Career corner: Spring rebirth brings new job prospects

How relieved are you that spring is here? After months of winter paired up with snow storms, and a long global pandemic, seeing flowers and clear skies brings much hope for the future. It’s finally warm enough to spend time outside. With the vaccine rollout, we are beginning to look toward the future. And, the job market seems to agree.

In March, the US unemployment rate dropped to six percent. There were 916,000 new jobs created. This is the fastest we have seen jobs added since last summer. Job growth was across the board, with a larger increase in leisure, hospitality, public and private education, and construction. This is good news.

Many people have been putting all of their energy into holding onto their current jobs through the pandemic. And, it makes sense. It has been hard to know which way things would go or how long it would take to get back to normal life. It has been unclear what work will even look like in the future. Will we continue to be remote? Will we go back to the office full time? Or, will it be some combination of the two?

If you’re like many people, you haven’t had the energy to job search. Just getting through each day has been a larger task than we’d like to admit. We’re worried about an array of new problems. Kids are doing school from home. We’re working from home. We’re either completely alone or with our entire family. And, medical risks seem to be around every corner – whether from the pandemic to mental health. It takes more effort than usual to keep moving ahead in a positive direction.

But, spring brings a new energy and an opportunity to take a deep breath. Companies are actively seeking out new candidates for interviews (even when they haven’t applied to jobs). Companies are adding new jobs and for some jobs, it appears there may be fewer people looking than jobs available. Companies are working around the pandemic, interviewing candidates via Zoom and Skype. They are moving ahead with a look to our more normal future.

What does this all mean for you? If you’ve been wondering when to look, this may be the time to get started. If you do, you’ll increase the chances that you beat other candidates who haven’t yet started to think about looking.

Search for the latest job postings. When you apply, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, companies don’t require you to meet every criteria in a job description. They’re looking for the best candidate, not the perfect candidate. Second, if you have a desk job, consider looking outside your local area. Even if a job isn’t listed as remote, the company may be open to remote work.

If you’ve been waiting for the right time to consider something new, the spring may give you just what you need.

Angela Copeland, a career expert and founder of Copeland Coaching, can be reached at copelandcoaching.com.

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