Planning for plan B: how to approach new work and training opportunities
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THE pandemic has changed the way most of us work. As we adjust to the 'new normal', some of us are asking if the time has come to try something different. Is this the year we embark on our career plan B?
Many will have no choice in the matter. Covid-19 brought drastic changes to the jobs market, with successive lockdowns forcing some sectors to close entirely, putting thousands out of work. In the week beginning January 11 alone, almost 460,000 people were receiving the pandemic unemployment payment because the current restrictions make it impossible for them to work.
Even those lucky enough to still have secure employment are reconsidering their options, just for different reasons. Many worked from home in 2020, which gave them time to assess just how much satisfaction they gained from their employment.
Leisha McGrath, a Dublin-based work and organisational psychologist and coach, believes many have benefitted from this period of reflection.
“We have been so busy in the rat race — getting up, dropping the kids off at the creche, rushing to work and then home again — that we had no time to question our priorities,” she says.
“In 2020, we had time to ask ourselves what we really wanted from life."
Christine Tobin, a 40-year-old mother of two and former radio producer from Woodsgift in Kilkenny, certainly asked herself that question.
“Lockdown was a wake-up call for me,” she says. “I loved working in radio, but I realised I didn’t want to spend my time with my head stuck in social media and news anymore. The slower pace of life during the early lockdown showed me that’s what I wanted with my two small boys and husband.”
In October, she resigned from her job to set up her media consultancy and coaching business, Solas Media Solutions.
“It has changed my life for the better,” says Tobin. She's still up at 6.30am, but before the pandemic she was "rushing out the door" to get to work in the city and missed out on quality time with her children, who were in childcare all day.
According to business psychologist Dr Joe Mac Aree, how well we adapt to big life changes, such as the one Tobin made, depends on several factors.
“Human beings need time to make changes and to see the benefit of those changes,” he says. “What makes the biggest difference is whether that change is self-directed or whether it is forced upon us.”
In more stable times, the push factors that galvanise people to reconsider their careers are few and far between and tend to be seismic life events such as bereavement, divorce, and redundancy.
“The pandemic was a push factor for many,” says Mac Aree. “For a lot of people, their whole perspective on what was important shifted and they decided to change jobs as a result.”
It is often more difficult for those who lose their jobs. “If you are forced to consider a plan B, it creates uncertainty and anxiety in what is already a challenging time,” says Mac Aree.
“You will have to build your resilience and try to balance your anxiety by drawing on your supports, whether those are government supports such as retraining opportunities, financial support from partners, or psychological support from family and friends.”
Although Tobin left her job by choice, she too needed those supports.
“The fall in income was one of the scary parts of starting my own business and we have had to tighten our financial reins,” she says. “But I have a husband who has encouraged me throughout the process and I sought out support from Business Network Ireland and my local enterprise office and chamber of commerce.”
Her reduced income has been compensated for by the increased quality of life.
“I get to spend lots of time with my family while still doing work I love,” says Tobin.
Tobin is not the only person to have changed career during the pandemic. Maureen Hayes, director of Hayes Recruitment, has seen huge movement in the jobs market.
“There was a pause in recruitment during the first lockdown, but this was followed by a K-shaped recovery,” she says.
“This means that some sectors saw significant job losses while others expanded. The sectors that declined were face-to-face businesses such as tourism, entertainment, leisure, and retail; while finance, IT, and life sciences thrived. With the world in flux, organisations are changing quickly and they need talented people to help them grow through these challenges.”
Jayann Walsh of Osborne Recruitment in Cork witnessed this too. “The building trade, home improvements, and companies with a strong online presence grew during the pandemic,” she says. “So did the IT sector, logistics and distribution, industrial cleaning, and healthcare.”
The pandemic also affected job seekers’ priorities. “We are now dealing with candidates whose main priorities are job security and satisfaction and a sense of purpose in their roles,” says Walsh.
“These are people who may have been considering changing jobs for a while, but the pandemic has forced them to take a longer, harder look at their careers and what makes them fulfilled and happy.”
This search for meaning in work may have been escalated by the pandemic, but it is not new.
Helen Tupper is CEO of the British-based career-development company Amazing If. The co-author of with business partner Sarah Ellis, she believes that seeking rewarding work has been driven by advances in technology.
