Coronavirus. It’s a word you will have heard a lot recently. Whether it be on the news, in your office or pretty much anywhere else – everybody’s talking about it. And with good reason.

The current COVID-19 outbreak is serious. It’s causing huge disruption and is affecting people the world-around.

However, it won’t be here forever. And you will still need a career or, if you’re a business, employees on the other side of it. So, in this blog post, we’re offering our top tips for looking for work or recruiting during the coronavirus outbreak.

Disclaimer: Within this blog post, we will be mentioning recommended ways of minimising the risk of COVID-19 spreading. This in no way constitutes medical advice and should not be regarded as such.

Coronavirus Advice For Job Seekers

If you’re looking for a new role but aren’t sure what you should do amid the Coronavirus chaos, here are our top tips for you.

Continue Looking For Work

Coronavirus, although potentially quite alarming, is only temporary. And while you should take precautions to ensure you’re safe, you can’t put your life on hold. If you’re actively looking for work, continue to do that.

At this point, nobody knows how long COVID-19 will last, but one’s thing for sure, it won’t be around forever.

Be Prepared To Sit More Video Interviews

With many people self-isolating or socially distancing themselves, video interviews look set to play a big role in the way recruitment is done for the foreseeable future. Employers will be eager to use this technology as it will allow them to interview candidates without having to physically meet them. This means business can proceed in a safe, controlled way.

If you’ve never sat a video interview, it might be quite a daunting prospect. But, don’t panic. We have a blog post which gives our top tips for sitting a Skype (or any video) interview. Read it here.

Anticipate Disruption To Start Dates

If you sit an interview with an employer and get offered the job, things may not go exactly as planned in the weeks following your job offer. With the increasing likelihood that many businesses will begin to work remotely where possible, you may need to wait a bit longer than usual for your start date.

Alternatively, you may need to…

Be Prepared To Work From Home

In an effort to avoid unnecessary spreading of Coronavirus in the workplace, you may be required to work from home. If you’ve never had to do this before, it can be an unusual shift in your work life but is likely to be an effective tool in the attempt to contain COVID-19.

Coronavirus Advice For Hiring Managers

If you’re a hiring manager who’s in the process of filling a vacancy, you may be unsure on how to proceed. Here are our tips for recruiting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

(On a quick side note, if you’d like to learn more about our contact-free IT recruitment services, click here.)

Don’t Give Up On Recruitment

While it may feel like it’s not worth proceeding with your recruitment efforts – it is. In fact, it may be a brilliant opportunity to find some excellent candidates.

Why? Because many companies will be putting recruitment on hold, resulting in less competition for the best job seekers. It’s worth persevering and seeing who you can find – you may be surprised by the results.

Make Use Of Video Interviewing Software

As social distancing becomes more of a necessary step, interviewing candidates will become more difficult. That is, of course, without the help of video interviewing software.

Video interviewing can be a great way to see what a candidate is really like without the risk of meeting them in person. This may become an invaluable tool in later stages of the Coronavirus outbreak.

After all, once it has passed, you will still have a team to manage and a business to run. Being able to keep things moving is essential.

(Click here to view our top tips for conducting interviews via Skype)

Having A Screening Process Before Meeting Face To Face

If you speak to a candidate, perhaps via video interview, who seems promising, you may well want to meet them in person.

Although there is more risk in this, it doesn’t mean it can’t happen. However, having a screening process in place to understand if a candidate has been in a high-risk area, or in contact with anyone who has tested positive for Coronavirus is a measure that is well worth putting in place.

Onboard New Recruits Properly – Communication Is Key

Coronavirus will be undoubtedly create a period of great uncertainty for many companies. This is expected. However, if you do make a job offer to a candidate, it’s important to keep them in the loop.

While you might not be able to give them specifics, if you can at least inform them to the best of your ability on what’s happening, that will go a long way. This will maintain confidence on the candidate’s part, and help to ensure they aren’t won-over by a counter-offer during the confusion.

Summary

The most important thing is to ensure you’re safe. Follow all government and health authority-issued advice – your health is most important.

However, coronavirus is a passing issue, and it’s important to continue to live your life. Pursue new opportunities, find that star employee – just make sure you do it in a way that doesn’t needless expose you to potential infection.