How To Search For Jobs During COVID-19

How to search for jobs during COVID-19? Job searching is a daunting task in itself, to make things worst there’s an infectious disease pandemic which is devastating the job market.

Thankfully, there are still many jobs that are still hiring. Given the uncertainty going forward with no vaccine in sight, getting a head start on searching and getting a job can truly secure your short term future.

If you are about to graduate or you have recently been laid off, then this article can give you some tips to apply to your job search strategy.

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(Related: How To Write A Cover Letter | 2020)

Search, Search, Search

Are you starting to start you job search? Then there is one thing you have to do – search, search and search.

It’s always good to over search jobs when you are starting. Volume is key when you are starting your job searches. You will want to get a good feel for what job titles align with what you want to do, what jobs are available, and the knowledge, skills, & experience

Make sure to start your search broadly. After you get a feel for the jobs that are available then start to get more specific in your job searching.

How to look at job postings quickly?

Some job postings can be long with lots of information. When you begin your search, you should develop the skill to quickly scan job postings.

This will help you to better use your time to narrow down which jobs are a good fit for you.

You’ll want to think about where you are going to search for jobs also: are you looking at a specific city? Or state? Or just the USA?

When searching job postings quickly do this:

• Minimum qualifications
  You’ll want to look at this to see if you meet the educational or skill base requirements.
• Position summary
  Check this to get a feel of what the job is going to be about. Ask yourself if you can see yourself in that sort of role.
• Responsibilities/Duties/Functions
  Dig deeper into the job role and see if you have some of the qualities they are asking for. If not, how can you gain that insight before you apply?
• Note the job title
  If the job roles align with your skills and is something you want to pursue, you should note it down. This will help you when you are looking for similar jobs in the future.

These are the 3 things you need to look over quickly + noting the job title if you like it.

You’ll want to collect a list of different jobs before you apply to them. I create a spreadsheet and rate jobs on a 1-5 scale. When I collect about 15 jobs in my spreadsheet, I then rate them with which ones best match a combination of my skills + the roles I want to do next + location + salary (if applicable) + company culture (if applicable).

When you get your rating set, then you apply to the jobs that get are a 5 or 4 match in terms of your career goals.

(Related: 10 Actions To Improve Your Career Right Now)

Where to Search?

Depending on where you are in your career, different job websites will be more appropriate for your career searching.

Over the last two weeks I have been preferring to use Indeed to search for jobs. I usually prefer LinkedIn for job searching, but I have been finding more value in Indeed right now. That being said, I still do use both of these as well as other sites for job searching.

• Indeed
• LinkedIn
• PublicHealthJobs.org
• USAjobs.gov
• Glassdoor
• Idealist
• Philanthropy News Digest (PND)

You’ll want to make sure to turn on job notifications for different criteria that interest you. Job notifications to your email can be extremely helpful in finding your cool jobs and decreasing the amount of manual work you need to put in when job searching.

In my current job search, I have found lots of great jobs in the philanthropy field on PND’s website. So if you are thinking about applying your public health skills to the philanthropy field, definitely check them out.

Specific Public Health Opportunities

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) increases the health security of our nation. As the nation’s health protection agency, CDC saves lives and protects people from health threats. To accomplish our mission, CDC conducts critical science and provides health information that protects our nation against expensive and dangerous health threats, and responds when these arise.

The CDC has vastly expanded their capacity to try to combat COVID-19. Right now there are temporary (12-24 month) job openings in many locations around the USA. As well as other full time position through the CDC.

The states with these opportunities are:

• Alaska
• California
• Colorado
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Louisiana
• Massachusetts
• Maryland
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• North Carolina
• New Jersey
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Texas
• Washington
• West Virginia
• San Juan (Puerto Rico)

CDC Foundation

CDC Foundation helps CDC do more, faster by forging partnerships between CDC and others to fight threats to health and safety. The CDC Foundation’s vision is “save and improve lives by unleashing the power of collaboration.”