“Technology now means we can work anywhere and anytime, making work increasingly present in our day-to-day lives,” she says.
Studies back up her theory. In 2018, research carried out by in America found that nine out of 10 employees were prepared to earn less for more meaningful work. They were ready to lose up to 23% of future lifetime earnings if they were guaranteed a job that always gave them a sense of purpose.
This change in the way we see work led Tupper and Ellis to coin the term ‘squiggly career’.
“These are careers that are full of uncertainty and opportunity,” says Tupper. “They focus on what success means to us individually and, rather than getting to the top of the ladder, they are about progression in its broadest sense.”
Killian Devlin, a 42-year-old living in Dublin, has had such a career. Rather than following a linear path, he has changed direction several times in his life. He joined the army after school and, after that, studied conflict resolution and worked in the private sector.
By 2020, he had changed direction yet again and was working as an IT escalation manager.
“I had great colleagues and was grateful to have a job during lockdown, but the excitement of previous jobs was lacking,” says Devlin. “I didn’t see myself progressing there.”
He had also started to re-assess his priorities after the death of his mother in 2019.
“I was just getting back on my feet when Covid-19 hit and it made me realise I had to look at myself and make changes rather than looking back with regret,” he says.
With his mother’s anniversary approaching in September, he decided to do an emergency medical technician course in her memory and now works full time in public health.
Like Tobin, he has taken a pay cut. “I love what I do and get massive job satisfaction from helping people multiple times a day,” he says. “A €350,000 house won’t fit in your grave, so you have to weigh up the consequences of the cost of material things or job satisfaction to your overall happiness.”
For Devlin, Tobin and many others, the upside to a challenging 2020 was the push it gave them to make a positive change to their working lives.
“The pandemic gave us the opportunity to get to know ourselves better and some of us realised we had the power to change things, to take steps to design the life we want to lead, and to make work fit into our wider lives,” says McGrath.
There are obvious downsides to changing jobs during a pandemic.
“There is a lot of competition and we have seen an increase in applications,” says Walsh. “You have to make sure your skills are relevant and that your CV and experience stand out from the crowd.”
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we can take nothing for granted.
“It has shattered our illusion of control,” says McGrath. “We never know what is around the corner. We have absolutely no control over it, only over how we respond to it. That may be when we need our plan B.”
Would you like 2021 to be the year you take the plunge and move your career in a new direction? We ask the experts for tips on how to make your dream a reality.
1. If circumstances such as redundancy have forced you into this situation, take time to regroup. “Losing your job can be a real blow, challenging your confidence when you need it most,” says author and Helen Tupper. “Start rebuilding by reflecting on your strengths and recognising your successes. How did you make a difference in your last job? How could that be of value to another employer?”
2. Give yourself options. “Don’t limit yourself to jobs in the same sector you worked in previously or jobs with the same title,” says Tupper. “Think more broadly about how your strengths could be transferrable and create new opportunities to explore.”
3. Take time to consider your circumstances, starting with finance. “Do you have savings or the financial support of a partner,” asks business psychologist Dr Joe MacAree. “These make a huge difference to the risks you are able to take.”
4. Consider the supports available to you. “What connections do you have,” asks MacAree. “Who do you know that might be able to help you get a job? What state supports are available? What about training and upskilling opportunities?”
5. Map what you want to do and how you want to do it. Be as detailed as possible, especially if you intend to become self-employed. “Self-employment is a step into the unknown so try to make it as known as possible,” says Mac Aree. “Talk to an accountant about things such as whether it is better to be a sole trader or a limited company and what financial or other supports might be available in the sector.”
6. Take practical steps such as drawing up a budget and a business plan and renegotiating mortgage repayments.
7. Be realistic about your time frame for success. “In a time of high unemployment, accept that it will take you longer to find something,” says Mac Aree.
8. Look after your mental health while you do so. “Psychologically, it is important to take steps to keep your morale up,” says Mac Aree.
9. You can still work towards your dream job while maintaining your current one. “These are uncertain economic times and not everyone is in a position where they can give up secure work,” says work and organisational psychologist Leisha McGrath. “You can invest in your dream by taking baby steps towards a better, more meaningful way to live.”
10. Any action, however small, is better than no action at all. “It will move you in the right direction,” says Christine Tobin, who recently set up her own media consultancy business. “One foot in front of the other until you get to where you want to be.”
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