This is a summary of the content covered in the webinar workshop:
How to steer a young career through the upcoming crisis successfully
organized by the African Leadership University on May 6th, 2020. Please bookmark this page as it cannot be found via the menu or the search function.
Preamble: You cannot predict the future but you can prepare for it!
Here are a few general aspects that are important:
- Nothing can be taken for granted but tomorrow will come anyway. Be prepared.
- Don’t wait. Start dealing with the challenges right now.
- Focus on strategies that have proven themselves to be successful in mastering crises over centuries.
- Don’t guess. Always do enough research in the beginning and alongside your actions.
- Be aware of the dangers caused by “social proof”. Yes, it is possible that the 100 people around you are wrong.
1. Don’t worry too much about the coronavirus. A great global economic crisis was to come anyway.
Over the last 20 years and especially since the global financial crisis of 2007-08, many highly critical economic risks have accumulated across the globe. An analysis of those problems quickly unveils that a collapse was inevitable. The corona crisis is making it worse but it was mainly the trigger and not the actual cause. Here are a few comments on the present situation and tips for the way forward:
- The article “The ‘zombie’ problem” is just an example of the many, many warning signals and describes only one of the many reasons why we have been heading for serious trouble for years now.
- Gain knowledge of the macroeconomic fundamentals (such as the monetary system etc.) and geopolitical dynamics.
- Cui bono? Follow the money.
- Develop media competence.
2. High time to fix the open issues of the past.
People who are able to do things right have much better chances than others to overcome the difficulties of a crisis. Check, in which areas you may have room for improvement and work on it. Measure your score against what is known as best practice internationally. The following list isn’t necessarily complete but will hopefully function as a good starting point for you:
- Professionalism and communication skills
- Job applications
- Networking
- Efficiency and productivity
- Quality
- Innovation
3. Crises also offer many chances. Discover great new opportunities.
Here are a few questions that are supposed to help you with it:
- Can you identify (rising) problems you may be able to solve where a lack of money is no issue?
- Where have salaries or wages strongly risen lately so that the corresponding jobs have become more attractive?
- Which of your skills that could help may you have overlooked so far? For example, that could be skills that you have only applied to your hobby or a non-profit activity until now.
- Could now perhaps be the time to do what you have always wanted to do?
- What kind of research should you do to find even more answers to these questions?
- Have you paid enough attention to the fact that competitive export-oriented jobs and businesses will be among the most attractive ones?
- Have you evaluated the prospects like an investor?
- Who could you involve to do some creative brainstorming together? It’s also much more fun!
- Are there further questions similar to the ones above that you want to add to your personal list?
4. If success is delayed: Great things you can do that always work.
In case you are struggling with your personal situation for an extended period of time, here is what you can do to keep your spirits up:
- Check, if there isn’t something to do still in regard to one or the other aspect mentioned above.
- If you feel down because you can’t still see any light at the end of the tunnel yet, help others! It will immediately make you feel stronger.
- Use the time to improve existing skills.
- Use the time to learn something completely new that may help you later.
- See if you can find a job that you would truly love to do and where the only problem is that the business owner cannot pay you yet. Choose wisely but then go to work every day. If it does not turn into paid employment over time, you can at least name all the experience and achievements in your CV / résumé and avoid a gap for later.
Thank you very much for participating and please start with it now!