This very edited story is from the Harvard Business Review. That’s posh for Republic Resume but it makes some good points. Don’t sit on your arse doing nothing. Talk to people about a career change.

During the current pandemic, many people are rethinking their careers. The pandemic has increased uncertainty and caught us unprepared. How do we balance the need to ensure basic survival — of our families and firms — with an urge to so something new.

It makes sense to pursue a diverse portfolio of options rather than just sticking single-mindedly to one. Career change is a messy journey of exploration about our ‘possible selves’. Possible selves are who we might want to become. Some are concrete and well-informed by experience; others are vague and fuzzy, nascent and untested. Some are realistic; others are pure fantasy. And, naturally, some appeal more to us than others.

Many people now are finding it easier than before to allocate time and resources to back-burner projects. People today are doing rewarding work and making surprising discoveries by engaging in crisis initiatives at their organisations or in community volunteer efforts. The point is to do new and different work with new and different people, because that process represents an opportunity to learn about yourself and the kinds of contexts and people that bring out the best in you.

Talk out loud in social exchanges with kindred spirits who respond, sympathise, commiserate, question, read your body language, and share their own experiences.

One of the reasons potential career changers benefit so much from attending courses is that their fellow students represent a ready-made community of kindred spirits to talk to. Just the simple act of creating and telling a story about what you want to do, or why you want a change, can clarify your thinking and propel you forward, by committing you publicly to making a change.

But even that is hard in the current context of self-isolation and social distancing. Still, with a bit of initiative and creativity, you can find ways to explain yourself out loud — by scheduling walks that respect social distance, by working with a career coach online, by creating a Zoom group that meets regularly to share plans.

In the end, when it comes to reinventing your career in this time of crisis, remember this important point: The time to get going is now — but don’t go it alone.

For the full article go to:

https://hbr.org/2020/04/reinventing-your-career-in-the-time-of-coronavirus