Career Housekeeping to Lift Your Spirits During Quarantine

Time to read: 5 minutes

Career Housekeeping to Lift Your Spirits Summary

• Combating the uncertainty and negativity that comes with news of business closures, layoffs, and prolonged social distancing.
• Tips on how to use this time to update your materials and how doing so can have an impact on your mental health, mood, and confidence.

It is no secret that there is some certainty surrounding the current business climate. With week three of mandatory remote work complete, the effects of quarantine may be starting to weigh. What to do when news of closed businesses and layoffs are top news? Rather than leaning into the negativity and uncertainty, perhaps take a mental reset to understand what you can do now to help yourself now and prepare for the future.  We are here with some advice on protecting your mental health through career housekeeping.

Companies are still hiring, with many creative and marketing jobs available. Higher-ups are taking notice to increased online activity and using this time invest in digital. In our recent creative and marketing job market report, 66% percent of client respondents are still moving forward with hiring and feel confident as well as equipped to do so in a remote capacity despite COVID-19 news.

Career Housekeeping Tips for Job Seekers and the Employed

It’s been said that Issac Newton had his first breakthrough with modern physics while “social distancing” from the Plague when it hit London in 1665. How will you make this quarantine work for you?

Review your job responsibilities and accomplishments

Take this time to go over your job search materials. Refamiliarize yourself with your work and accomplishments. Comb through your resume. Update your LinkedIn. What can you add to your resume? What can be taken out to make room for more recent successes? LinkedIn has many options when it comes to what you can put on your profile.

Freshen up these parts of your LinkedIn profile to tighten up your presentation:

• Update your professional headshot. You can do this at home with these helpful Do-It-Yourself iPhone Headshot.
• Update your vanity URL to have a clean profile link to share when needed.
• If you are job searching, turn on the feature that shows recruiters you are open to new opportunities. In this feature, you can share job search details, such as job titles, locations, employment types.
• Populate the Featured Content section with your portfolio, a piece of content you created or a piece of content that speaks to you.
• Add intrigue and upload media to your positions within the Experience section.

Take a step back and revel in all that you do and your accomplishments. Doing so is sure to give you the confidence and mood boost you might need right now. Go ahead; give yourself a pat on the back.

Learn a new skill or complete a certification

Have you been thinking about learning a new skill? Is there a certification that will propel you to the next level in your position? Now, may be when you dedicate time to continued learning. There are a few ways you can grow your skills:

• Online courses: If you find yourself needing a little more structure, enroll yourself into a course that either meets at a certain time or a course that releases courses one at a time. Think boot camps at General Assembly or online courses through Coursera. Other similar platforms to investigate are Linked Learning, Pluralsight, and Udemy.
• Portfolio work: Take time to review your portfolio, if you have one. While you might not busy with paying projects, create mock projects to add to your experience. Faux projects are valid towards your experience in your portfolio.
• Webinars: Keep a lookout for your favorite associations and groups to host webinars. In lieu of conferences and large networking events, companies are hosting would-have-been events online through webinars.

Learning a new skill has been proven to increase brain power and even slow cognitive aging. Also, accomplishing a certificate or completing a course is another reason to give yourself a pat on the back.

Network with professionals (virtually)

Society is relearning the importance of human interaction, and video conferencing totally counts. Use this time to get in the inboxes of relevant professionals, and schedule networking meetings, career path discussions, and/or portfolio and resume reviews via phone or video calls. Are you getting emails from recruiters? Engaging with recruiters counts towards networking. Take a chance on a staffing professional; it never hurts to have a conversation. Word of caution: It’s no secret everyone is home but be considerate of availability.

Human interaction, even through video calls, does wonders for combatting the effects of isolation.

COVID-19 Updates with Profiles

Profiles continues to monitor the current business and economic climate. As mentioned above, Profiles is still recruiting on an ample amount of creative, marketing, and digital jobs with its top clients nationwide. Reach out and get in touch with a marketing and creative tech recruiter today!

Stay updated through our Coronavirus Updates as we continue to provide digestible content on hiring, job searches, working remotely, and other relevant topics.