This will become a question asked of people post lockdown, whether it is when you are looking for a new job or trying to get to the next rung in the ladder of your present organisation.
There are three groups of people at present:
1. Those still employed who are working from home at the end of an internet and phone connection, where coping with a ‘new way of working’ is proving either difficult or exciting.
2. Those who have been made redundant, who are now in a situation where they are trying to find work in a difficult market where recruitment is almost at a standstill.
3. Those who have the most difficulty are those who are ‘furloughed’. Supposedly they are going back to work, but may find themselves without a job when the lockdown is eased.
It is easy for group 1 to get carried away with the ‘unusualness’ of their situation; easy for those without a job to tell themselves they can do nothing ‘until it is over’; and also easy for those furloughed, to sit back and think this is an unwelcome holiday.
A BIG mistake.
‘On the other side’ of this situation things will be different. Some organisations will undoubtedly need to cut staff to cut costs, and have also realised who are important to them and who are not adding the value they need.
So ‘on the other side’ what will be your answer to the question ‘What did you do during the lockdown?’
Everyone needs to take seriously the comment ‘this is a time for reflection’. Now is the time to detach yourself from your present situation, look at yourself from the corner of the room and ask yourself “What have I been doing, and what are the answers I can give to that question to prove I have done something useful?’
The Future Resume questionnaire is something that could help you enormously as it asks the questions of yourself that you normally avoid.
The benefits to you are:
1. It will help you to step back and take a hard and realistic look at where you are and what you have been doing.
2. It will help you to define for yourself and any potential employer what your talents are, what kind of work satisfies you and what you want from the future.
3. It will help you to think about what talents you want to develop in the future (that you could start investigating right now?) and what work environments suit you best. (are you cut out for working on your own?)
4. It also helps you to understand, and more importantly, articulate what your values are.
5. Lastly it will help you to identify personal and professional ‘stories’ that show who you are and how you operate.
Undertaking such a process, will only take you approximately 40 minutes, when ‘finding yourself ‘may take a lifetime!
…and it will certainly help you to articulate to any employer or recruiter what you have been doing during the lockdown, which is preparing yourself for the next phase of your career…
Why wait?