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What Have You Learned About Yourself and Job Searching During the Pandemic?
I would have never thought that I would write about job searching during a pandemic. Never. But, here we are.
Full disclosure, I have never had to job search since 2008 and since that time I have always, fortunately, been employed. Unfortunately, January 2020 broke my streak, and wow how times have changed since then with job searching, especially for me. I never had a LinkedIn profile, never updated my resume unless I was applying for an internal position, and never knew what job searching even looked like when I found myself unemployed due to a company restructure.
Then, as we all know, the pandemic hit us, and it hit us hard. Job searching was already a new challenge for me to experience, but I was definitely not prepared for a job search during a pandemic. Job searching has been taken to a whole new level given the current state we are in. This new level is not only different for the job seeker, but also for businesses who are grappling with how to take on hiring during a pandemic, or if they can take on hiring additional staff. This is a whole new ballgame for so many of us who have found ourselves unemployed in 2020, but more importantly, I have so much compassion toward those who lost their jobs because of the pandemic and how found themselves without work, without answers, and unsure what the next steps look like as the future continues to unfold.
I feel very challenged on what to expect, whom to/how to reach out to in terms of hiring managers/recruiters to inquire if the position that I applied to is on hold or even exists at this point. The struggle is real. This is a massive mountain to take on for all of us who have found ourselves without work, especially during the pandemic.
However, during this humbling moment in my life, I know that I have learned a lot over these past months, and I also learned about a few questions that I asked myself over the course of this very long journey.
Is it okay to cry all day and sometimes all week? Sure is, and it can be cathartic, and, in all honesty, we need a good cry.
Is it okay to ask the same questions "What is wrong with me?", "Why am I not able to get an interview?", "Why will recruiters not respond?" "What did I do wrong?". Seriously, the list of questions is endless and these questions do arise for some/many of us.
Is it okay to feel frustrated, angry, and/or hopeless at times? Sure is. I say this because we are all human, and we are entitled to feel a range of emotions, but don't let those questions linger too long, know that you have support and around you, and, hell, reach out to me!! Maybe our minds can work together as a navigate this "new" normal. Personally, I hate this term, when was anything normal, to begin with? But, I digress.
Now, I do not feel like this every day/every week, but it does happen. Why shouldn't it happen? We are human and we are allowed to be vulnerable (more on that shortly). The majority of the days I am fearless, humble, positive, and push past those hard days. Losing my job does not define me, nor should it define anyone. We are not broken, there is nothing wrong with us, and sometimes we need to understand that there are things outside of our control. Life throws of curveballs, and sometimes it involves losing your job. But, we are all resilient or, at least, have the ability to strive toward resiliency.
Life is very challenging right now, and we constantly question ourselves from so many different angles, but we know that is not helpful. We are allowed to feel emotions and cry!! Cry as much as you want! I know that I could have solved California's water crisis with my tears alone!
But, I have learned a lot over these difficult months. I learned a lot about myself as I navigate through this new climate of job searching, and it helped me to reshape my thinking the majority of the time. As I previously stated, I am a positive person who is fearless and extremely resilient, but that doesn't come without learning a thing or two along the way.
I learned to remind myself that it is okay to be vulnerable. The emotions will come and go but being vulnerable during this time is not a bad thing, but one that shows that I am human. Each day is different, and each day I remind myself that I am not the only one who is going through these emotions, but there are so many others who are also in a vulnerable state, and this is okay.
I have learned that compassion is not only given to others but also given to yourself. I think that we forget that self-compassion exists, and, for me, I needed to give more of this to myself during this time of uncertainty. Self-compassion can come in so many forms and works in different ways for each person. For myself, self-compassion allowed me to breathe, step back onto my yoga mat, and to focus on my mindfulness practice.
I have learned and reminded myself to be fearless in the face of uncertainty. In order for growth to happen, we need to be fearless and take that jump into the unknown and into the “new normal”. The unknown is scary because we have no control over the outcome, but sometimes that outcome is a beautiful thing and we learn so much more about ourselves, especially we show ourselves how fearless we can be.
I reminded myself that I am resilient. I reflect on how much I have overcome in my personal life earning my BA and MAs, and so many other experiences. My resilience during these tough moments in my life reminded me of how strong I am. These experiences have shaped me as an individual and continue to shape me to this day. This pandemic is a new and different type of obstacle to overcome, but, just as I have in the past, I know that I can and will overcome this new hurdle.
This is a new landscape for me, and for so many others. Job searching is crazy right now, but I am growing from this experience and I am learning about myself in terms of how to take on this new challenge. I have learned that being vulnerable is okay, self-compassion is a must, to remain fearless, but most of all I will have learned to be resilient.
What have you learned about yourself and job searching during a pandemic?