Our new normal is taking root now that the COVID-19 pandemic is long over. However, what remains is the readjustment of our personal, social, and professional interactions. We need to rebuild the relationships which may have languished during our time of isolation, and to forge new ones.
As a job hunter, you need to get past this awkward, re-acquainting stage, and transform these relationships to referrals and information-gathering resources.
During the pandemic, job hunters discovered new tools available to close the gaps between work associates, friends, social acquaintances, referrals, and recruiters. Communication apps such as Skype, Zoom, and FaceTime have become valuable supplements, professionally and socially. While they are great tools, they lack the undefinable element that makes in-person contact particularly important to human relations – that “je ne sais quoi” – a quality or essence that cannot be adequately described.
What has returned to our interpersonal and professional inventory of communication tools is the ingredient that provides the best communication available to us: in-person contact. This has returned to its rightful place in our toolbox.
Re-discovering our reliable cell phone?
One of the best tools in our communications toolbelt is one that has been around since 1876: the telephone. Throughout history, in its many shapes, sizes, and various evolutions, the telephone has been one of the best tools available to improve our communication. Using a mobile phone continues to keep us connected, whether we use it for professional or personal contact.
I encouraged the use of the mobile phone during the pandemic to ensure connections continued to be firmed and new ones established. Now, our mobile phones are an important tool in repairing lost contacts, and seeking out new ones.
The advantages associated with the telephone may seem obvious, but it continues to be the best way to break barriers because of its flexibility. You may be in your work office or in your kitchen making a second cup of coffee. You may be on a beach in Tahiti, and yet capable of conducting a serious or humorous conversation. You are not constrained by sitting in one position staring at a camera, nor watching similar deadpan shots of the other meeting participants.
The phone creates an opportunity like a conversation that you might have had during a break from a live meeting. Often, not-yet-fully-developed ideas, comments, or questions can take shape in sidebar conversations or during breaks.
Using the phone is not the same as an in-person connection, but is not as stifling as the Zoom, Skype, or FaceTime meeting, and it lends itself to a more natural response, especially during conference calls.
We have allowed texting to speak for us. It’s time to pick up the telephone and connect in real time.
Use your phone often and with a purpose, whether it’s for sharing or requesting information. The main purpose of supplementing virtual meetings is to connect the dots; to keep connections fresh and vital. Your actions prevent relationships from souring or becoming stale.
We are seldom without our mobile phones. It’s our home, our professional office, our social calendar, our project planner, our source of research, and our database of collected information. And it’s an obvious and invaluable tool when job-hunting.
See additional blogs for further discussion of work/home challenges and creating new contacts and referrals.
Ben