A lot of people are suddenly unemployed. Good people. Smart people. High performing people. People who are not used to this sort of thing. They may be putting on a brave face but you know that inside, they are worried as hell.
Here are some ways you can help without leaving your house.
- Reach out – send a note or better yet, call them. Sometimes, we don’t make that call because we are not sure what to say. Just start with “hello” and the rest will look after itself.
- Accept LinkedIn connection requests from people you may not know.
- Offer to connect/refer/introduce people to each other.
- Start a weekly coffee zoom chat and invite people to join in. It can be neighbours, former colleagues or a mix of everyone.
- When someone asks if you will look at their resume, say yes. And make it a priority.
- Send flowers or chocolate or wine or dinner. Lots of options here. What ever you think might boost their spirits.
- Make sure they have a library card. This may sound trivial but libraries have providing a ton of free digital resources for years and they amped up even more now. You can apply on line and take advantage of helpful stuff or just get books to help you escape for a few hours.
You’d want this kind of support if it were you, right? Put on your shoes of empathy and make that call. You will feel better for it.
Recruiter's Couch 