Australia’s economic future remains uncertain with a second coronavirus outbreak in Victoria and growing hotspots in other states.

The latest data from the ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) shows the unemployment rate has jumped from 6.4 % to 7.1% in a month. Nearly a million Australians have now lost their jobs because of the pandemic. More will follow as a result of the harsh second wave restrictions that the Victorian Government has introduced.

If you want to stay employed (and employable) you may need new skills.

The benefits of acquiring new skills during a lockdown

There is a range of online courses you can take to upgrade your skills while you self-isolate.

Everyone’s got free time on our hands these days. There’s only so much Netflix you can binge on before you say: ‘Enough is enough’. Instead of vegetating on your couch, why not use the additional time to improve your mind and develop some skills that can help you become more employable? Engaging your mind keeps you productively occupied. You will have less time to indulge in worry and anxiety. When you complete the course, you will feel a sense of satisfaction, gain new knowledge, and develop confidence.

What to study online in a lockdown

In my line of work, I deal with employers all the time. Believe me when I say the pandemic has altered the way employers are choosing candidates today.

The top skills every employer is looking for now: 

Leadership

Employers want managers who can recognise and respond to change and still maintain a positive outlook that can motivate others to stay engaged and be productive in their roles. Do you fit that role?

Communication and Emotional Intelligence 

Communication – COVID-19 work from home demands excellent communication skills in the digital sphere. Employers are looking for candidates who know how to use technology smartly. New skills in demand today include a good video presence and strong writing skills.

Candidates with good emotional intelligence are in high demand today. Remote working means staff are not physically in the office for managers to manage and control. The manager of the future must be able to demonstrate the ability to empathise with others’ behaviours and feelings. How strong are your communication skills? Do you look awkward on camera?

Adaptability and Flexibility

Employers are looking for staff who can easily adapt to change. A good candidate is someone who can pivot between office work and remote working from home if lockdowns become commonplace. Are you afraid of change? Can you multitask?

 Organisation

Changing working conditions mean employees must be organised with good time management skills. Remote working suits workers who can work independently with minimum supervision and those who can find the right balance between professional responsibilities and domestic commitments. Do you procrastinate? Are you productive?

 Creativity

There is nothing predictable about the coronavirus. Employers want candidates who can look at things from a different perspective and contribute innovative ideas and concepts that can help the business grow. Do you have ideas?

 Intrapreneurship 

The ability to solve problems remotely is in demand during a pandemic crisis. Effective problem-solving skills mean a candidate can easily grasp a situation and produce strategies to solve problems. It is also about having an entrepreneurial spirit to identify opportunities in difficult situations. Do you like challenges? Can you think out of the box?

The best online courses to upgrade your skills

The global pandemic crisis has seen an uptake in online learning platforms. Learners have a wide range of courses to choose from. Many of these courses are MOOCS (Massively Open Online Courses) and are affiliated with universities and/or industry leaders.

Depending on the provider, courses can vary in lengths – from a few hours a day to weekly commitments over several months. Most platforms will use some form of video lectures, texts, and regular assessments to test progress. Some of the courses are free but others may require a tuition fee.

Choosing a course can be daunting because of the wide choices available. The summary below can help you make a better decision on the best course to enrol in: 

1. edX

Harvard Business School and MIT collaboration that has grown to include 140 other universities and partners. The platform offers over 2,500 online courses. Most courses provide a certification on completion but not all the courses are run by Harvard.

Some Harvard courses I think may interest you: 

Professional development: 

• Exercising Leadership: Foundational Principles
• Humanitarian Response to Conflict and Disaster
• Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking

Personal interest: 

• ChinaX: Five Authors, Five Books, Five Views of China
• Tangible Things: Discovering History Through Artworks, Artifacts, Scientific Specimens, and the Stuff Around You
• Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science (Physics) 

2. Coursera

An American-based online learning platform that offers free and paid courses.  Coursera has partnered with the world’s top universities and brands to offer high-quality content that is suitable for vocational training, professional development, and skills acquisition.

I browsed the website recently to find their top online courses in lockdown and here is what I found:

AI for everyone

• Foundations of Everyday Leadership
• The Science of Wellbeing
• Managing Innovation and Design Thinking
• Learning How to Learn

3. FutureLearning

A popular online learning platform that uses content created by top universities and industry leaders.

