Sounds like the opening line to All Along the Watchtower, right?
Never heard it? Listen here. It's a great song by a legendary musician! đđ
But on a more serious point, this is going to be a very common question asked by recruiters to candidates who are looking for work during or after lockdown.
So the question within this question is - how do you answer this?
Recruiters will be asking this question to find out how the candidate will respond if we go into another national or local lockdown. It's at this point that recruiters and employers will be looking at your attitude and response to adversity and paying attention to your answer even more so than responses about why your A-level grades were not exceptional or what activities you got up to pre-pandemic. They will want to know that you can be productive, a self-starter, and self-motivated should the country or locality go into another lockdown and you can't get into the office to shadow a supervisor or more senior colleague in person.
At this point, as with any other point in work and life, I believe it is important to be authentic! This is something that I want to encourage more and more simply because it is essential to life.
So here, it means being open and honest and reflective.
A lot of us will have never had to try and find work in as slow a jobs market as we have right now, or at least not since 2008-2012 during and after the "Great Recession", and even fewer of us have gone through a global viral pandemic that has hit the country this bad from an economic perspective.
Candidates who are able to show they have had a "can-do" attitude when answering this question, such as by trying new things, learning new skills, consolidating and building on what they have, will do very well.
This can include things like:
Learning about new subject areas (sites like InsideSherpa and OpenLearn have been great for this)
Learn a new practical skill or pick up an old one that you haven't used in a while
Pick up a new job or volunteering opportunity. There has been an increased need for workers in roles such as:
NHS Call and Catch Up for vulnerable people who are isolated,
NHS Contact Tracing
Supermarket roles such as keeping shelves stocked, cleaning roles, online grocery delivery drivers and warehouse staff
Delivery drivers for courier companies or online shopping companies like Amazon
Warehouse workers for online shopping companies like Amazon, ASOS etc
These show that a candidate is adaptable, proactive, and can use their initiative when faced with a problem ...... and believe me, this pandemic has been a serious problem!!
As lawyers, we are needed to be adaptable and proactive because no two days are ever going to be the same in our line of work, and we are expected to be entrepreneurial and bring in new work for ourselves and for our employer.
But what if you're constrained by what you're able to actually do because of lockdown?
Being entrepreneurial doesn't mean creating a business and selling loads of products. It can also mean finding new and creative ways to accomplish something that has already been done a certain way for a long time, essentially speeding up a process by taking a creative approach and making it even more efficient and cost-effective.
But there are plenty of things that you could be doing if you aren't physically able to leave the house, or if you are an unfortunate employment casualty of this pandemic.
Lately there have been so many of us, me included, doing things like blogging, podcasting, and creating other kinds of content. The number of legal-themed Instagram pages beggars belief! But this is a great example of pitching ourselves using our existing legal knowledge and using it to hold us accountable for new knowledge. I like seeing original content, though at the same time hearing the same message just in a different way can also be helpful. I always try and make my content personal, fresh and original. Granted it is difficult when it is based on fact, like my SQE posts, but there is always an opportunity to make it sound that bit more personal
Duolingo has been having a surge in traffic based on what I see in my peers wanting to start learning a new language.
It has been a number of years since I last used my Spanish language skills anywhere other than a Spanish restaurant in the UK! Whilst there is nothing to stop me from picking it up again, I have been taking some time to try and learn Italian - fr no other reason other than I've wanted to try and pick it up after really enjoying the Assassin's Creed games set in the Italian Rennaissance! Seriously, inspiration can come from anywhere! I wouldn't be surprised to hear some of my peers had decided to try and learn Dothraki!
Overwhelmingly now, we are moving online!
And what have we been using more than probably anything else work-related during lockdown? ....... that's right! Zoom!!
This app has been a lifeline for all of us, and law firms and law fairs are making much more use of it now. Video communication is a learned skill from a works perspective. Because we're not face-to-face for now, this is what we have in order to show our face at work. And its not just work either. This is the case for a lot of vacation scheme candidates, those attending law fairs, and even those working their Training Contracts.
Zoom calls have been the norm for these 5 months and will likely continue to be the norm for the foreseeable future, regardless of whether we are locked down or not. Remember the post I did on remote working potentially becoming enshrined in law soon? (click here) Whilst a full WFH setup might not be on the cards, there may very well be more openness to WFH now that employers have seen that it is perfectly possible for employees to not be in the office and still carry out their duties. This means learning good video call etiquette will become necessary.
Also, because we're all retreating online during this time, cyber-networking is much more important now. Whilst it has been great to connect with so many in the profession and the community, and see my connections more than triple as a result of putting myself out there for much more during this time, it won't replace face-to-face networking for one reason - body language!
