ImproveMe:

Brent, what’s your advice to people who have recently found themselves out of work due to COVID-19?

Brent:

In the immediate time, my advice is not to panic. Try to take a considered viewpoint about the circumstances that we all find ourselves in. One of the biggest issues is that every impacted person is going to take a real hit to their confidence. I believe it’s important to give people an ability to help rebuild their confidence in the first instance, before they get back into the workforce.

How can you do this? Start by understanding what your strengths are as a person, take the time to invest in learning more about what makes you as good as you can become. How can you improve on those strengths even further? Then start to slowly map out what your pathway back into the workforce might look like.

Speak to everyone you know to open up networking opportunities. Everyone’s willing to talk to those who reach out when they’re looking for different roles, different advice, different guidance. So talk to as many people as you can.

Also, keep involved in educating yourself, keep upskilling and keep reskilling, and keep your eye on different sorts of opportunities as and when they present themselves. Keep an open mind about where an opportunity might come from, because while we are going through tough times, there are some industries out there that are growing and thriving that are continually looking for people as well.