How Can Students Prepare for their Careers During Times of Crisis?

 

How Can Students
Prepare for their Careers During Times of Crisis?

Matthew Cook

Michael J. Bradley

                There is no doubt
that we are living during historic times. History books will write about the
COVID-19 pandemic and future generations will ask us what it was actually like
to live through it. Despite all that is going on in our world today, life does
not stop or pause. Students may not be in the classroom but that does not mean
that preparation for our future and our careers stops during this time. Quite
the contrary is true in fact. Now is a time, when we more often than not, find
ourselves bored at home, should be taking advantage of our free time. There is
a myriad of ways that students can use this time to continue preparing
themselves professionally and set themselves up for the career they want.

                Many people make
the mistake of believing that education and learning ends when someone leaves
the classroom or after they graduate. This could not be further from the truth.
Some of the most important things you ever learn in life are learned in
environments far removed from academia. The same can be said for situations
such as the one we face today. Schools and universities across the country are
closed or engaged in online courses. Some students might be asking themselves
what, if anything, they can do to help them to continue to prepare for their
careers despite the difficult circumstances they are faced with now. There are
a few things that students can do to help them get ahead in their career
preparation while stuck at home. The first things students need to do, is to
take some initiative, nothing in this life is handed to you and hard work is
unavoidable. Take this time to focus in on yourself and the career you want. Do
some thinking and deep reflection on what you truly want out of a career, then
look at yourself and be honest with yourself about where your preparations for
that are at this time and compare it to where you want to be. Evaluate your
professional skills and be candid with yourself in reflecting on your strengths
and weaknesses. You cannot work on yourself or better prepare yourself for a
rewarding and successful career without being honest with yourself about what
you need to work on.

                The next step is
to then use your resources to fix any professional inadequacies. We live in an
age where access to vast wealths of knowledge is unprecedented. Most students
have access to computers and many carries around one in their pockets every
day. There are endless resources online for students to access that could help
them learn more about the career they wish to have and inform them on how to
best prepare for a career in their field. Researching a job and learning as
much about it as possible is a great way to set a student up for success. There
are countless websites that offer classes on subjects related to a career that
traditional schooling might neglect. It is imperative that any student wishing
to make use of their ample free time during this pandemic take advantage of
their resources to prepare for their future career.

                Students these
days have endless resources at their finger tips to help them prepare for their
future careers in a time of crisis. No one knows what the future holds, all
anyone can do is prepare themselves as best they can and adapt as challenges
arise. Today we are facing enormous challenges that are forcing students, and everyone
in the world, to adapt. What students should be doing is looking at this time
as an opportunity to get ahead and work on themselves in an academic and
professional sense. The world might have slowed down but that does not mean
that preparation for the future has to do the same. The ability for students to
adapt to this and continue moving forward in their preparations will prepare
them well for an ever-changing job market and career field, as well as make
them valuable employees to any future employers. It may be difficult now, when
schools are not forcing students to do work as usual, but if students can
discipline themselves to learn more about their career field, reflect on their
strengths and weaknesses professionally, fix their weaknesses, and develop
themselves into the career candidate that they want to be, this time can become
productive. This time will show who really wants it and who is going through
the motions. 

Matthew Cook

Michael J. Bradley - @mikeisoutside (twitter, instagram, and linkedin)