With pandemic shutdowns disrupting the workforce, now is a good time to create new opportunities. You can start by using these resources from Rutgers experts and alumni to reassess your career goals and develop a strategic plan for future job fulfillment.
TEDxRutgers: Reconnect with your passions and principles
Today, career setbacks have become the norm. In Find Your Core Principles, and Hold on Tight, Nandini Ramini shares how she rebounded from a slew of setbacks over the course of her high-powered career. One example: After quitting as vice president of engineering at Twitter, she joined a unicorn company that was almost immediately hit with legal trouble. Still looking for where you might fit? Get a virtual pep talk from Don’t Live to Pay Your Rent. There, famous street photographer Steven John Irby shares how he discovered his passion—after abandoning the family business and getting hit with a sock full of rocks. (Bonus: Also check out his magazine, Street Dreams.)
Online quiz: Set aside 30 minutes for self-assessment
CareerExplorer by sokanu has been described as a “shockingly accurate” tool for matching people with their ideal career. Its 30-minute career quiz is available for free through Rutgers Handshake, which is accessible with your NetID and password. Who knows? You might be surprised at which of the 800-plus jobs is deemed perfect for you.
Webinars: Prep now for post-pandemic success
In the wake of the shutdown, Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick has developed free virtual “Lunch and Learn” webinars to give alumni an edge in this quickly shifting job market. On May 13, Rutgers finance and economics professor and vice chair Ben Sopranzetti ENG’85 will share an hour’s worth of Successful Negotiation Tactics to help listeners turn a “no” into a “yes.” And on May 27, check out Preparing for a Post COVID-19 Job, in which Rutgers lecturer and data scientist Merav Ozair reviews the skill sets you’ll need for future jobs—and how to build them during lockdown.
Facebook: At a fork in the road? Consider choosing multiple paths
In a Facebook video episode of Scarlet Talks, Maul Donte’ Davis MGSA’07 (Brother Maul) discusses how he parlayed his experience at Rutgers’ arts conservatory into multiple careers: as an actor, a human movement/stretching specialist, and an instructor who teaches health care providers how to communicate clearly with patients. “Don’t allow other people to put you in a box,” he says. “You’ll end up feeling like your life only revolves around one thing and I don’t believe that’s really what we’re here for.”
Articulate: Learn the trends and create a positive mindset
Two self-guided courses offered by Rutgers Alumni Career Services go deep on what it means to job hunt in the aftermath of a global pandemic. The Job Seeker’s Guide During COVID-19 breaks down which areas of the economy traditionally fare better during recessions and how companies are recruiting in the COVID-19 era. The Essentials: Enhance Performance and Well-Being reframes job hunting as a way to recognize and build up the best aspects of yourself. And who doesn’t need more of that right now.
Podcast: Upgrade your technology knowledge—and relevance
If your kids or co-workers mock your lack of tech savvy, isolation is the perfect time to study up. Some of the most entertaining resources come from Rutgers business instructor Mark W. Schaefer, who wrote The Tao of Twitter (available on audible). He co-hosts The Luminaries Podcast, sponsored by Dell Laboratories, which features interviews with some of the brightest minds in technology today. For example, in Episode 34: Rethinking Industry, Business and Jobs…by 2030, Aongus Hegarty, president of Dell Laboratories, talks about how emerging technologies will affect business. (We also love the more obscure episodes on immersive dinosaur museums and motorsport technology.)
To end on a hopeful note, take about 4 minutes to watch A Time for Leaders to Dispense Hope. It’s an animated short that Schaefer created after his own recovery from COVID-19. “Fear is contagious like this virus,” he says. “But so is hope.”
