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How has Covid-19 impacted your career?

#career-choice #career-counseling #career-path #college #planning

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Thank you comment icon Covid 19 has shown me we are able to work remotely with our most up-to-date technology and continue meetings and chats through web-ex and Microsoft Teams in order to do our jobs on a daily basis. I do miss the office environment as you aren't able to meet with your colleagues for lunch or meetings in a physical sense. Teresa Dersham
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Patryk’s Answer

Hey Paloma,

Thank you for this interesting question.

I work as an actuary in a big 4 accounting company.

Luckily, my company was well prepared for the changes associated with COVID-19. I was most directly impacted in the following ways:
- On days I was working, I used to walk to my office everyday. With social distancing, I now work from home.
- Although there was already a big push to invest in the technology to make remote working possible, COVID-19 accelerated the release date several internal technologies
- I work on a mixture of yearly "recurring" projects and "1-time" consulting advisory projects. With the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, I expect the consulting advisory projects to slow down (or greatly change in nature), at least until the uncertainty in the economy diminishes.
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Emily’s Answer

Hi there!

I am a technology recruiter and luckily my job allows me to work from home! I am very lucky to have the opportunity to keep working! So really, my job hasn't changed much, just my location has changed!
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Amy’s Answer

It has impacted it positively in many ways! From forcing us to use the technology we've taken for granted for many years to genuinely having empathy for others. And, we have reduced pollution exponentially.
Thank you comment icon Hi Amy, I completely agree with your answer and the positives you highlighted but the student specifically asked about how it has impacted your career. Any insights you can share on that would be greatly appreciated! Gurpreet Lally, Admin
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Gloria’s Answer

I am not sure if you posted this in an effort to determine what jobs are doing well during COVID, but that is how I am answering this question. I work as an instructional designer. I have seen this job title on lists for best work from home jobs in the world. I was trying to find an article, but all i found was one that referred to a web development and graphic design which are skills needed for my job. This has made it incredibly easy to work from home. I do not prefer to work from home, since it can make work-life balance almost impossible. My role was so virtual that I have worked from a laptop for over a decade, since I can work anywhere in the world and I have. I do miss the human connections. In a job like mine, it is important to see the human being doing their job in order to create the best possible training for their needs. The only work challenges were in the early days since the company network wasn't quite ready for so many people to shift to working from home. Otherwise, I think that personal challenges have impacted my work more than the technology. It can mentally impact your work to have what you do and how you do it change to dramatically. I know that sometimes I have to remember what day it is and it is lonely work. All of my challenges are nothing compared to the people who have lost their jobs. It is important that those of us who have so much take care of those who need help in these strange times. Good luck with your future career choices.

Gloria recommends the following next steps:

Check out remote job options at articles like this one: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/post_7777_b_5453439
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Brian’s Answer

I work construction. Haven’t missed a beat since this all started. Right now is a great opportunity to get into the construction field. A lot of friends of mine are out of work or furloughed and not bringing any income in.

Best of luck
Brian Foley
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Mike’s Answer

I work in financial planning which has been more important than ever for me to be talking with my clients to help them make sense of the current situation they are in and the impacts of covid-19 on the markets and economy as a whole. We see a lot of people make mistakes with their investing and planning because of let emotions make too much of the decisions so we try to help them make educated decisions and not just emotional ones.

With that being said, we have had to shift to working virtually and have all of our meetings over screen shares, face time and zoom. Luckily we are still able to cover the same things we would have if we were in person but it definitely takes a little bit of adjusting.
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Davida’s Answer

Thanks for your question. My day-to-day job as a Forensics Consultant has not been impacted at all because I have the ability to perform my job from anywhere in the world as long as I have a laptop and WIFI. The full impact of COVID-19 is yet to be seen and will take quite some time. Accounting is one of the safest career paths you can choose. You will most likely be able to always find job opportunities.
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Ginny’s Answer

The biggest impact has been working from home and the loss of in-person collaboration. We have utilized the technology and found new ways to virtually collaborate. This new way of working is helping our environment and reducing our real estate costs (long term).
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Syed’s Answer

