job hunting and managing your wellbeing through choppy waters

Dated: 29 Jun, 2020

Unfortunately, Covid-19 has resulted in several redundancies throughout the UK. Whilst this drop in the economy may be, relatively short-lived, that doesn’t often assist a person when they have faced redundancy in such uncertain times.

 

We have put together several points that we hope can assist you with job hunting and managing your wellbeing throughout this period.

 

Mental wellbeing….

 

• It's simple to say but try not to worry too much. If you can’t pay bills talk to the people that you owe money to, tell them how this has impacted your life, and don’t leave this too late either. In this current climate, they would be very silly to make unwarranted demands. Remember too that someone cannot take what you do not have!
• Look at where you can cut down in terms of spending to reduce the stress and be brutal with your approach you may be surprised at how much money you do not need!
• Get up early, make the bed, get dressed into some smart clothes, spray on some scent and have a plan for the day. This might sound crazy but making the bed, organising your environment and making yourself feel good is imperative to your mental health. Have a plan even if it is to paint a room or clear the garage. To end each day with a sense of achievement will make you feel good.
• Eat well, drink less and exercise – This is a no brainer and once again is key to good mental health
• Try and enjoy some ‘time out’ time, you may not get this again for a long time
• If you do get rejections through, then don’t think you are the only one or it is your fault. You just didn’t match that role along with lots of other people. Only one person got the job, so you aren’t alone. Take it with grace and move on.
• Keep going….That job will come through eventually. Meanwhile can you also advertise your skills on an interim basis?  Also don’t just wait for jobs to be advertised be the first CV to land in a companies inbox.

 

Promoting your skills to potential employers…

• Re-vamp your CV to be clear and concise, point out your features and your achievements
• Market yourself in a positive light.  
• Get on LinkedIn make sure that your job title is visible and not as ‘currently available’ or ‘unemployed’.
• Make sure your CV is on linked in and make sure it is up to date
• Link with people who possibly might employ you, Recruiters, Managers, Companies etc. send them an email and tell them you are available immediately. Tell them they can share your information too… Let's get the word out!
• Make sure your messages on LinkedIn are positive; don’t make underlying digs or send subliminal messages it’s not good. If you do have a history of posts, you would rather get rid of to make a clean sweep then you can go back and delete them.
• Get your CV on all the job boards – Indeed, CV-Library, Total Jobs and Monster
• Know the local companies that you would work for and send them your CV direct by email also telling them that you are happy for them to share your CV (if you want)
• Don’t send sharp or bitter emails to Recruiters if you didn’t get the job. Remember Recruiters don’t get paid unless they place someone so that’s all they want to do and they may have the perfect job for you very soon. If you feel that they could miss something from your CV, you could put this in an email at application stage such as …Although my job title is XXXX I also managed several multi £million projects throughout the UK. 
• Keep putting positive things on linked in and scroll through every day you will see job adverts, ‘like’ things but only if they are positive, non-political etc. You can never be sure what side of the fence your reader is sitting on.

 

Remember in all of this, you are not alone, and things will change and sometimes things happen for a reason. 

It may sound cruel but try and think of people who are worse off. Try not to be too hard on yourself oh and try not to believe all you hear in the news as the media does love to spin off negative stories which are often far removed from the truth. 

Wrap yourself in a bubble where you concentrate on you, your family and try to stay positive. Things will change!