Where there is a challenge, there are also opportunities. You have no limits.
- Think about where you really want to be — and what you are willing and able to do.
- Evaluate your skills.
- Update your résumé, and tailor it! Ask yourself: How can you make your application/résumé stand out?
- Hiring supervisors do read cover letters, but they will stop reading if they think it’s a form letter you got off of the internet.
- If you are switching careers and maybe don’t have a lot of experience that will make your résumé pop, explain why you applied in your cover letter. Even just showing passion can make them want to interview you!
- Network, network, network.
- Consider moving to where the jobs are. Stay with family and friends. Rebuild your life if your situation allows.
- Consider working nights. Go outside of your comfort zone.
- Could you be a good caregiver? Do you have a car and are willing to deliver or drive others?
- Or telecommute! COVID-19 has taught us that we don’t need to be in an office to work (and it saves a ton of money on transportation and dry cleaning in certain professions!)
- Alert your references.
- Do what you need to now.
- Consider internships, apprenticeships, job sharing — or even going back to school for training in a money-making area, such as science, technology, engineering, and math. But also consider becoming a plumber, HVAC tech, electrician, mechanic, etc. Be creative, and don’t limit yourself because of gender or education.
- Make your boss’s life easy. When you are indispensable, you are likely to be the one to move up — and the last one on the chopping block if income falls.
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By Serrin M. Foster
Editor-in-Chief