Being one of them affected by the situation, I was told by my company that my department will be removed, hence my position is no longer existing. Huge cost-cutting actions are taken so that the company can survive in the next year. I believe, many other small and medium companies are largely impacted and as a result, jobs are evaporating in the air.

Like many of you, I have never experienced this before — a worldwide emergency and recession. It is also a very difficult period to find a job. Here is my advice on what to do if you can still live for another few months without financial problems:

1. Level up yourself

If you were to return to the job market again, what makes you stand out from the competition? Those skills are what you can learn now, during this quiet period. For example, I am in marketing, but I don’t speak fluent German in a German-speaking job market. So what I will do is to focus on improving my German quickly to a level that I can work in this language. Then it opens more opportunities for me. In a way, I can then speak 3 languages fluently and understand 4 languages.

If you are a teacher or a personal coach, or any service provider, think of what skills you can obtain to make your service better and yourself more credible? Maybe it is a qualification, maybe it is more experiences. You can use the time to learn online and gain more knowledge, you can use the time to accumulate more coaching hours by providing free sessions over a video call. Or you can start to build your personal brand by having a website, holding free webinars or training sessions, or publishing articles on the topic. There is always something you can improve during this period which will benefit you later when the market recovered.

2. Going online

Even though it is a lockdown period, people still need entertainment, still need to maintain their lifestyle. It could be even more in demand as some social activities are gone. They are in need to keep up with their workout routine, their learning sessions, and so on. If you are a yoga teacher or any sorts of teacher and coach, you can provide online courses to your students. With the current technology, a remote connection is made possible. There are different tools you can use for online video courses such as zoom or skype.

If you run a shop and now you closed it. You can build a website and exhibit your merchandise, and make it possible for online shopping. In Switzerland, delivery service is allowed 7 days a week and people start to shop heavily online. By going online, you can keep your business running. Don’t forget to inform your old customers that they can now shop online. For new customers, digital ads would help to reach them. Even when your shop can be opened again, you can have both online and offline channels to gain sales. However, the preparation of online would already be done during the lockdown time. Even with service providers, it is a great opportunity for you to focus on building a website. There are a million good reasons to do this, I won’t explain further here. My point is that you can do something for your business during this period, which will benefit you now and later.

3. Find out who is hiring

It is a difficult time to find a job, but it doesn’t mean it is impossible. There are companies which saw a great lift in sales, and they are in urgent need of more employees. Since most people are staying at home and ordering online, online platforms and delivery services are in huge demand. For example, Galexus.ch and amazon both published a hiring ad. Medical staff is in demand. if you have the right qualification and currently not employed. Then you can contact the local ministry of health or hospitals. Medical staff is in urgent need all over the world now.

Think of what people would need at this moment, and expand to the business and whole value chain. When a service is needed, for example, online shopping, then for sure delivery service is needed. When schools start to offer online courses, maybe an online coordinator is needed, when people stay at home and need some great food, maybe a delicious home-cooked meal can be delivered. There are a lot of ideas, you need to be creative and open-minded. Yes, there are fewer opportunities in the job market, but there are also other opportunities. Besides, when I did a LinkedIn job search, there are still many open positions online. So, don’t lose faith.

I hope you all will find your own path. It is a difficult time, but it is also a time for self-reflection, improvement and keep trying.

“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.”

— Jim Rohn