I examined the platform’s Australian contributors. Here are some interesting courses I think you will like:

Professional development:

• Monash University – Mindedness and Wellbeing for Peak Performance
• The University of Newcastle – Transitioning from Friend to Leader
• Deakin University – Becoming Career Smart: How to Sell Yourself

Boredom busters

• The Open University – Start Writing Fiction
• Wollongong University – The Power of Podcasting for Storytelling
• The Open University – Moons 

4. Udemy

A distance learning platform that contains content that is created by partners as well as private individuals who are practitioners and specialists in their fields. The platform is useful for individuals who are looking for niche development and specific skills.

If you are an expert in your field, this is a good platform to increase your internet reach.

5. Others

Last on my top five list are two digital platforms. The first is a top-tier international university and the second is a local Melbourne executive leadership and coaching specialist. Both have specific and niche programmes that can help you gain skills to become more employable.

Udacity –Stanford University’s not-for-profit online learning platform delivers superior quality teaching and learning for IT professionals. Subjects taught include AI. Blockchain, Digital Marketing, Robotics, Programming, and Information Technology.

You Want Group Academy – A Melbourne-based leadership and coaching specialist running online courses that are highly relevant to current working from home environments. Their workshops include career coaching, resume building, video presence and others. 

Life after COVID-19 is not going to look like what it is today. Deloitte Access Economic Report suggests the future workforce will comprise of soft-skill-intensive jobs. Are you ready to meet this challenge?

In a world when business functions fully online, video presence is essential for success…

Australia has weathered the COVID-19 storm well until Melbourne found itself caught in a second wave. Victoria made world headlines recently when the State Government introduced curfews, mandatory mask-wearing and heavy fines for social distancing breaches. It also saw entire industries forced to shut and a further quarter-of-a-million Melburnians forced to stay home without a job. Except for essential services and jobs that cannot be performed virtually, the rest of us who still have jobs are now working online.

Who would have thought that videos would feature so prominently in our daily work interactions?

 If you’ve asked me a year ago, I would have said face-to-face interactions were the best ways to close a sale, motivate your staff and build business relationships. Nowadays, I rely on videos to do all of the above.

When you’re on video, you’re on a screen. You don’t enjoy the nuances that you have from face-to-face interactions. Non-verbals are harder to read. Not everyone says what they are thinking or feeling. And the distractions are endless.

I believe one of the most important skills to have today is a strong video presence. How else are you going to succeed in an interview? Hold a meeting? Tell the staff what to do? Build relationships? Or, close a sale?

The Virtual Presence

Technology as a business communication tool of the future is not a new concept. In October 2019, Forbes Insight, in-collaboration with ZOOM, released ‘The Visual Advantage’ – a report on the changing landscape of the global workplace. According to the survey, globalisation, the rise of the gig economy and increasing demands for work-life balance have resulted in more work being performed remotely from home. The report concluded that video conferencing was a good substitute for in-person interactions. At the time, the researchers were predicting that up to 77% of companies worldwide will adopt some form of remote working or telecommuting within the next three years. It did not predict a deadly virus that would force the entire world to adapt to technology in less than 3 months. 

Some of the key findings from this report about the effectiveness of video conferencing are worth discussing: 

1. Work is becoming more collaborative

73% of respondents in the survey listed better teaming and collaboration across workgroups as the most important criteria for productivity. As the nature of work evolves, greater demand is put on communication platforms that can enhance work over greater distances. 

2. Technology is transforming the nature of work

AI, machine learning, robotics, automation and other related technologies are reducing the number of repetitive, routine tasks and creating more strategic, decision-making and critical thinking roles. Critical thinkers managing diverse and dispersed groups will need greater interaction and therefore a more effective communication medium.  

3. Video conferencing is comparable to ‘being there’ 

Video conferencing is probably the closest we can get to simulating a real face-to-face interaction because of its visual and audio characteristics. Here are some of the reasons identified in the report:

• Video conferencing can promote teamwork and collaboration.
• Video meetings can drive engagement of remote workers.
• Video meetings can enhance the productivity of remote workers.
• ‘Seeing someone’ where they work and how they work help managers and workers to establish trust.
• Video meetings can improve work-life balance for employees to feel that they can meaningfully participate in the business even if they are working at a distance. 

