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Pretty much everything is different at the moment, but some things haven’t changed. If you’re reading this, you’re probably still looking for a job and you’re probably also wondering what has changed about the application process. Well, we hope to let you know exactly what might change over the next couple of weeks and months.
To a large extent, the way that you apply for an opportunity, such as a work placement, apprenticeship, graduate role or other role wouldn’t have changed. If you’re looking to apply for a role that doesn’t start for a few months, this is also unlikely to have changed. You can still find opportunities online and search by industry, role and distance on GetMyFirstJob.
You may find that there aren’t as many opportunities as you normally see when you’re looking for roles. As you know, for many businesses it can be tricky for them to keep their own staff, given the current situation. So, they have stopped recruiting for new apprentices. We haven’t found this in every industry, but for some it is the case at the moment. But we are very hopeful that as everything returns back to normal, we expect this to return to normal.
After you have applied for a job, you may be invited to an assessment centre. If you have already been contacted about attending an assessment centre, it is also likely that it has been cancelled. You should get in touch with the person who you arranged this with to discuss what is now happening.
We understand that most, if not all, assessment centres have been cancelled for the next few weeks, after the Government has chosen to enforce social distancing as a strategy for fighting against Covid-19. Some employers are choosing to do online interviews or activities as an alternative, whereas some are choosing to skip this step entirely and go straight to interview.
One thing that is very likely to change is the way that interviews are being carried out. Rather than being done face-to-face, many of them are now being done on the phone or using a video conferencing platform. Don’t worry about these interviews, these are essentially exactly the same as a normal interview, you just won’t be in an office doing it!
Click here for advice and tips for phone interviews.
Click here for advice and tips for video interviews.
It is definitely safe to say that people are still getting job offers despite what is currently going on at the moment. We are finding that some job offers are being postponed for a few weeks or months when someone can be trained up in an office. However, this is not always that case.
If your start date isn’t for a few more months, which is more commonly the case for graduate jobs or apprenticeships with bigger brands, at the moment it is unlikely that anything will have changed. However, if it gets closer to your start date and we are still practising social distancing as a society, you should get in touch with someone and ask them what you should do.
It is important if you feel uncomfortable during the application process that you tell the recruiter, training provider or employer. Especially if you’re asked to go into a situation where other people will be there and you are considered ‘vulnerable’.
Further reading around Covid-19 and early careers:
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