The covid-19 pandemic brought terrible disruption to every corner of daily life.
Unheard of loss of life. Threat of illness just from leaving the house. Schools closed. Communities disrupted. Support systems cut. Jobs in limbo.
Life changed mid-March 2020 with covid-19… a pandemic.
We can get our children back to school in some fashion. We can wear masks and work from home. We will mourn our losses. But, closer to home, what about those jobs that will never come back? What will you do if you spent your life in a career that might never come back?
Over 22 million jobs disappeared at the start of the pandemic, according to NBC News. Some changes were inevitable. Technology, automation, and outsourcing have steadily eaten away at some jobs.
- Admin jobs like secretary, typist, receptionist, or switchboard operator have been disappearing for years, replaced by automation and personal computers as people do their own typing and admin work.
- Well-paying factory jobs like machine operators, finishers, and press operators in industries ranging from aircraft manufacturing to plastics to nuclear have been replaced by automation and outsourcing. This trend continues.
- Previously strong, well-paying postal service careers are projected to decline by almost 18% by 2029, replaced by automation and consolidation. Look for a 20% decline in floral designers! The impact is everywhere.
Restaurant and hospitality work will eventually come back. But how should you respond if you are in one of those jobs that are NOT coming back? What does the future hold for those people? Are you one of those people?
An individual life is not a straight path but a series of twists and turns as we respond to what life throws at us. I imagine life like one big game of Wipeout! I love that show. One part of the Wipeout course requires the contestant to travel across a narrow path along a wall, avoiding punching hands popping out of the wall trying to push the contestant off the path. Failure to respond lands the contestant in a puddle of mud.
Doesn’t 2020 feel just like that? A bunch of punching hands trying to push you off course into a messy mud bath? Job loss during a pandemic feels like a muddy, messy punch in the gut. We have no choice but to wash ourselves off, climb back on the course, and find a new path. We review, revise, reimagine, and reformat our lives within the new parameters.
“Re”… A strong concept meaning “back” or “again”. According to Membean, “re-“ intensifies any word to which it attaches itself.
2020 was a challenge – not a year I want to repeat. But it was a year that requires review, with all the intensity the “re-“ prefix requires.
In 2021, we here at The Interview Doctor, will employ the “re-“ concept in our blogs, videos, and social presence to encourage you in your ongoing efforts to review, rebuild, refresh, redefine, reinvent, and perhaps even retreat. We might go some places you do not imagine, but that is part of the fun, right?
To get prepared, click here for instant access to The Interview Doctor’s Job Search Quiz to see how ready you are to get started reimagining your life!!
How to Set Up your LinkedIn Profile
Your LinkedIn profile is home base when it comes to a job search.
It is a wonderful way to demonstrate what you can do and who you are and it can “work” for you even when you are not online. Having a LinkedIn profile is the first step to networking online to find a job. Check out the Interview Doctor’s mini-course, How to Set Up your LinkedIn Profile.
It includes 8 video lessons and a workbook to walk you step-by-step.”