Who’s Hiring Right Now?

Did you get laid off or, if you’re an entrepreneur, did your business take a sudden nosedive thanks to a certain uninvited viral guest that’s barreled its way into all of our lives in recent weeks?

Or, if you’re still employed, are you seeing some writing on the wall that indicates you may need to quickly formulate a Plan B?

If yes, let’s first take a moment and acknowledge what a steaming pile of you-know-what this whole deal is.

Unfortunately, life sometimes dishes up some serious doo-doo. And when it does, we certainly need to take some time to digest the reality, be mad, be scared, be sad, or be virtually impossible to be around for a little while.

But then, we need to get down to business.

If you’ve lost your job, or fear you’re about to — and you’re ready to shift into “I’m gonna figure this mess out” mode — let’s start sorting.

Now, as you sort, recognize that this may very well not be that blessing-in-disguise event that serendipitously leads you straight to your dream job. Sure, anything is possible, but with companies around the world freezing hiring and laying off employees, you may need to be a bit flexible — especially if time is of the essence.

Where can you begin?

Think: Who’s likely to thrive Through This?

Rather than racing to the nearest job board and rapid-fire applying for anything and everything you remotely qualify for (here’s why this is a bad idea), consider first pondering the above question in relation to your skills, experience and interests.

Let’s face it, certain jobs and industries are tanking, and tanking hard right now. Probably not the week to start looking at event planner or travel agent jobs, for instance.

But there are several industries and companies that are running gangbusters, and will likely continue to after the dust settles on this global pandemic.

Do some brainstorming. Do some digging. And come up with a short list of industries and companies that seem the most viable to pursue ASAP.

A non-comprehensive look at SOME obvious ones*:

Remote Work — Slack, Zoom, WebEx, Atlassian (Trello), etc.

Remote Learning — ABCMouse, Coursera, Khan Academy, LinkedIn Learning, etc. (Interesting read: What the Shift to Virtual Learning Could Mean for the Future of Higher Ed.)

Grocery & Meal Kit Delivery Services — Instacart, Shipt, Amazon Prime Pantry, HelloFresh, Blue Apron, etc.

Restaurant Delivery Services — Uber Eats, DoorDash, Postmates, etc.

Online Entertainment & Gaming — Netflix, EA, Twitch, Epic Games, etc.

Healthcare / Medical Supplies — The list is endless right now, for a wide range of jobs and areas of specialization.

Transportation / Logistics — UPS, XPO, Lineage, JB Hunt, etc. (Interesting read: As Demand Surges, Supplying and Shipping Take on New Importance)

Virtual Fitness / Exercise Equipment - Peloton, Garmin, Zwift, etc. (Interesting read: Indoor Cycling Apps Get Leg Up from Coronavirus Shutdown)

What types of jobs might you be equipped to step into, within these industries? Certainly software engineers, medical staff, delivery drivers and customer service representatives will be in high demand, but so many other functions power a business: marketing, operations, supply chain, finance, engineering, manufacturing, the list goes on.

Consider your niche, and how you can position yourself as a strong fit.

Who’s Hiring Now?

I stumbled on this amazing resource the other day, put together by Candor.co, a tech company that helps people negotiate salary. It’s a live-updated list (with more than 5,400 entries as of today) of companies that have frozen hiring, and those who are currently hiring.

This would be a phenomenal place to do some research, especially if you’re working in a job or industry that’s tied in any way to tech.

Yahoo! Finance also recently posted an article featuring 30 major companies that are hiring right now, and LinkedIn has been regularly updating a similar post, which you’ll find right here.

DON’T RULE OUT A ‘JUST FOR NOW’ JOB

If you need income sooner rather than later, don’t rule out a high-demand gig job (e.g. meal delivery service, Amazon delivery, online tutor, childcare worker, commercial building cleaning or security, etc.) to help you manage the bills short-term. Certainly, you’ll want to gauge your health risk factors against the opportunity, but plenty of gig roles right now involve zero or very little face-to-face contact.

Or, if you have a skill that can be put to use on a consultative or contact basis, consider reaching out proactively to a few companies that may have an immediate need for someone with your expertise — or contact a temp agency in your area to investigate short-term possibilities.

Again… we’re in some serious uncharted territory here. It’ll likely require all kinds of stamina no matter which way you slice it. And that next “thing” may not be perfect.

But, if you can insert some strategy, grit and resourcefulness into the overall equation, you’ll stand the best chance of keeping afloat while we all ride out the coronavirus madness.

*Consider these thought-starters. You will need to do your own due diligence to determine potential openings at specific companies.

Group Q&A is On the Way…

We’re trying something new. We’re going to be offering a few group Q&A sessions via Zoom in the coming days, so that we can deliver direct support to more people than we currently can accommodate through our 1:1 services.

We’ll be trialing it with 20 attendees first, before expanding to a larger audience.

If you’d like to be a part of this initial group (our guinea pigs, if you will), please send an email with subject line, “Zoom Q&A Trial, Please” to Info@JobJenny.com.

I’ll be following up directly with the first 20 respondents and then will share additional details with all who are interested on future Zoom sessions.