UNEMPLOYED, NOW WHAT?
How to leverage your time and skills wisely to prepare for what comes during and after Covid-19.
If you want to be successful in Corona 2020 and beyond, you should work on that ONE VERY IMPORTANT SKILL. Here is how you can start.
You’ve been furloughed or already lost your job due to Covid-19 and its economic consequences. From shock to denial, you now realise that neither your company nor the industry you’ve been working in will be the same as it was just a few months ago. Now, you had some time to process what happened to you and the world. You’ve assured yourself that you’re going to be okay because you’re capable to adapt to fast-changing environments and you upskill yourself by already taking all those project management courses online.
Whilst updating your CV, scanning the web for new opportunities, and reading job search-related articles, at some point you get a bit worried because there is that one skill the entire world needs and asks for:
creativity.
At the beginning of the year, LinkedIn identified creativity as the most in-demand soft skill required by companies in 2020 which it was also in the previous year (read the article here). According to the World Economic Forum complex problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity were rated as the top three skills for workforces. The virus hit the UK mid-March and The Great Lockdown followed. The number of people claiming work-related benefits - which includes the unemployed - was up 126% to 2.8 million (source: BBC). Several hundred-thousands of people have been put out of work and I believe that this is only the beginning. You are competing with a lot more people for the few jobs of those teams and companies that look for creative talent to help them get through the crisis. To sum it up: what you need to stand out is creativity. What the world needs is your creativity.
Do you consider yourself being creative? Have other people called you creative? Or do you keep yourself in the belief that you are not creative at all? It’s time to change that, and in this blog, I’ll provide you with 3 easy first steps to train your creative muscles like you would train your abs and biceps. Being creative is learnable and not only for a select few artsy people out there.
GET BORED. If you lost your job and are applying for new roles, you will naturally spend the most time on writing CVs and cover letters. You are in a state of urgency and the last thing you would do right now is to “waste” time and get bored. If you’ve been furloughed, this might be easier for you. Make an effort and allow yourself time for thinking. Every single day. Limit your online consumption, block time away in your calendar for doing “nothing” or nothing in specific. Go for a long walk, maybe even without listening to podcasts or audiobooks. Lay down on the grass or look around, observe, and daydream. After a while of doing this regularly, what changes do you observe?
CHANGE ONE HABIT. Now is the best time to change an old habit, especially when you are currently out of work and establishing a new routine. Ask yourself what habit did block you from being more proactive. Have a look at the routine of your past workdays and question everything you did. What would you never make part of your routine again? What would you start doing instead? Also, is there anything you always wanted to try? Take this and do it. You can combine this with number 3 if that makes it easier for you.
BEFORE YOU GO TO BED, think of a problem that you want to solve. Don’t watch Netflix. Put on some meditative music, a timer, and think about that challenge. The next morning, remind yourself to note down what has happened in your dream.
Do you need some help with getting bored, change that habit or make sense of your dreams, then get in touch with me.