Everything at the time points to video conferencing as the communication tool of the future workplace. The first time the world tested out this theory was during the pandemic. Most of us have adapted to communicating via videos simply because we were not left with any other options. Very few of us can honestly say, we have a great presence on video.  

Download the Forbes Insights ‘The Visual Advantage’ Report here.

How to develop a video presence for effective working from home

Not everyone is a natural on camera. The communication tactics that we have mastered in the boardroom is not going to work for us on a computer screen.  

According to Harvard professor and behavioural scientist, Andy Molinsky, elevating our video presence will require us to adopt an engaged persona in an environment that normally does not lend itself to that. Sounds ominous? Not really, if you know what to do. Thankfully, everyone is trainable.

Here are some tips I used to train my clients to develop a strong video presence: 

1. Look at the camera

How many times have you heard the phrase ‘Look at the camera!’ If you want to look good in a photograph, you look at the camera. The same applies to video meetings.   Your Zoom meeting is a camera trained on your face, so look into the lens when you are zooming.

Speaking into the cold, dark lens of a camera will take some practice. You will not feel natural or comfortable at the start. But others like politicians, entertainers and media personnel have done it so you can do it too.

One of the hardest things to learn is how to stay focused on the camera while others are talking around us. A Zoom meeting is even more distracting because it comprises of multiple split screens. Keep looking at that black dot. Nod your head. Acknowledge a reply but don’t stop looking at the camera because that’s what your team will see on their screens.

Here is the good news: The more you practise on Zoom, the better you will become.  So, don’t be bashful of the camera the next time you are online. Stare into it. Project confidence and smile. It helps.

2. Speak clearly

I always teach the participants in my workshop to use a slightly louder-than-usual voice when they are on camera.

In addition to being audible, a strong voice demonstrates a sense of authority, credibility, and confidence. Your team is working away from the office during a lockdown. They will need to know that their leader is in control of the situation. Your voice is one of the best ways to convey this message.  

Pick your words carefully and speak clearly so you can get your point through easier. It’s important to remember that speaking clearly and audibly does not mean you shout into the microphone. You shouldn’t mumble or speak too quickly either.

3. Frame yourself

Framing is important if you want to achieve the right video presence. The farther away or the more obscured you appear, the less engagement you will get from other participants.

In a Zoom meeting, your head and shoulders should dominate the screen. If your head is cut off, you are too close. If your chest or torso is in view, you are too far. If you can only see your head on the screen, adjust the camera’s angle so your head and shoulders are visible.

One of the exercises I do regularly in my career coaching sessions is filming a client when they are participating in a mock interview. The camera does not lie. It picks up on all the unconscious movements that the individual does during an interview that can be annoying to the interviewer. It’s an effective way to polish their performance and to prepare them for the real job interview.  

The background is important in video meetings. You have to be careful about what you put behind you and how the camera picks things up. A few weeks ago, I watched a segment on Black Lives Matter on CNN. The commentator was a black activist who had many interesting points to make but he had a large vase of white orchids directly behind him (as a backdrop) and on camera, he looked like he was sprouting two huge giant orchids from his ears. It looked weird.  

4. Don’t be your saboteur

Any form of distraction in a video meeting will sabotage the messaging. So, keep the cat and your three-year-old out of the room when you are in a meeting. One or two distraction from your curious cat or precocious three-year-old can lighten the mood for your team but if you are doing an important sales presentation online, remove all distractions. The customer is going to be impressed with the cat or your toddler – no matter how cute they look. 

Practise staying on mute, so you don’t unintentionally say or make inappropriate sounds. Staying on mute will also minimise any distractions from your surroundings. Unmute when you want to speak.

Don’t forget to turn off your camera if you are doing something visually distracting – like stirring your cup of tea or scratching your nose.

5. Be mindful and aware

In a face-to-face meeting, it’s easy to be aware of others. In a video conference, it is harder. You may be tempted to check your text messages or read the news update, but you run the risk of being caught out when someone asks you a question and you were not paying attention.

Turn off the mobile phone. Close all tabs and pay attention to the meeting. If you find it hard to stay focus for long periods, consider having regular, shorter 15-minute huddle meetings. Never forget that when you are on video, you are on camera. The camera records everything live. 

