Losing your job at any point in your life can be a distressing experience that leaves you wondering what you should do next. The recent pandemic caused by Covid-19 has caused millions of people to be out of work. Recent reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that of the 16.9 million people who were unemployed, 9.6 million were out of work directly due to the pandemic. 

This pandemic has affected all aspects of life and caused countless jobs to be cut from company payrolls. Despite this, all we can do is endure and wait for this pandemic to settle. If you are a part of the millions of people who lost their job due to this recent pandemic, consider taking steps now that can help set you up for a better career in the future. There are actions you can take to counteract your current job loss that will help you develop new skills that will be applicable to the future workforce.

Attend a Trade School

When it comes to adapting after the loss of your job, acquiring additional education is never a bad choice. One of the best ways to keep your skills sharp is by becoming a lifelong student. Take note of any potential careers that catch your eye and consider looking into trade schools near you. 

Unlike traditional forms of education, trade schools focus on developing the key skills needed to enter a specific career via a specialized curriculum. This option is particularly popular among older members of the workforce who are trying to go through the process of a career change. Additionally, this is a fantastic option for anyone who has recently lost a job, as the turnaround to graduation almost never lasts longer than a year.

However, you can complete your courses in as much or as little time as you like, completely online from the comfort of your own home. What also makes certain trade schools, such as General Assembly, so popular is the option to defer tuition if you can’t pay right away. This means you wouldn’t have to spend all of your savings on education and could still get the knowledge you need to launch a new career.

Develop Key Skills

On the topic of trade schools and acquiring more education, a great next step after losing your job due to Covid-19 is to pick up one or two key skills that will be pivotal to helping you land a job in the future. For perspective, coding is a skill that has emerged within the last decade as a prominent skill for the future of work.

In fact, recent studies have shown that there are around 19 million developers worldwide, with 13 million of those being professionals. The potential of job opportunities for those who practice skills with coding is far greater than some other traditional fields that have even been around for years.

Focusing on developing a skill such as coding or programming, using highly rated online coding bootcamps, now could help set you up with a career that is more lucrative in the future. Skills such as these are heavily applicable to tech fields that are beginning to dominate the workforce. Don’t jump back into a career that may be on the verge of dying when you can start a new and more successful path.

Brush Up on the Interview Process

After obtaining all the skills and knowledge needed to reenter the workforce, it may do you good to brush up on the interview process for whatever job you desire, or at least the general process as it has changed quite a bit. 

As the workforce and jobs within it change, so too does the process for applying and interviewing for those jobs. Technical interviews are more common than ever and many tech interviews require solving certain problems on the spot. With that in mind, consider learning new techniques for having a successful interview, such as the STAR interview method, that can help you stand out as a candidate and get more job offers.

Conclusion

Take solace in the fact that you are not alone in your situation. There are millions of people in your exact shoes. However, the question of what to do now will be answered differently by each person. Deciding to take action and adjust your skills and unique abilities for the future of work is one of the best choices you can make amidst these troubling times. There is no guarantee that everything will work out for the better, but taking action now to adapt yourself to the coming future can set you apart from any of the future competition.

The year 2020 marked the beginning of a new decade and it came with a load of challenges. The global workforce experienced a strong paradigm shift over the last decade but things are going to change even more between now and 2030. What will work be like in the next 10 years? Will your current skills remain useful? Keeping your skills up-to-date is essential to remaining relevant in your industry. Otherwise, you might be redundant in the next few years, assuming your industry still exists. 

The Evolution of Work: the Coal Boom 

During the industrial revolution, coal mining was a booming industry. As one of the primary sources of energy, coal quickly became one of the most sought-after natural resources of the 18th century. Today, the coal mining industry is gradually becoming obsolete. As people search for cleaner and more renewable forms of energy, coal mining is becoming history. Let's not forget to mention the social and political questions raised by coal mining. All those who worked in coal mining companies faced early retirement. 

The death of the coal mining industry goes to show how easy it is for thousands of people to suddenly lose their jobs. In the next 10 years, more factory workers will become redundant, and computers will do their jobs. Technological innovators intend to maximize the production process across industries by replacing human workers with machines as frequently as possible. So, software and hardware developers will be in high demand. 

Skills of the Future 

1. Social and Emotional Intelligence 

As hands-on skills become less relevant, social and emotional intelligence becomes more important. No matter how advanced technology becomes, computers will never have the kind of emotional and social intelligence that humans are privileged to enjoy. These two qualities are especially essential to sectors that have to do with face-to-face interaction with people. Healthcare-related jobs, for example, will always need a human touch. If your emotional and social intelligence is high, you'll have empathy when dealing with others. You will thrive in a collaborative working environment and your communication skills will be over the roof. 

2. Automation 

Automation has led to a lot of job displacement but it has also come with a lot of benefits. Have you ever wondered who creates these automatic machines and update their software from time to time? Humans are behind the creation of these machines no matter how smart they may appear. If you dive into the automation part of IT, your job will be to create and apply technologies that can carry out commands with little to no human intervention. Across industries, automation saves time, energy, and resources. It also eliminates human error while increasing efficiency and transparency. Let's not even talk about the speed that comes with automation. 

3. Mental Flexibility 

How fast does your mind work? How quickly can you adapt to changes around you and make the best of bad situations? Technology, particularly digital technology, has led to an overload of information which can be mentally overwhelming if you're not cognitively prepared to handle the stress. You need to be ready to come up with different complex ideas at the same time. The more you can multitask, the more valuable you will be to your organization. 

4. Pro-efficiency in Digital Skills 

Digital technology is the hallmark of today's workforce. The reliance on digital technology is scheduled to increase in the next ten years. So, updating your digital skills now will help you stay up-to-date in the future. SMAC (social, mobile analytics, and cloud) represents the key areas of digital technology with the most relevance today. Thanks to digital technologies, things that were once impossible can be done by a tech expert. It's not just enough to be a digital literate. You must brush up on the digital skills above as well as blockchain, digital advertising, and digital business analysis. 

Conclusion 

No one can see the future but it's easy to project what office spaces and business sectors will look like in the next few days. The digitization of work has already taken root and it's only a matter of time until it spreads across industries. The skills you acquire now should be related to technology or unique to humans. These are the skills that will stand the test of time, at least for the next 10 years.