A Guide: How To Get a Great Job, Near You, In Times Of COVID Crisis!
By: Nitin Pradhan
Tags: Federal Jobs, Covid Jobs, Federal Careers, Jobs Near Me, Career Change

We get this question often from job seekers in the US. Rather than spending time searching for a job in private organizations, you should consider this 16 step process to get a federal job nationwide!

How to Do It!

Can you get a great job now and if so how?

Yes, of course! But there is a trick.

Due to the COVID pandemic, unemployment rates have increased substantially. In April of 2020, the unemployment rates were at the highest ever at 14.7% since 1939. Just for comparison, in the recession of 2007–2009, unemployment rates were approximately 10% and took one to two years to recover from. Today’s situation is dramatically worse and will not improve until an effective vaccine or antiviral drug is developed, and even after that, it will take time for life to come back to the new normal.

Unemployment Rates in the US 1955–2020

Finding a job during COVID — Here’s what you can do:

Trying to get a job during these tough times can be very difficult; first, organizations need to have a job vacancy for you to apply to. Second, not only should organizations have an open spot, but they should also be hiring for that vacancy. Be careful, many times, organizations have a list of jobs on recruiting sites, however, they do not intend on hiring people to fill those positions. Therefore, make sure by checking with internal company sources if the company is hiring. Third, before applying for a job, you should check whether you meet the minimum qualifications required to get your job and whether the job is near where you live. Fourth, become an expert at digital networking using tools like Linkedin and Zoom. Finally, your job should last through tough times — COVID crisis — allowing you to have steady income and stability; otherwise, you may find a job and be fired within a month and all your job search effort would have been lost.

“Tough times never last, but tough people do.”– Robert Schuller

Preparing yourself to get a job:

Before applying for a job, make sure that your cover letter, resume, and your LinkedIn profile are updated and look professional. Due to the virus, you probably will be doing video-based interviews, so you may want to get a Zoom account. Zoom is a video conferencing app that allows you to connect with others digitally. Make sure you understand how to use the platform exceptionally well and know how to present well on the platform. Make sure you get the lighting, audio, and the background right for Zoom. You will have to do a lot of research on different recruiting sites and job platforms to find jobs that best fit you and jobs that you can qualify for. Understand which companies are hiring, check out their work environments, salaries, benefits, and then try and follow up with the potential hiring manager through LinkedIn to get a step in the door.

“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. “ — Confucius

Are there better ways I can find a job?

Now, let me tell you some tips and tricks to find a great job in difficult economic environments. Rather than spending so much time searching for a job in various organizations, you should consider working for the largest employer in the US, the federal government. The US federal government employs over seven million men and women as federal contractors, federal employees, and federal grant employees. Since the federal government can “print” money, it is not going to run out of the funds for hiring. Additionally, the federal government typically accelerates expenditure during emergencies through stimulus packages and interest-free loans. Here is a great, affordable program we have put together for helping you get federal jobs. Check it out, it is called the Federal Career Accelerator.

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” — Milton Berle

Searching for jobs in the federal government

The government is hiring, there are thousands of opportunities in the federal government. The federal government has different hiring paths that cater to different people, for example, if you are a student who has just recently graduated from university, you can lessen competition by applying the filter “Recent Graduates” to get jobs that are specifically catered to people like you. Some other additional hiring paths are Veterans, Students, Military Spouses, Individuals with disabilities, etc. There are a total of 17 hiring paths. Below is the snapshot of jobs available on the federal site on June 30th, 2020, when I wrote this article.

“Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” — Francis of Assisi

Hiring Paths — USAJOBs site