Having to stay indoors does not mean you job hunt is over or you can’t get you career started and ready for when lockdown is over. Staying at home can be the perfect opportunity to get all the skills you need to boost your job prospects, spruce up your CV and improve your confidence when applying for jobs no matter where you are in your career. It can seem quite difficult get the right response from your job applications at home especially in the current situation. However, it’s definitely possible! Here are a few easy ways to boost your job prospects at home.

Expand your skills

Have you ever wanted to become an expert in a particular software and haven’t had the time? Now’s your chance, depending on the area of work or type of practice you want to get into; there are so many resources online to build your skills on relevant software. This can be becoming a whiz at Excel and learning formulas to organise your accountancy work or even learning a new type of software entirely to show that you are able to adapt to online and digital products. You can even use this downtime to develop personal skills such as learning a new language, on apps such as Duolingo, or taking up a hobby which is always great to add to your CV and build on your personal passions.

Perfect your CV & cover letter

If you haven’t been having much luck on your job search then maybe consider updating your CV design and how you structure your cover letters. Do some research into the how a CV should look like and try and spend some time cutting it down to ensure your CV is one page long. You can also create different versions of your CV if you are looking to apply for various types of roles in finance. For each version, make sure to highlight the relevant skills you have that will appeal to the job role you are applying to.

Research

If you’ve ever been in a position where you want to apply for jobs well but you don’t have enough time to really delve into proper research? Well, now you have all the time in the world to do so. Use this opportunity to plan out your career properly and look into where your skills lie.

Research the job roles you think you are interested in and find out exactly what you need to succeed in them. If you don’t have the necessary skills, then you can build on them or look for other roles in that industry that would be better suited for you. Also, make sure to look into the types of companies out there in accountancy and the type of business you would want to work for. Look at their latest events, what they offer and see if your personal goals align with your chosen company. Do you want to work for a large firm or a smaller sized firm? This is a great opportunity to make sure you are applying for the right jobs for your skills and will boost your prospects massively.

Network

Just because you are indoors, does not mean you can’t network. Once you have done the relevant research and chosen the type of area you want to work in, you can then build your business network online to make sure your work is in front of the right people when starting your career. Now’s the time to clean up any social media profiles you have online, and use them to comment, like and reach out to potential employers to learn more about the industry. LinkedIn is perfect social media platform to use, so if you don’t have an account, build one and get started with your networking.

Start a blog

An important part of starting your career is understanding the field you want to pursue your career in on a wider perspective. Having commercial awareness not only shows that you are interested in your industry but also shows that you are aware of the current news and events which can help when working with different types of businesses in accounting. Starting a blog is a great way to showcase this; pick a particular topic or niche of interest for example, the British finance sector and maybe analyse or comment on current events that might appeal to you. This is a great way to build you commercial awareness by doing the research for your blog posts but also the perfect opportunity to build on your writing skills which will definitely be useful in any career path.

Practice run

Now you’ve built on your skills and updated your CV, it’s time to put it to the test. While you have some time on your hands, try to get in touch with colleagues or someone who can give you good feedback and have mock interview sessions to build on your confidence and to learn how to showcase and apply the transferable skills you have learnt in this time to your chosen job role. This isn’t a real interview so you don’t have nothing to lose and it can be a great way to catch up with people and get you interview ready!