We are currently experiencing one of the biggest crises that we have seen in our lifetime. This has a global impact and is hurting people in all different aspects of life. Businesses are struggling to stay afloat, there are mass layoffs and investments are tanking. There is a lot of uncertainty at the moment and most people are just trying to survive.
Having worked in the IT staffing industry for so long I wanted to give some potential tips to those being affected by this. This article will explore some Career tips for dealing with Coronavirus.
Advice for IT professionals
Technologies in IT are always changing and it’s hard to keep up with them. However, being at home with time on your hands is the perfect time to catch up. If you’ve been laid off or are nervous about it the best thing you can do is add to your skill set. Here are 8 sites with online courses you can use. If you’re not sure what skills to learn then checkout the most in demand coding languages. Adding to your skill set will help in any situation so use your isolation time wisely.
Another way to improve your skills and help make yourself more marketable is working on personal projects. Building out a platform or working on an app on your own can help improve some of your skills and also show companies initiative on your end. If you have ideas that could help deal with the current situation building a team to tackle the solution would be a great use of time.
If you have been laid-off or are nervous about your current role the best advice I can give is simple. Update your resume and profile to best match your skills and projects. Having clear insight into what technologies you used and what type of tasks you performed will help any recruiter to help you. There are still companies hiring in this moment so put yourself out there and network with people to see where those opportunities might lie. Don’t worry most this can be done remotely so you can keep your search going while still practicing social distancing.
Advice for Organizations
Many organizations are being impacted heavily by the current situation and most are just looking to keep the doors open. While many will take the route of layoffs and they are justified in doing so there are other options. I especially like the idea of crowdsourcing ideas at this time, your employees might have unique solutions to the problems at hand. Another interesting solution is shortening the work week to reduce salaries but keep all employees. In any approach it’s important to understand that regardless of your plan people are nervous and uncertainty is high. The ability of organizations to clearly and effectively communicate their plans is almost as important as the plan itself.
Another way an organization can take on the challenge is by simply changing what they produce to be more relevant to the current situation. Many companies have infrastructure that can be adapted to meet demands of things like hand sanitizer or other essential products. In the software world you might not be able to help in that regard but there are other needs in terms of technology. Using your workforce to help support the fight against coronavirus can only benefit your organization long-term. Here are some of the ideas in terms of technology solutions. Another example is Google in Montreal working on a site to help answer any questions you might have. Patrick Lecuyer who is building it does need your help by understanding your questions which you can ask here.
Support each other
We are all certainly feeling the impacts of this global crisis. More than ever we need to come together and offer support in any way we can. We have seen great examples of this from individuals and organizations alike. Here are some actions you can take to help support small businesses. The medical community in Montreal is also under duress so here are ways that you can help.
There is no easy way out of this but practicing social distancing and waiting it out is the best approach. Let’s get creative with solutions on how we can overcome this. If you have any other career tips for dealing with coronavirus we would love to hear them!
How avansai can help?
As I mentioned there are still companies hiring and others that are on hold for the time being but should open up soon. If you’ve lost your current role or have an uncertain future fill out our Candidate Profile and we will work to help you. If you’re just looking for advice in support feel free to reach out to Corey or myself on Linked In.
Jason Levy
Co-Founder @ avansai
