Well, I graduated during Covid ... kind of anti-climatic. I am quite positive about it though. Quarantine, and jobs closing, has provided an unusual opportunity: extra time. Instead of watching Netflix all day, I decided to be really intentional so when jobs start opening up again, I will be in a better position than before. Here is what I have been doing during Covid for my career:
1.) Networking
I have been working on creating new contacts while maintaining the ones I already have. I am contacting new people, mainly in the PR realm to ask for advice and hiring managers/recruiters at companies I would be interested in working at. The goal of this is so that when my resume comes across their desk in the future, they have some familiarity with me. I have also used this time to check in on the contacts I already made. Covid provides an easy conversation started so that I can ask them how they are doing. On top of that, I am doing basic updating and cleaning up of people's personal information (phone numbers, job positions, etc).
2) Free Work to Build Portfolio
Right now I am doing work for 4 companies. I am doing projects for Zinc Communications, a PR coordinator for Beatdapp, a blog writer for Apollo Sign, and a PR Specialist for ThyForLife. Juggling all four definitely keeps me busy, but there will never be another time in my life when I am not being paid because of a pandemic and am able to build my portfolio like this.
3.) Hootsuite Certificate to Prove Skills
I am taking a Hootesuite class to gain a certificate in digital marketing. I am able to show someone a good looking resume, but sometimes employers still want proof of knowledge. This is where Hootsuite comes in, not only does it show that I have passed the test, but also my commitment since I took the extra time to do it.
4.) Updating Documents
I am updating my LinkedIn, resume, and cover letters. I am adding keywords for PR jobs into them so that they pass any computer scans to weed out applications. Overall, just cleaning them up.
5.) Joined a Local Small Group
Cameron met a friend named Enoch at the Vancouver Prayer Breakfast this year, who introduced us to a group called Leadership Impact. Leadership Impact is a group of Christian business people in the area. We meet over Zoom every week and discuss not only how to be better in our career, but how to be better Christians in the workforce. I really enjoy being able to tangibly put my Christianity into practice at work, and be able to ask advice from the other members. In fact, I told them I was looking for a job and one girl started tagging me in listings she saw on LinkedIn.
I hope that when the pandemic is over, and places start hiring in PR again, I can now skip the PR coordinator stage and better qualify for the next step: PR manager. Or at the very least, I will have a fighting chance against other candidates for PR positions.
I hope this inspires you if you are feeling hopeless about covid and your career. There are tangible things you can be doing, and maybe this will help you think of some. What are you doing for your career during covid?
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