What have you done during Lock-Down?
A colleague positioning himself to re-enter the job force navigated the ATS gating to the point of first interview where he was asked; What have you done during lock-down?
Surprised by the question he gave a playful answer. Sadly, the tone and brevity didn’t carry him through to a second interview.
What would your answer be? What should it be?
Total disclosure: I have done the following; ·
- Taught courses on-line for a contract training firm
- Began re-writing curriculum, and looked at developing new stuff that I could present to serve my own self interests.
- Got out my easel, paints and brushes, dusted off a blank canvas. I still haven’t put any paint to canvas. I’m going to have to do something soon; I’ve now been challenged by my grand daughter.
- Took an on-line course. Actually, it was two courses; one was basically a guided on-line presentation of the contents of a book page-by-page and the other wasn’t much better. Unfortunately I feel like I’ve had my pocket picked.· There are great on-line training delivery services out there. I took a risk and was disappointed. My advice is to read the reviews before signing up for a course.
- Assist my wife making protective masks for family and friends. (Yes, I can sew.) ·
- Done spring garden cleanup with my wife.
- Discovered more about my preferences and tolerance for alcohol.
- Took an active role in setting up the garden this year, including planting potatoes in pots, along with kale, a single cucumber plant and some heirloom tomatoes. And of course I presented my wife with the traditional Mothers’ Day gift of rose plants.
- Watched stuff on Netflix and Prime, read interesting stories, listened to a broad selection of music, danced and tried to sing. ·
- I’ve done more cooking than I normally do, but apparently still haven’t really found an equitable balance for household chores ·
- Let my inner news-junkie out; Watched news, kept up on developments in my target and professional niches ·
- Talked a lot with my wife about futureproofing
How do I sum it up?
How would I describe what I’ve done to an interested outsider?
What I did in lock-down:
I did the following;
- strengthened relationships,
- learned self discipline,
- explored my personal interests,
- tuned up my professional learnings and
- shared my expertise with others in a format that is interesting and shows huge potential.
And no, I haven’t blogged enough.
What have you done, and what are you doing? How would you answer the question if you were pressed by friends or by a potential employer?
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6 This link is to one of the pandemic heatmaps out there that are tracking the virus. I like this one a lot.