Relaunching Your Career in a Virtual World
Photo: Brittney Jean Photography
It’s been over two years since many of us have worked in an office full time. Even as people return to the office, many employers are offering a mix of in-person and remote schedules. It’s looking like the virtual working world is here to stay.
Recently, I joined the Philly Career Coach, Rita Friedman, for a training (virtual, of course) on Relaunching Your Career in a Virtual World hosted by the Junior League of Philadelphia. We got into networking, interviewing, and even what to wear for a Zoom interview. Here are a few of the most useful tips from the training:
How to Make a Change when you Feel Lost
Many people don’t think about making a career change until something goes wrong, or a job opportunity arises out of nowhere. Now is your opportunity to be intentional about your next step. Some ideas to start:
Set aside some time for reflection as you would schedule any other appointment. Try journaling on some big picture questions, like: What makes you happiest? What is most important to you? What do you want to be your legacy?
Visualize your ideal future. Give yourself permission to dream about your life one year from now. Check out this blog post for specific instructions.
Take an honest look at your current day reality. When are you most engaged at work, and when exactly do you feel disconnected or drained? It may help to keep track of what type of work energizes you and what work drains you throughout the day. (For a DIY template, check out this worksheet from the book Designing Your Life).
Ideally, completing the above first steps will shed light on the exact kind of change you’re looking for. Maybe it’s a complete change of occupation, or maybe there are tweaks that you can make to your current situation to feel happier and more fulfilled.
How to Prep for a Virtual Interview
Own your narrative. Instead of preparing answers to interview questions, prepare to tell your story: Who you are, why you’re there, and how you can solve their problems.
Start with crafting an answer to, “Tell me about yourself?” and “Why are you interested in this job?”
Good stories include specific details. Think about 4-5 of your proudest career stories and prepare to talk about them. Think about what the situation was, the problem, the solution to the problem, the action you took, and the result (remember, S.P.A.R.) No matter what question is asked, you’ll likely be able to refer to one of these stories.
What to wear: In addition to planning your own professional outfit from the top up, consider how the room behind you is dressed. Rita advises to avoid virtual and blurred backgrounds and when in doubt, find a plain white wall.
How to Network Without Feeling Awkward
Networking in a virtual world may not be as natural as meeting new people in the real world, but it can (and should) still be done. There are so many benefits of nurturing your network, from helping you figure out a company’s culture, to learning about new opportunities, to pivoting into a new career, and more.
Approach networking from a place of curiosity and genuine connection. Reach out to people you’re interested in meeting and set up brief (10-15 minute) virtual coffee chats. Ask questions about them - remember that most people love to talk about their career paths and help others. Never ask for a favor in an initial conversation.
Networking is about establishing a relationship and staying in touch over the long term. After you’ve spoken to a connection, Rita says to create a calendar reminder for about six weeks later to follow up on something that you talked about.
If you don’t feel like you have a big network, that’s OK. Start with the people you do know like friends, former coworkers, former managers, etc. Chances are that they know someone who knows someone, and so on.
A virtual world means that there are more opportunities than ever when it comes to relaunching your career. When you can identify the kind of change you’re looking for, own your story, and connect authentically with people in your network, there are no limits to what you can do.