When conducting a video meeting, be mindful of how long you are speaking and how often you speak. Don’t be tempted to hog all the limelight. If you want your staff to stay engaged in their work during remote working, you let them speak at meetings.

6. Take advantage of chat windows

Chat windows are great appendages for your Zoom meetings. Share articles and documents via the chat platform. When others are talking, use the chat to respond, offer comments or ask questions. 

Video meetings are not going away. Now that the world has tried it and knows it works, it is highly likely video meetings will continue to feature in modern business activities – long after the pandemic crisis is over. Developing a strong video presence can make you a better communicator.  It will certainly help your future career.

If you need a good example of why you should not consider using a ghost-writer to craft your professional resume, you don’t need to look further than the current President of the United States of America.

In the eighties ‘The Art of the Deal’ helped turn Donald J Trump into a household name.  A part biography, part business advice book, the bestseller was credited to Donald Trump and his ghost-writer – Tom Schwartz. Schwartz was a respectable journalist and author before he wrote the book for Trump. Years later when Trump became the 45th President of the United States of America, Schwartz admitted that writing the book was one of the biggest regrets of his life because the book had created a myth.

As a career coach, I have encountered many clients who say they have paid for a professional resume but have not been able to secure the job they wanted. Part of the reason for this is that a professional resume writer or ‘ghost-writer’ seldom have the time to get to know their clients. Resume writing is a growing industry today. The people who work in this field range from professional writers to first-year graduates looking for a gig online. But it is volume-driven, and the writers simply do not have the time to consider the human aspects of its subject.

 Here are some reasons why ghost-writers won’t get you a job

1. The Good. The Bad. And the Ugly. 
   
   It’s hard to tell them apart. They are ghosts, after all. If you are fortunate to find a good ghost-writer, he or she will work closely with you to craft a resume so compelling that any employer in the world will want to hire you.

Chances are you will end up with a ghost-writing service that churns out hundreds of resumes a week and your USPs will be recycled from a data pool of hundreds of ‘dead’ resumes. There goes that dream job. 

2. Your resume is an imposter

A ghostwriter is a stranger. They don’t know who you are, how you think or what drives your passion. Worst case scenario: The ghost is a great writer with the power of words to craft a lyrical resume so compelling that you are shortlisted.

But recruitment managers were not born yesterday. You can fool them in writing, but you won’t fool them in person. They can spot a fake the minute you open your mouth. They are going to be the ones to ‘ghost’ you, once they realise your resume was an imposter.

Best case scenario: There isn’t any. 

3. Does your ghost know your industry?

Perhaps the question should be: ‘Do they even care?’ It’s just another gig. The faster the turnaround time, the more money they can make. They are not going to have the time to sit down with you to find out about the company or the industry. We all know that a resume that does not speak directly to the organisation is not going to be shortlisted. 

Secrets to building a killer resume (without the ghost’s help)

Writing a good resume is not easy. A resume requires thought and planning. You want the resume to create the right impressions so you can be shortlisted.

I tell my clients that the resume is the first but a crucial step to getting them employed. Getting a job is more than just writing the perfect resume. There is an entire process involved – whether it’s your first job or that dream career move you’ve always wanted.

Here are seven resume writing tips I use with my clients:

1. Get the order right

A professional resume must have a standard order of proceedings. Do not deviate from this order. Adjustments are acceptable but only if it is relevant to the job you are applying.

Deloitte Touche Tomatsu – one of the world’s ‘Big Four’ – has a great standard resume template that we have adapted at Career You Want. Here is what a standard resume should look like: 

• Name and contact details (If you have a quirky email address, consider starting a new account).
• The title of the position as it appears in the advertisement in bold and centred. 
• A summary or value proposition.
• Your experience bulleted. Leave off experience that is 15 years or older unless it is relevant to the position. 
• Your education and qualification. Leave off the year you graduated. List your area of specialisation instead. Also, consider including any relevant certifications and professional memberships.
• References are a standard requirement in resumes today so you will have to list their name, job title, organisation and contact details. Always ask permission first before you put someone’s name on your reference list.  

