SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — At least 60,000 San Diegans have lost their jobs amid the Coronavirus outbreak, and the competition for new jobs is stiff.
San Diego employment recruiter Scott Faurot says this is a historic moment, with furloughs, reductions in workforce, and people being terminated altogether.
"Due to COVID-19, organizations are tightening their belt," Faurot says.
Faurot is in a unique position because for twenty years he has recruited for large corporations, including Google.
He says things have changed rapidly in this economy for the worse when it comes to finding a job. That's because there are now more people applying for jobs than there are jobs available. That's overwhelming what he says is already broken, because it's so easy to apply for jobs that qualified candidates are often not getting responses.
"You go through the usual steps of applying to a position, and then receiving some sort of a notification back from a talent acquisition or a recruiter is almost slim and none," Faurot says.
Faurot says, however, that there are ways to rise above the competition. He boils it down for four key points:
1) Create two resumes - one tailored to your field, and a generic that shows your soft skills that would transmit to other jobs - like project management.
2) Update your LinkedIn profile to show your skills and accomplishments.
3) Apply to as many jobs as you can, because it's largely a numbers game.
4) Network with everyone you know.
"This is not a time to be discouraged," Faurot says. "This is a time to buckle down and work a little bit harder."
Faurot added one way to find employers hiring immediately is to search for the terms "now" or "hiring now" on sites like LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Indeed and Craigslist.
