Corona Virus is causing a lot of stress. Just a month ago some seniors were very happy and had internships lined up. Those internships might result in job offers. They had finally done it!
Then comes this uninvited guest called Rona! Rona’s eating everyone’s lunch right now. Scientists are frantically trying to find a vaccine. People are staying at home. Company’s bottom-lines are getting affected. All of this is leading to very tough decisions affecting the livelihood of several people.
It sounds quite dreary, doesn’t it? But human beings are known to innovate, adapt, and confront any tough situation thrown at them. Here are the top 5 ideas to keep ourselves sane.
- You are not alone in this fight. Lots of people are getting affected.
You might say, “so what?” Bottom line is that, when everyone gets affected, solutions come faster. Lots of great minds are thinking about different ways to solve the problem. Lots of articles and ideas are being published on how to tackle issues.
Our mind gets fearful when we feel alone. It is time we throw that fear out of the door! And do not give it a mask either! Let the Rona consume the fear we have in mind. Everything counts. One less fear means one step towards a healthy mindset.
- Companies will need even more help than before.
Right now, no one knows when things will return to some normal routine and because of this companies are making decisions fast. As we all start getting used to working from home and the kinks are gone, some companies will still need the help they had originally planned for.
This means that we need to be ready for it. You need to keep in touch with the company and the HR group that gave you the internship. Keep them informed and maybe even offer to help. Let them know that you understand that these are difficult times and you can help them from home. If they do not want to onboard new interns right now for any reason, then ask them if you could help them offset some of the load informally like a project for your school. Ask them if they have any non-confidential datasets that need some quality control. Show the initiative and keep yourself in front of their minds.
- How to keep yourself in front of their minds?
Research the company which offered you an internship on LinkedIn and find others who interned with them the previous year. Send an email to them asking what tasks they worked on when they interned? Ask them if those kinds of projects might still be available and if they can be done from home. If the answer is yes, dig a bit more and see if you can get some non-confidential datasets to do that project pro bono.
If you cannot get any non-confidential datasets, then try and find publicly available datasets and perform your project and show results.
If you are not getting any response, then I would choose a project that I am passionate about, gather data, work on it and start blogging. Then use that story to show what you did to the folks who gave you the internship offer.
You can now also try to impress other companies which are still hiring with the above idea.
- Remember that you are good at what you do. Rona cannot defeat you. You are better than Rona
Mental health is important. Stay positive. Remember you have already kicked the fear out the door, and without a mask! Let that fear not enter the house again.
It is OK to slack off a bit. When our mind is super stressed, sometimes just a walk, or a show might take that edge off. Do not take a break to smoke or have a drink or some other vice that will take you in a direction you do not want to go.
Maybe arrange for a virtual visit and talk it out with some of your friends. Listen to some good music.
Open Netflix for crying out loud and watch something you enjoy. It is OK. Just don’t go binge watching every show forever! It will not help.
Maybe bake a cake! Maybe clean and tidy up your room. Research shows that some of these activities will help reduce stress.
- Keep working on your BRAND
Say your internship goes through. You will still need to work on your Brand. You will need to acquire new knowledge to keep growing. Maybe you will change career one day, maybe you want a promotionor start your company someday. You will need to keep working on who you are, what you enjoy doing, and what do you want to be known for.
This is a perfect time to self-reflect a bit. Understand the gaps. In some cases, you might have an internship but not the ideal one. So what? It’s something new you will learn. Maybe you will like it. It might take you in a different direction. As long as it makes you happy, that could be something you do.
I just want to conclude by saying, don’t let Rona kick your you know what. Do not let anyone kick your you know what. Be in control.
Stay in touch with us and review our videos to get more ideas.
Abhijeet Narvekar – Abhi has his Masters in Industrial Engineering & Management. He has 20 years of experience in Leadership roles and currently is the CEO of The FerVID Group and Co-Founder of CareerUnleashed