Hi Paloma,

Great question! COVID-19 has fostered better collaboration through digital tools we were already using like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. We've also developed greater bonds as a team after going through changes in the way we operate in response to COVID-19. However, I think people in general across industries and across the U.S. are worried about the long term viability of the economy. We're not sure when we can go back to "normal."
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Emily’s Answer

I work in a chemical production lab and this has taken me out of the lab to working at home most of the time. I am sad and missing my lab!! There are three of us lab managers and so we rotate, a different one in the lab each week. So I work in the lab one week, then I work from home the next two weeks. Therefore whoever is in the lab for that week, that person is having to do the job of three people. While I am stuck working from home, I am always getting calls asking for sample results but I can't actually work on getting those results for them. I just have to do what I can from home until I can get back to the lab.

Hopefully this will all pass soon, but there is talk that this may be our new normal for some time to come. I do like getting to spend more time at home with my children and my pets, though. It is very fulfilling to be able to work remotely while my daughter sits next to me doing the same with her school work. AND the dog is also laying between us!!
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Sheila’s Answer

Hi Paloma:

I work as a Senior Technical Project Manager. My work is mainly virtual where I interact with people around the globe (different time zones) and meet with team members via Cisco Webex. My company provides us with very good tools that makes it easy for employees to work remotely (ie, laptop with video, VPN, individual conference bridge, etc).

Before COVID-19, in my current organization we have the ability to work remotely at least three (3) days a week. In some instances I could work from home more than 3 days. Due to COVID-19 we are working from home 100%. However, I do miss collaborating with my colleagues from time to time. But, I can do it via our internal text messaging system or just pick up the phone and call them directly. We have staff meetings once a week and other meetings as required. So basically, COVID-19 hasn't changed my way of working very much. I was already a remote worker.

Best of luck to you!

~ Sheila
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Katya’s Answer

hi Paloma,, what a great question you are asking. during COVID-19-I have been blessed to work for an amazing company .

One that supported their associates to the highest ability. My company allowed me to work from home. During my entire career which is over 17 years, I have never had an opportunity ever looked to work from home. My company supplied me with all the necessary devises, books, training, support from leadership-that I feel grateful to be part of such a company.

If you are asking on the personal side- it gave me time to think about what matters, what I have been doing wrong and how I want to continue living my life. Many eyes opening took place as I saw true colors of people both from personal and professional side.

Of course I have never spent so much time being at home with my family-doing home schooling, not able to go anywhere and I learned that just to take a walk to an empty street made me feel happy. So, of course living in NY- we tend to rush through our days and our weekends because everything has a deadline and so much has to be done and there is apparently never enough time to complete anything, so, I stopped and thought baking - what’s really matters to me and what is worth stressing over and what is not.

Of course- being at home , eating at home, working from home- I gained a little weight but that’s ok because where there is a will there is a way to get back into my comfortable shape.

COVID-19-definitely makes me still be cautious about the outside world, the public transportation,the gathering of people- I will continue to wear a mask and for the first time in my life I will be carrying a hand sanitizer as I never used it consbefore.

How about you?
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Angel’s Answer

Hi Paloma.

Without a doubt, everyone has some kind of story to tell about the impact that COVID-19 has had on them and their career. I work as a Paralegal in the corporate office of a company in the Phoenix area that manages various healthcare-related contracts pertaining to our U.S. Veterans. Because of the nature of our contracts, and other time-sensitive processes that require daily monitoring, several members of our legal team (myself included) have remained on-site as essential workers throughout the entire pandemic . It was really eerie at first to leave work on a Friday afternoon with all of our offices fully-staffed only to return the following Monday to a ghost town. So, for me, my routine remained mostly the same since I still drive into work everyday, except that there's a lot less traffic, which shaved almost an hour off of my daily commute time.