2. Impress with your value proposition

The opening statement or value proposition of your resume is crucial. You have about 6 minutes to engage the recruitment manager’s attention. Start with a very brief summary of who you are and why you are the right candidate for the position (i.e. what you can do for the organisation). Ideally, this is a single paragraph summary of approximately 15-20 words. Not easy. 

It must be a superior elevator pitch. Imagine the person reading the resume as a buyer and you the seller. If you cannot convince him or her at the very start, they are not going to want to buy your product. The product in this example is YOU.

3. Customise and tweak all the time

There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to resume writing. Every resume must be customised to the position, the organisation, and its industry. A little effort on your part can make a big difference in creating the right impression in a competitive job market.

One of the common mistakes new job seekers make is to pay a professional to write their resume and then recycle this template for the next hundred jobs they apply. Mass produced resumes very seldom deliver the results you want so stay away from this shortcut.

4. Match accomplishments, not list experiences

A problem some of my clients encountered: They have twenty years’ experience in their jobs. They are applying to be divisional head in a different industry. Do they list all their 20 years’ experience? The simple answer is ‘NO’. List only the achievements that the employer wants.

An effective way around this is to read the job scope and responsibilities carefully and pick out all the accomplishments you have that can match what the organisation is looking for.

According to John Lees – A UK-based career strategist and author of ‘Knockout CV’, 95% of what you say should be framed as accomplishments. I always tell my clients to use the right action verbs and to support everything they write with facts and figures. General statements like ’20 years’ experience in sales’ mean very little to a prospective employer but a statement that reads: ‘consistently exceeding sales target by 30% for the last five years’ say a lot. Look for specific examples that will impress the employer and creatively thread these into your resume to stand out from the rest.

5. Make it appealing to read

A professional resume must be well-written with grammatically correct English, no spelling or typo mistakes and excellent layout and formatting. Stay away from clichés and don’t use too many self-referential words. By self-referential words, I am referring to sentences with too many ‘I’ and ‘me’ in them. They scream narcissism and will scare away any prospective employer.

One of the most common questions my clients ask all the time: ‘Should I write a one-page resume? Or can I write more than a page?’

The answer depends on the individual and the job he or she is applying. If you have twenty years’ solid experience and a list of accomplishments that fits the position, it won’t be easy to limit your resume to a single page.

These days it is perfectly acceptable to send a resume that is 2 to 3 pages long. The HR Manager is still going to start by reading your summary. If their interest is piqued, they will fact check by reading the other sections. 

6. Align your digital profile

Companies today will check your digital footprint as part of their recruitment process. Make sure that whatever you list in your resume is also reflected in your social media profile.

Don’t be tempted to just cut and paste your resume into your LinkedIn profile. It will read false. The most likely scenario is that the HR Manager has already read the same profile on your resume before he or she looked up your LinkedIn account. Not a good look if the last impression they have is that you are a tardy individual who cannot be bothered spending a few minutes describing yourself on LinkedIn. 

7. When to get help

If writing is not your forte or if you are targeting that big career move, you may want to consider asking help from a career coach.

Career coaches are not resume-generators. We are professional mentors who can help you find a job. In general, career coaching is a solution-oriented approach that involves working with an individual to identify the concrete steps they will need to take to achieve their career objectives. We look at behavioural, emotional, and psychological issues that could be impeding your career’s ambition. Resumes are just one of the many things we work with our mentees.

I want to share a story with you today.

My Leadership Journey started many years back, when I was working as a junior recruiter.

My goal was to recruit as many talented people as possible, because I thought that this would qualify me for a leadership position. I was dead wrong.

The harsh reality was that I actually lacked quite a lot of the skills necessary for the role.
I didn’t realize what a leadership role really entailed; what leadership really meant.

I used to think that the more tasks I do, the harder I work, the sooner I’ll get noticed and get a promotion.
It was only later that I found out that this isn’t how it works at all.

Because so many of my clients come to me with this exact problem, and because it was such a huge learning curve for me, I want to share some of my insights and experience with you.

So, do you want to move up in your career and learn how to be a leader?

Here are three useful bits of information you’ll need before you have a chance of getting that role.

Understanding the tools of the trade

Being a leader is one of the most dynamic and engaging roles you’ll ever find yourself in.
However, the skills that are required for roles at this level are quite different to the skills you’d be expected to have mastered at lower-tier roles.

