Class of 2021 — Act Before It’s Too Late

Here’s what you need to do to succeed in the “New Normal”.

It would be no exaggeration to say that the lives of everyone alive today have been permanently affected by COVID-19. It has shaken the world to its core, and it has uprooted everything we took for granted in our lives. It is almost impossible to account for the huge amount of losses the world has incurred, both in human lives and the economy.

The future has never been more uncertain, and panic is rampant, with chaos in all corners of the world as our leaders are frantically trying to pull together the last vestiges of humanity and stop the domino effect that corona has begun in our society.

However, no matter how much we lament the past and wish that things were different, it is an irrevocable truth that we have to push forward, and make the right decisions that guide us towards the path of recovery.

The Calamity of the Batch of 2020

College is the stepping stone into adulthood for many people. However, for the class of 2020, that stepping stone led to absolute chaos instead of stability. They left college only to step foot into a broken world with high numbers of joblessness.

The current situation of the world has greatly reduced the value of a college degree, with businesses crashing left and right, and opportunities for new talent being scarce as companies are trying their best to survive the onslaught of the economic meltdown. Thus this batch of fresh graduates faces despair, as they are finding out that the thousands of dollars they spent on college will afford them little value in this new world order.

They were unprepared for a situation like this, thus it is no surprise that they are finding it extremely difficult to grapple with the new situation. Unlike them, the Class of 2021 still has the chance to morph themselves to the times and learn the skills necessary to adapt to the new circumstances.

1. Your Own Startup: Write Your Own Paycheck

In difficult times like these, the need for innovation is paramount, and there is no better example of innovation than startups. The pandemic has greatly changed the market; it has increased the demand for some goods and services while reducing the demand for others.

It has created a very open opportunity for people with all kinds of talents and skills to use innovation and critical thinking to implement new ideas that understand what kind of consumer needs that are not being met, and how to fulfill them. There are some key features to beginning your own startup in the crisis era.

There is little time for finesse, and you have to head into it aggressively and focus on surviving the falling economy as a camel does in the desert heat, and yet provide value to your consumers. If you manage to make yourself a name, you can then focus on expanding post-crisis. Here’s an article by Harvard Business Review that provides deeper insights into how a crisis-era startup would work.

2. Polishing Your Bartering Skills in the Digital Marketplace

Another viable option would be to engage in e-Commerce. Even when the world wasn’t falling apart e-Commerce was a growing sector of business. With traditional businesses and retailers shutting down because of the pandemic, the online business community is booming. The stats don’t lie; Overall, online stores earned almost 22 billion visits in June 2020, up from 16.07 billion global visits in January 2020.

It allows you to connect directly to your customers and market your product. Given the fact that most people have to turn to the online market to satisfy their needs, there has never been a better time to start your own online business. Forbes has shared some interesting statistics on how e-Commerce has been booming during the pandemic.

3. Freelancing: YOU Define The Terms

Even if you don’t have any great ideas that you can market, there is still room in the online marketplace for you. With offices shutting down and businesses not having enough money to have permanent employees, the focus of work is shifting to the online environment. Freelance job postings rose 41% to 605,000 from April to June 2020 compared to the same months in 2019.

Employers have a difficult time connecting with prospects through the traditional means, thus more and more are turning towards freelancing. If you have no experience of freelancing, it is a concept where companies and employers outsource their products to a wide market, allowing talented people with the required skills to work from home and complete them.

There is a demand for virtually any kind of skills that you might possess, from programming, data visualization, and game development to writing, translation, and music. The real art is marketing yourself, and understanding what the demands of your clients are and how you can better fulfill them.

Final Thoughts

Your senior year is a valuable time to go beyond your degree and develop skills that will give you a competitive edge and allow you to harness your skills and energy, since the best opportunities go to the people who are the most skilled, regardless of what degree they have.

The change that was coming into the world with college degrees mattering less and less has been further accelerated by the pandemic. Adjusting to it can be a terrifying experience; none the less as the class of 2021 you have the chance to adapt. Take the opportunity to learn from your predecessors so that you can find success in whatever career you choose to pursue.