About a month ago, one of the departments was brought back on-site, only to have the majority of them sent back home last week since it appeared to be safer as team members were starting to test positive in that building. From what I understand, there has actually been an increase in productivity from the people working remotely so I'm not sure what the future of our office environment will look like a few months from now. It's possible that some positions will permanently remain a remote position. Time will tell.

In regard to my college courses, I was attending class at night but that immediately transitioned to online-only back in March and now we meet via Zoom, until further notice. I miss interacting with my classmates but I definitely have peace-of-mind with the Zoom format for now.

I am definitely thankful everyday that I have my health and a job to go to and look forward to seeing things turn around one day soon.

Stay safe everyone!
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Kayla’s Answer

Hi Paloma!

I am an Executive Assistant to a Vice President at a large company. Fortunately we were able to get everyone up and running to work from home very quickly, before our state was on a safe at home order. Many of the teams at our company have some sort of remote working option in their role, typically based on seniority or seating/spacing need, so it was an easy transition for the majority of our teams. Our company culture highly promotes collaboration which is why we prefer to have people in the office the majority of the time. This has been a challenge for me as I collaborate with many of our senior leaders, which is much easier to do in person than through email and instant messages.

I have made a few changes to accommodate working from home full time. I quickly bought a desk to set up in our spare bedroom so I would have a place to work. We have a few folding tables and chairs that I was working off of for a bit, but a solid desk works much better. I also had to purchase a printer which now doubles as my laptop stand. My husband works from home now as well. He is set up in the basement and I am on the main floor so we can both be on calls/video without interfering with one another. We try to take walks at lunchtime together so we get some physical activity throughout the day. I used to walk 1 mile between my parking at my office building each day, so this is something I am definitely lacking working from home. It is nice to be able to sleep 30 extra minutes and not have the commute, though!

The biggest change I believe for people working from home in general is navigating childcare. Many daycare centers have closed and schools are out for the rest of the school year, so parents are having to find alternatives. The daycare I use is still open, but it is located about 35 minutes away near my office so it doesn't make sense to drive there are back while I work from home. I am lucky enough to have my grandmother-in-law live about 10 minutes away so she can watch my toddler a few days a week. The rest of the time my daughter is with my husband and I at home "helping" us work. It is definitely a challenge, some days more than others, to get work done and attend to her needs.
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Karen’s Answer

Hello Paloma,

Although my company did allow for some work from home days prior to COVID-19, they required almost all employees to work from home full time back in March. Our company has learned that we are able to remain functional with minimal disruptions with everyone at home. So thankfully, COVID-19 has not effected my career. It will be interesting how the company moves us back into our offices once we can go back. They just build new buildings in three states and all buildings embraced the open space concept. Now, with social distancing, the open space concept will not work. So my current and future work environment is and will be different, but my career is the same.
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Kristina’s Answer

I work in Real Estate Asset Management. My office has an open workspace environment that does not have cubical walls, and seats are closer than 6 feet, which means that our space was more at risk.
My company had been proactive with contingency plans to enable working from home for situations like extreme weather events and technology outages, so leadership moved us very quickly into working from home.
It's sometimes hard not seeing my peers and managers in person to collaborate, lift morale, and continued development. We do meet online everyday, though, to help provide support and an information exchange.
I work a lot online and on the phone with agents across the country.
Other than that, the job itself has not really changed, just where I do it.
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Archived’s Answer

I work as a Speech-Language Pathologist in a Post-Acute Rehab facility. Think stroke patients, hip fractures, shoulder surgeries, fall patients who need rehab after hospitalization. Our company has let a large portion of their workforce go because they were afraid we would lose business. Many therapists I know have experienced loss in wages and hours with many losing jobs. I do think it will pick up in the coming future as many of the people undergoing COVID treatment will require rehab upon discharge from the hospital.
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Tammy’s Answer

I work in the hospitality and entertainment industry so many of us have been working from home. We have had lots of meetings via video calls. What has been a positive outcome, is that we are spending less time commuting to/from work while being able to be efficient & productive at home. Plus saving gas/toll money and contributing to a less polluted environment.

Some of us have had to juggle both their career and schooling of children. While it can be challenging at times, it is nice to be able to be close with your family and be there for their needs.