Currently, there are openings for COVID-19 Corps in various locations around the USA. Additionally, there are a couple openings for staff positions at the CDC Foundation.

Registered Nurses

COVID-19 has created a great need for registered nurses (RNs). This website: Trusted Health has openings for RNs to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Related: What To Do In Times Of Uncertainty)

Long Game – Networking

Networking should be something that you are doing all throughout your career, not just when you are looking for jobs. Nonetheless, though it is unlikely that you will get a job offer from someone you actively start a relationships with now. Starting that relationship can be invaluable to your future career.

Note: when networking, most people are “put off” when you are only reaching out to ask for their help. Networking is about building relationships – and relationships ARE two-way streets.

Networking is on of the best long game career strategy that you can actively engage right now. When you approach networking from just showing interest in others as a person or their journey, you will prove to form real relationships. After you land your next job, you should be thinking about the next one. Ensure that your career progression is on a steady upward trend.

When you are approaching people to network think about your objective beforehand. Approach network connections with something that you can offer them.

Think about:

• Who can I help? Whether in their job search or in other means
• Who can you connect that person with?
• Do you have skills that you can offer someone to help them solve a problem?
• Who can you congratulate?

Ensure that you are always trying to actively engage with new people. Also reach out to people for informational interviews to learn about different positions, companies and career journeys.

One thing that I have begun to do is reach out to every person that connects with me on LinkedIn and sent them a personal message.

(Related: Thriving In Online Classes During COVID-19)

What to look for in a job?

When you commit to a new job, this is going to be a big part of your life. So you’re definitely going to want to think a lot not just about your job role, but job culture and location.

Things to consider before you accept your job position are:

• Passion – is this a position you are going to be happy to get up for in the morning?
• Salary – is this position going to adequately compensate you for your skills/experience
• Location – what’s the cost of living? Is the environment what you like? Niche is a great resource to learn about new locations throughout the USA without visiting.
• Health Insurance – is it comprehensive enough for your needs?
• Paid Time Off/Sick Leave – are you going to have enough time to destress? Do they cover enough sick leave days?
• Culture – am I going to be a good fit with the company culture?
• Parental Leave – do they give adequate leave for future parents?
• Flexible Work Hours – do the hours reflect how you want to work? 4 day work week?
• Work Remotely – is there flexibility to work remotely?

These are just some of the considerations to take into account before you look for in a job before you accept the offer. Depending on your personality, you will rank these considerations differently.

What to do after you apply?

After you submit the application

So you submitted your application, now what?

You’ll want to ensure that you save the resume, cover letter, and job postings to somewhere you can easily access if you are called back up for an interview. I always save each job I apply to into a folder with the information I used to apply.

This will help you to recall which experiences and skills you spoke to in your application. Additionally, when job postings are closed they are usually deleted from job posting websites. So be sure to save the job postings you apply to so that you can refer back to it in the future.

After the interview

You just finished your interview with the company?

You’ll want to ensure that you have a positive lasting impression. Therefore, I would recommend that you either send in a letter thanking the hiring manager/team for their time and opportunity to interview or write a hand written letter.

Especially during times when the job market is inflated with people looking for jobs, you’ll want to ensure that you do everything to get that slight competitive advantage you need to secure your next job.

Summary

Searching for jobs during COVID-19 can be made easier using a system to help your search. Beginning your job search early will give you time to create a job searching strategy that works for you.

There are a couple of factors you should be looking at when looking at job quickly. These are minimum qualifications, position summary, and responsibilities/duties/functions. You should also note job titles that align with your interest.

You should also be focusing on the long game of networking. Build your network so that you will have an advantage when looking for your next career move.

I also give insights into what you should be looking for in a job before you accept the offer. I also show great job searching platforms that can be utilized such as Indeed, LinkedIn, and Philanthropy News Digest.

What has been your job searching strategy thus far?