FAQ about internships during COVID are now here.
Are employers still hiring right now for jobs and internships?
Yes. Industries are impacted differently by COVID. While certain industries are suffering major losses, others are growing.
Who’s hiring and in what industries?
*A note about employers freezing hiring: Don't give up on them! They may still be hiring for some departments, and this landscape changes quickly.
In this 7-minute video, Bill Burnett, Stanford professor and co-author of Designing Your Life, gives an example of this with a company he spoke to recently.
The best way in? Request an informational interview with a member of the company who genuinely interests you to hear their story. Here are some sample messages to reach out.
What remote opportunities and gigs are available?
As COVID continues, many of the employers above are hiring for remote workers. Also, a number of employers have announced that WFH is their new normal, including Facebook, Twitter, and Slack. But for more remote ideas, check out:
What skills are most valuable right now?
What if I need a job quickly?
Sign up with a staffing agency! They are typically free to use and offer one more lead to a job.
For college students specifically:
For the general public:
What's the best way to job search during this time?
Connect with people doing work that interests you.
- 80% of jobs aren’t posted online! Connecting with professionals who genuinely interest you is the best way to learn about industries and to get jobs.
- Stick with it and after 5-10 informational interviews, you’ll start to become visible in the industry you're interested in, start talking like an insider, and have a much better chance of getting work there.
- In this 7-minute video, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, Stanford professors and co-authors of Designing Your Life, explain why this is the smartest way to spend your time right now.
- How to find people? Here are some good spots to look, as well as sample language for reach-out messages and tips on when to follow up.
- LinkedIn Learning Free Course: Digital Networking Strategies
Grow your skills and get real experience
- Skills are becoming more and more valued by employers (not just GPA, degree, and institution), and there are more opportunities than ever to gain them free or inexpensively online.
- Take time to grow key skills to make you more competitive when attractive opportunities come up.
- Microsoft just launched 10 free learning paths to help people develop skills for 10 jobs in demand during COVID:
Update your profiles & materials.
Attend virtual events
Keep multiple options, be resilient, & look for opportunities
- If you just have one thing you want to do, you're creating a fragile future for yourself. (True any time, but especially during COVID.) For a resilient approach, keep open 3 different work directions that interest you. If one is in an industry that’s temporarily stymied, how about the others?
- COVID presents a huge opportunity for creative thinkers. There are great spaces to redesign hotels, public transportation, education, and more. You may also notice industries that are changing quickly, like telehealth medicine, that don’t yet have the resources to support the scale of their demand. What pulls you in?
- What would you love to try or build right now? What are some of your wildest, most exciting ideas? Maybe a startup; a nonprofit; a book or code or piece of music you want to write; or joining an organization you’re interested in? This is an unprecedented time when the world is reinventing itself— use it to build your idea and test it out!
Take care of yourself & be persistent
- Focus on what you CAN control for yourself and your job search right now.
- Give yourself positive structure: enough sleep, regular meals, exercise, at least 15 minutes of quiet time to connect with yourself each day through prayer, meditation, yoga, etc.
- Set aside some regular time each week to work on your career. Make small goals that are manageable right now — or, as Designing Your Life co-authors Bull Burnett and Dave Evans put it, "Set the bar low and clear it often."
- Then trust in the Persistence Effect: that if you keep showing up, doing the things we’ve listed here, you will build forward in your career, even if results come in a different way than you expected.
Reach out for support
What's the best way to prepare for video interviews?
Should I accept a lower salary during COVID?
What if I want to change careers during COVID?
How do I know if this opportunity is a scam?
For more information on how to spot a potential scam, click here.