Class of 2020: How I Landed a Job In A Pandemic

Someday, hopefully, we’ll pat ourselves on the back for getting through 2020 in one piece. I mean come on, this year has been absolutely nuts, and for the class of 2020, this whole pandemic thing could not have come at a worse time.

Since October of 2019, I’ve been eagerly frantically searching for a job. Any job. You see, one year before I was due to graduate with a BA in Secondary Education from the University of Cincinnati and become a teacher, I was abruptly assaulted with a change of heart. I didn’t want to teach, I just couldn’t do it. So, I did what any “reasonable” person would do and changed majors my senior year of college (smart, I know). 

Soon enough, 2020 comes and smacks us across the face. Here I am getting ready to graduate, no job lined up, no leads, then boom the job market implodes. What is a guy like me with a freshly minted English degree and no experience supposed to do? I was in panic mode. I had to do something to set myself apart from the sea of Arts and Sciences grads with degrees in whatever.

I had been forced into a nice six-week “vacation” from my job at the restaurant and I wasn’t about to let all this free time go to waste—so I focused on learning. I figured the only way to make myself marketable to employers was to diversify my abilities and knowledge. 

I started working on any attainable certification I could. Anything that would bolster my existing skill set and help me land a job. I completed certifications in technical writing, content marketing, copywriting, just to name a few. After six long weeks of funemployment, I went back to work at the restaurant but this time as a manager. I figured any sort of management experience would at least make me a little more hireable.

I fixed up my resume highlighting my broadened range of skills, updated my LinkedIn, Monster, and Indeed profiles with all my new experience and sure enough, I started to get some messages from recruiters.

I responded to everyone, arranged a handful of interviews, and just practiced interviewing for each job. 

To my surprise, it didn’t take long before I found a job that checked all the boxes (stable hours, benefits, healthcare, weekends off). I interviewed and accepted the position and joyfully ended my search. 

Everyone tells me how lucky I am. My dad reminds me all the time, “You landed a job in the worst economy I’ve seen” he might be right about that.

I suppose the moral of this story is to use this time to improve yourself and make yourself marketable, it really doesn’t take that much effort. A few easy steps, like the steps I took, can change your career for the better.

If ever the time was right, it’s now—go take advantage of it!