In a leadership role, It’s all about utilising your soft skills or personal attributes to get the most out of your team.
You’ll need to be an effective communicator adept at influencing others, as well as be able to motivate your team and make sure they believe in your vision.

So you’ve got a suitcase full of soft skills…. Now what?

It’s one thing building up the necessary skills for a leadership role, and it’s another thing entirely to actually get a leadership role.

Most roles at this level are actually not advertised, so you’ll need to go through your network in order to get a shot.

However, if you’ve been in your industry for any respectable length of time, this shouldn’t be a problem.
One important thing to note is that job interviews at this level are markedly different from those at a lower level. 

Interviews for worker or specialist roles are typically rigidly structured, as they’re usually following a behavioural interview guide. They’re looking to assess why you want the job, and how you’ll fit into the culture of the company.

Executive interviews are more informal and can delve into more personal lines of questioning. They want to really understand where you’re coming from, and what you can add to the company, so they’ll be interested in hearing any real-life examples of problems you have found solutions to in your previous roles.

However, they also want YOU to interview them as much as they’re interviewing you.

What kind of leader will you be?

So I’ve talked a bit about what sort of skills you’ll need to be a leader, and you know what to expect in an executive interview – but you’re not quite ready yet.

You’ll also need to understand what separates a leader from just a regular boss.
Now, there are actually a lot of things that one could say about this difference – one of the most salient points that come to mind is that a boss simply delegates tasks, while a leader actually supports their team in completing those tasks to the best of their abilities.

Now, this is huge, but I’ll put it to you that the key difference actually lies not in what a person does, but how they think.

You see, the role of the leader is to be a problem solving machine and help their team overcome any roadblock they come across.

True leaders don’t think about themselves or finances first – they think about their team. 
They understand that without their team, they aren’t really a leader, and they don’t really have a business.

Now that you have all this information, you must be wondering…

“Thai, how do I apply all this to my life? There’s so much to think about. Isn’t there an easier way?”

I’m glad you asked.

I’m actually hosting a professional networking event centered around the topic of leadership.

We have a panel of four speakers who are amazing leaders in their own right, and they’re actually going to be sharing their stories with us.

But there’s not much time – this event is actually tonight! 

So if you want to find out how to get into a leadership position from a panel of experts, this is your last chance.

Click this link to find out more.

22,859.

That’s the number of people that we’ve helped in the world at the time of writing this article. 

Here at Careerists we are firm believers that being successful isn’t just about making money – it’s also about making a difference.

There isn’t a lack of money in the world; just inequitable distribution.

That’s why it’s important to give back to those in need.

I’ve really been wanting to write a bit about social responsibility for a while now, because it’s something we really live and breathe here at Careerists, and being socially responsible has helped our business in a number of ways.

The first way being socially responsible has helped us is by attracting talent into the business.

We get a lot of individuals applying for roles in our company, and something I’ve noticed is that most of them actually want to be part of something bigger. 

They don’t just want a job that they go to 9-5 and get some experience so they can fill out their resume.

They want to actually add value to the world and change things.

There are so many people who want to give back to the world – they just don’t know how.

They want to help out with something, they want to make the world a better place, in their own way. 

Everybody has something different to add – differently skills, different personal attributes, all of which are unique to the person, and these are all different ways they could add value and change the world. 

Slowly.

The Second way giving back has helped our business is by helping us actually attract more clients.

When I tell them that the donation we make on their behalf will help provide nutritious food, clean water, education, and clothing to those who need it…you can see their faces light up. 

Knowing that they’ve contributed in some form means something to people.

So how can you start giving back to the world?

There are a few ways you could do it – the way we’ve chosen to do it is to partner up with a company called B1G1.

B1G1 provides businesses a way to contribute to a variety of charitable organisations all around the world.

The best part? They actually keep you updated on the communities that you’ve helped.

This way, you know you’re making a difference.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to use them – you can give back in your own way.

It could be a small charity, or even something in your local community. 

In this way, being socially responsible can really help your business thrive. 

In doing so, you’re actually creating a positive brand perception, and this applies not only to business, but individuals as well.

When you find something you actually believe in, something to help the world, it becomes contagious.

You can get other people to believe in it too, and that’s how we change the world.