Losing your job at any point in your life can be a distressing experience, let alone during a pandemic. During these trying times, however, it’s important that you keep your head up and remember that you are not alone in the situation you face. Millions of people around the world have found themselves in your same exact shoes and are attempting to relaunch their careers all at once.

Rather than fight that intense competition, it may suit you better to take this time to follow a few pieces of advice that can help you to launch a new career in the near future, rather than now. Following even a couple of the below steps may help you to get back on your feet faster than you ever thought possible. You may not have been able to control the fact that you lost your job, but you can control what happens from here on out.
Identify a Future Trend
On the topic of future trends, there is arguably none greater than technology. For the past few years, technology has been working its way into every industry around the world and is a large reason why remote work has been able to be so successful. In fact, did you know that according to CNBC, a large number of companies are considering staying remote in the long term?

Think about what this will mean for the future of work and what that future may look like. Try to imagine the trends that will form and how you can focus on building upon those trends now. In short, it’s all about building the skills needed for the future of work in the present day. This is a difficult task that requires a lot of foresight and introspection but starts by focusing on what your strengths and weaknesses are to see where you can improve.

You won’t be able to successfully guess every trend that is on the horizon, but guessing just a few key ones can help you stand out from a large amount of the competition. Take action now and identify a key area you believe you could enter. Once you have done that, follow the next piece of advice on this list.

Attend a Trade School

Trade schools are a form of education that has flourished due to technological advancements. These educational institutions differ from a traditional universities in that they offer specific courses that prepare students for specialized careers. Additionally, they are often far quicker to graduate from, but they are becoming as respected by employers as traditional institutions.

What makes these options so popular among people today is the fact that anybody of any age can apply. Despite this, the popular demographic is still older members of the workforce looking to change careers. An added benefit that applies to this demographic, though, is the ability to defer tuition.

Schools such as Thinkful are willing to allow you to defer your payments until you can pay, and there are even some schools that won’t charge you until you land a job. Take the skill you identified in the last section and expand upon it using a trade school.

It doesn’t have to necessarily be a trade school. You can always take free online tutorials on Youtube or attend a short course provider like WLP Academy. For example, lots of accountants are retraining with software like Xero to stay relevant in the accounting industry.

Brush Up Your Interview Skills

Once you have a new skill and the education to back it up, you are all ready to join the workforce. With this in mind, even if you had just begun your old career and were immediately fired due to the pandemic, interviews have changed in the last few years. The days of interviewers asking softball questions are far beyond over.

Nowadays, interviews are more technical, and you can expect questions regarding your analytical and practical skills. Additionally, it’s important that you research whatever new job you are going for. If it is a more technical path, you may even be asked to solve example problems in your interview. Prepare for these interviews using powerful methods, such as the STAR method, that can help you stand out from other interviewees.

Conclusion

As mentioned, you may not be able to control the fact that you lost your job, but that’s alright. Whatever you will do now is completely up to you. Fortunately, technology has enabled new options that anybody of any age can pursue. While everyone else who lost their job amidst the pandemic tries to get that same job back, take the time now to build an impressive skill set that will allow you to launch a new and dynamic career, rather than the same one that may be in a dying industry.