Things were going so well. An eleven-year-old bull market, for example. Business confidence up. Unemployment down. Then, all of a sudden, everything changed.
Did we as a society prepare adequately, react fast enough, take the situation seriously soon enough? Probably not, because in general it is human nature to change behavior slowly and the danger signals were not unambiguous.
Well, that has changed. It’s serious. The death toll, the suffering, the job losses, the stock market… Even if you are not infected, you are affected.
So what now?
Your first priority remains surviving and aiding the survival of those around you by taking all reasonable precautions and minimizing your interactions to slow the virus’ spread.
Beyond that, though I hear that the jigsaw puzzle industry is booming as people find they have time on their hands. On-line shopping and deliveries, too, are experiencing incredible growth. The videoconferencing service zoom.us, for example, says their subscriber base increased 20-fold in Q1—that’s 2,000%! There will probably be a population boomlet in nine months or so.
The Economist (3-14-20) tells us helpfully that, dramatic as the current stock market sell-off has been, it would have to be about 2.5 times worse to beat the worst ever (minus over 60% in 1929-31). The Wall Street Journal posted a good overview of who’s hiring and who’s firing last week that demonstrates the sectoral nature of the “correction.” Unfortunately, restaurant workers apparently constituted 60% of the most recent increase in unemployment claims, for example.
So now might be a good time to reflect on what will you be doing after the disaster? Will your industry be a good place to be? Should you change industries, roles, or even locations?
We hear prospects tell us how they view these questions by the hundreds every week. Here are a few common statements we hear:
“It is at times like this that companies are eager for real leaders, people like me who won’t just hide under the bed but who know how to lead others through this crisis to better times in the future.” (Call with our associate Rich, 4-6-20)
“I don’t have the resources to manage the relocation and repositioning I need in this market without hiring a team like yours.” (Call with our associate Donna, 4-6-2020)
“I already feel better just knowing that organizations like yours exist and can help me demonstrate my transferable skills.” (Call with our associate Michael, 4-6-2020)
So please, once you have secured all you can immediately do to preserve your health and the health of those around you, lift your eyes to the horizon and consider what your life should be like after the disaster. The fact is, most of us will survive this period of turmoil, and some of us will have used the situation on the ground to improve their circumstances proactively.
What about you? How marketable are you now?
We certainly encourage you to do so and we can place a six-member team at your disposal as part of our full service program to help you gain clarity on, for example, to which roles and industries your skills and experience may be most transferrable. We can peel back the mystery of the unpublished market—where fully 75% of our clients land—and introduce you to an asset you may not even know you have: your social capital. We routinely help clients excel during interviews, and improve their offers. Read about our clients’ latest successes on The Hiring Line and see what you may be missing.
You are not powerless in this crisis. You can look ahead. You can see light on the horizon, even if the sky overhead emanates imminent threat.
In the words of one recent client:
“I owe The Barrett Group a big debt of gratitude for the change they helped me make in my life because I was really in a desperate situation where I didn’t know what I wanted to do or what I was going to do. I just knew I was terribly unhappy doing what I was doing.” [Larry J., interviewed March 2020]
So, have courage. There will be life and career opportunities even after this disaster. Instead of doing jigsaw puzzles, why not work on that better future now while you have the time? Give us a call to explore your full career potential today.
