Finding a Job Amid COVID-19

It seems that you can't watch the evening news, visit an online news site, or read a newspaper without seeing headlines about record unemployment. My youngest daughter, son-in-law, and youngest son are all effected by the horrible job hunting conditions due to the current global pandemic. I'm sure you all have people close to you in similar situations. Hopefully I can share some strategies to help.

Let's start with my youngest son. He just graduated from the University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. It seems that no matter what he does, he can't get anyone to even look at his resume or return his inquiries. This is an incredibly tough job market for people with experience; It is even tougher for those just coming out of college looking to land a first full-time job. Fortunately my son is married and his wife is a nurse. Her skills are in high-demand and so my son will be heading to graduate school while she pays the bills. As nobody is sure if classes will be held in the fall, he is focusing on online programs as that will be the best option for the foreseeable future. My son also has another internship lined up with a highly respected organization. The requirement for the internship is that he is enrolled in a graduate program.

My son-in-law is also a fairly recent college graduate. His job was eliminated because of COVID-19 and he won't be returning until social distancing rules are relaxed. His wife, my daughter, is also in a unique situation where she will be going to graduate school. That makes finding a job for my son-in-law rather difficult. While my son is looking at online programs, my daughter's program requires her to be on campus and she will be moving from Utah to Alabama. If she can't be in class, they may defer her start until meeting restrictions are lifted. Not knowing when they will move makes finding a short-term job almost impossible. At some point it is easier to just collect unemployment and my son-in-law falls into that category for now.

Finally there is my youngest daughter. She has lost her job twice and a 2-month period. She started the year as a ski instructor at Alta ski resort. March 14th she went to work thinking she would make it through the season before they closed because of COVID-19. The next day, she didn't have a job. Her employer did the best they could with providing a little extra pay to bridge the gap between her next job. Rather than sit around waiting for her summer job to start, she immediately applied to Amazon and 2 weeks after her last day at Alta, she started fulfilling orders at an Amazon warehouse in Salt Lake City. She knew it was only a short-term gig and was glad. Working in a warehouse is not the right job for someone used to being outdoors every day of the week. After a month, she quit so she could start preparing for her summer job. She had been accepted to teach at a ski resort in New Zealand but that country is locked down and a week before her flight was scheduled to depart she was told not to come. So how would you like to lose your primary job twice in the same 2-month period? Fortunately for my daughter has found another job at an outdoor summer camp that is scrambling to open in the next couple of weeks. Let's hope they can pull it off.

So what are the takeaways from my 3 anecdotal experiences? First, this is a tough job market for new college graduates and you might want to think about getting an online graduate degree. Second, it is a tough job market for professionals with only a few years experience. Don't be afraid to file for unemployment as it may provide some badly needed income until you can find a job. Finally, there are jobs out there if you look hard enough and are willing to do almost anything. Sure you may be stuck in a warehouse shipping unmentionables to really bored people for $17/hour, but there are jobs. I hope this helps.