I think coming out of COVID 19, many businesses will realize how productive employees can be working from home. This could definitely contribute to company cost savings of not having to lease buildings, less people on the roads therefore not as much pollution and being more productive and efficient with time.

Only time will tell what ends up happening post COVID 19 but I think we will all have some great learnings!
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Steve’s Answer

I do tech work and many companies that already have a VPN and an ability to remotely connect to resources have empowered their employees to not only work remotely, but also start creating conversations about the ability to work remotely full-time. A big hesitation previously is productivity in the office versus at-home, meetings and where/how they would take place, information security, and building costs. If the building is needed, arguments can be made for using the space while paying for it and an argument against working from home has been underutilized building space. Now that the pandemic has forced many hands, there is little to no option than to do the work remotely if staying open is not allowed but remotely operating still is.

Some companies may not have fully assessed how they could continue their operations or what they could do to enable technology to help them work remotely or communicate that with their customers while others have figured a lot of that out.

For those with families, they are trying to navigate a health and financial crisis while working from home. Some childcare facilities have closed while others remain open. Children are at home and sometimes parents have to juggle providing care for their children between one another and being (un)available to do work.

Companies that have some form of a remote work or work-from-home policy would be ones to consider working for.
Thank you comment icon When a recruiter reached out about a position helping students and college with their software, I was very interested. Then, they suspended hiring, I went to look elsewhere to see how I could help students, and found CareerVillage. It's fun, and gives me something to pad a resume with. I didn't expect to be so interested in helping students, but I am! Morgan ☁ Lucas
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Catherine’s Answer

As part of a financial services firm, the whole company moved to remote working. Many of us worked remote on a part-time basis so it was easy to move to full-time remote. We use Web-ex meetings with a camera so are able to see others. Many of our customers are also remote working so, it is business "as usual" for the most part. Our customers have had to make some adjustments during this time but seem to be doing well.
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Julie’s Answer

As a Real Estate Appraiser my field has been hugely impacted by Covid-19. Appraisers are needed to value homes mainly for lending purposes. The standard process for completing and appraisal involves the appraiser visiting the property and doing and interior and exterior inspection. Given the Covid situation, it is becoming difficult for appraisers to complete inspections. Either the appraiser is worried for their safety or the homeowner is worried for their safety. There are different ways that this hurdle is being overcome. Some involve desktop appraisals without an inspection of the property.
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Michael’s Answer

Hi there. Great question. The Covid epidemic has not had a large impact on me personally at work. I was previously working from home three days a week. From a technological standpoint, my company was ready to have all workers work remote full time and the transition has been great so far.

Unfortunately, the Covid epidempic has had a significant impact on my customers. Managing a real estate portfolio across the country has always been challenging. I have taken a safety first approach; understanding each person, city and state are in unique circumstances. Everyone I deal with has been positive and working on solutions.
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Zuli’s Answer

Hi Paloma,

I am working from home a couple of months ago and feel that I have adjusted well.
Instead of commuting two hours, I am using those two hours to exercise, read a boor or sleep a bit longer.
I think it a matter or having a routine and making the most of it.

I am using more zoom, and having 0 meeting face to face!
Life is good!
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Simeon’s Answer

We've been able to do all of our work remotely at my company. A lot of my coworkers miss the comradery of the office, but I find it much easier to focus at home. Doing everything over group video chat has been an adjustment, but otherwise it's been fairly straightforward transitioning to a home office.
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Darin’s Answer

COVID has impacted a lot of people, from lost jobs to lost hours to furloughs. I work for Disneyland and of course they are closed so I was furloughed with a guarantee still having a job when they reopen. I still have access to my medical and all the health benefits that come with it, plus my managers are reaching out almost weekly to check in and see if I need anything.

It's also affected my schooling. All my classes were transitioned to online. And some classes were just flat out canceled because they couldn't transition online due to needing access to labs. Luckily that didn't happen to any of my classes but I feel bad for the students it did.

Stay safe everyone!
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