It is said that 55% of communication is non-verbal and if this can't be seen well over a computer screen, you lose out on more than half of what is being said. I think, though, that if you are doing or creating something that you are passionate about and can talk for hours about, it is much easier to show off your non-verbal communication skills and in turn put across your personality even better!
For some of us, this whole experience has been scary!
This is a scary time for a lot of us. Me included. I got his hard by the news that I was being made redundant. And I'm not alone - thousands and thousands are in the same position and have been since the pandemic was declared.
It can be very hard not to take it personally too. Honestly for me when it happened, it felt like I had been hit like a truck. I was upset, I was angry, and it felt personal. Sure I struggled to settle there, but the feeling that I had been kicked out into the cold in the middle of a deadly pandemic because I struggled to settle there felt worse.
I feel like I've gone through the 5 stages of grief during these months:
DENIAL - I refused to believe that I had been made redundant instead of furloughed where at least I could receive some sort of support from my employer.
ANGER - I was angry that, despite an unsettled time, it came to a close in a snap with no real chance for closure.
FEAR - I have been afraid I'd be unemployed for a long time after hearing that the market for junior legal staff had been totally eviscerated. I would be calling recruiters every week to see what opportunities they had, but nowhere had any and in fact a lot of recruiters were being furloughed or made redundant. I was also experiencing panic attacks due to the feeling that my training and development has been stymied due to choices not my own, and that the longer I was unemployed the harder it would be to get back on track. I've cried a lot, I've felt despair and hopelessness, and I've felt powerless and clueless as to what my next move should be.
BARGAINING - So I took the decision to reframe my approach to jobseeking to put across that I can be a helpful pair of hands to any employer during this time who might be struggling with basic admin tasks.
ACCEPTANCE - whilst the world may be on hold for the time being, that shouldn't mean that we must be too. So this has been a time for me to explore a few projects that I've been wanting to do for a little while, get back into some hobbies that I let lapse, take time to look after myself and nourish my soul, and tread my own path regarding my training and development. It is unlikely that we'll get this time again so it makes sense to get the most out of it that I can.
It has also given me time to really think about what I want out of my legal career, where I see myself, and what kinds of work and tasks and activities I see myself doing. Furthermore, it is a time for exploration. The online short or introductory courses and experience programs have been highly beneficial in giving me an idea of the work involved in subject areas that I have no experience in so far, such as M&As or Strategy Consulting or Fintech, and in turn I have gained an idea of the kinds of work that are interesting to me and those that are not.
Perhaps one could argue that experiencing a very up and down journey can be a blessing when in an interview situation. Because that way, there are more opportunities for you to show growth and adaptation to a new and scary norm. If you've been able to steadily continue either with your job working from home or quickly adapt to the environment, that's fantastic. If you're still struggling, know that you're not alone and that there have been so many of us in the same boat just trying to figure out our next moves.
So how can we talk about this in an interview?
For me personally, if I was in an interview situation, this would be a great chance to leverage the fact that this situation has affected me mentally and emotionally and that I have been scared when trying to find the new normal.
But after the initial month or so where I accepted that this was going to go on for a while I used my time and energy to create something brilliant (my site and my content), continue with my development informally and on my own terms trying out different subject areas and tasks, put myself forward for numerous opportunities for growth with other organisations such as Legal Cheek, Bright Network, InterLaw Diversity Forum, and met dozens of inspirational people as mentors, teachers, and people who have taken value from the things that I have been doing too.
If we were to go into another lockdown such as this, I have a workspace where I can work from home so can continue to service clients, I have a stable internet connection so can participate in virtual meetings with colleagues or video calls with clients, the time saved on the commute can be invested back into me and my own self-care so that I can continue to perform at the highest level.
What I'm doing here is saying:
I'm authentically human and I acknowledge that must take care of myself so that I can take care of my clients and my employer
I'm recognising that the situation has been scary, and I can demonstrate how I am able to function and make the most of the situation we find ourselves in
I'm capable of adaptation
I'm capable of growth
I'm capable of managing my own development
I'm not afraid to try new things
I've enriched my network with people where we can give and receive value, knowledge and inspiration
If this were to happen again, I'm well equipped to continue to service clients should I still be working, or continue with my own development and projects should I be made redundant again
No matter the journey you've been on since March, you'll have a story to tell. Each story is unique to everyone so being able to be authentically you is key. During this time, all of us will have done something that has benefitted us either from a personal, health or career perspective. We'll be able to say that we've spent this time well. So when asked about what we did during lockdown, I've no doubt that each of us will be able to tell a great story.
Be safe and be well! :)
P
Credit: Cover image photo Matt Seymour on Unsplash
Comments