals.
Remote Working
Remote working has been a trend gaining force in the last few years, especially for younger generations who dream of working from anywhere in the world. But since the Covid-19 pandemic last March, everyone finds themselves suddenly working remotely. And it is a work mode that will probably stay around now that many workers and companies had a taste of it.
Having this skill in a post-Covid-19 world will definitely increase your chances of finding a job. You can also sharpen all the skills needed to be an excellent remote worker, like practice the different types of communication, being self-sufficient, and organized.
Curiosity
Being curious is an essential part of continued learning. And to be a successful professional, you must have the ability to learn from mistakes and learn new skills as needed. It also means you look for answers all the time, which will only be beneficial when you are stuck with a problem. Being curious will also lead you to find creative solutions giving innovative results.
Data Literacy
Data is becoming some kind of currency in the business world and is powering new tech developments and decisions worldwide. We were already connected before the Covid-19 pandemic, but that only grew this year. And you know what that means? More data at our hands than any data scientist could dream of.
Data literacy means having the ability to understand how data modifies the decision-making process. If they understand how data is powering the company they are working in, they can then act accordingly. And with technology taking over more each year, data literacy will be a highly demanded skill in the near future.
Digital Security
Another skill that will help you in your career is digital security. This should also be something anyone should learn. We all spend hours each day online, but most people don’t really know how to protect themselves and the risks the digital world can have.
So, learning the basics in digital security like the different types of computer viruses, what is a VPN, or how the apps in your phone use your data, is a must. And now that many people are working for home, this skill is more critical than ever.
You are no longer working at the office where the company is in charge of the network and manage all the security features. You should definitely be careful because you are also protecting the company and not just your personal documents and files.
Social Media
Social media is becoming a new platform for us to interact with other people, companies, and even employers. So, social media management should be the next skill on your list of things to get your career back on track. And if you think that with your LinkedIn profile is enough, think again.
In 2016, a digital marketing company called Fetch used Tinder to find an intern. And other companies already used Facebook or Instagram not only to interview candidates but to screen them when looking at their content. So, next time be careful of what you publish in your personal social media profiles.
In Summary
You can enhance your soft skills like leadership, entrepreneurship, resilience, emotional intelligence, and curiosity. You can also learn some technical abilities like data literacy, social media management, remote working, and digital security. All these skills will help you increase your chances of finding a job after Covid-19.