Tag: coronavirus

How to find a job during the pandemic?

Not only has the coronavirus pandemic had a big influence on the world economy, but it has also had a significant impact on your employment search. It has wreaked havoc on the stock market and harmed a variety of businesses. If you have a present employment, you are most likely working from home.

Small businesses have been forced to close temporarily, while large corporations have been impacted by the stress of losing customers and a disrupted supply chain. According to NBC News, there are estimates that the jobless rate in the United States will hit 20%.

Layoffs, furloughs, reduced hours and overtime pay, and hiring freezes have all been used by certain companies in response to the health crisis. Other businesses are actively hiring and publishing new job openings on a daily basis.

There’s a lot of uncertainty right now about what the national and global impact on hiring will be, but there are ways to stay positive and proactive about your job search at this turbulent time.

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Engage your network

People recognise that this is a terrible time and want to assist in any way they can. Let your friends and relatives know you’re looking for work and tell them what kinds of employment you’re looking for and which companies you’re targeting so they can keep an eye out for openings. If they hear anything, they’ll let you know. 

Even if human resources isn’t through sorting through the applications that come in through the ATS, those email intros, or having individuals in your network send your resume and cover letter on your behalf, can boost your application to the top of the pile.

If you find openings at a company where you previously worked, don’t be afraid to contact former coworkers and superiors. Because they know your skills and work ethic, they are more inclined to hire you than the competition. Even if they aren’t hiring, they can serve as references for other applications you are submitting.

Because they work in the sector, they may be aware of other opportunities through their own network and can refer you.

Practice phone and video job interviews

Because so many people now work remotely, job interviews are now conducted over the phone or by video rather than in person. A phone interview can be more difficult because it is more difficult to understand someone’s reaction and establish a dialogue that flows organically.

It can be more difficult to do a video interview because being on camera can be uncomfortable.

Take on a temp or freelance gig

If you don’t have a job right now, look for temp and freelance employment to help pay the bills. When you impress your coworkers, it could lead to a full-time employment. Working for a temp agency is also a good way to pick up some in-demand skills.

Employers are searching for employees who are self-disciplined enough to work from home and have outstanding writing skills, so if you’re currently working from home, keep that in mind.

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Show off your transferrable skills

Because there is so much competition for jobs right now, it’s critical to step up your game. First, look for positions that have been posted recently, as this indicates that the organisation is looking to fill a current position. If a job posting has been up for several weeks, it may no longer be a top priority for the organisation.

When perusing job listings, remain confident in yourself and realise that you can still acquire a job.

Customize your application for each job

Spend more work on each cover letter and resume so that your resume and cover letter are noticed. Modifying them for each job application takes extra effort, but it is important. When you apply for a job online, your resume is typically entered into an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), which analyses your resume to see if you meet the job posting’s requirements. 

Don’t replicate everything word for word, but make sure your resume and cover letter include the bulk of the most significant parts of the job. According to Monster data, nearly 75% of applications that go through an ATS are rejected because they don’t fulfil the hiring manager’s standards, such as the correct abilities, education level, or job titles, so it’s critical to get your resume in the door.

Stay up to date

Read about the companies and the world of market. Make this a habit to stay up to date without any obstacle. This will help you to be spontaneous and aware.

References

http://www.monster.com

Fighting Corona with Humanity.

I still remember reading our history textbooks and pondering over the fact that how the people in those times had faced the draconian affects of epidemics. Having no vaccine or any scientific knowledge, made them quite helpless. Today in the 21st century, with all the technology in the world, when we are faced with yet another epidemic, it has become a little difficult for us to cope up with it too , but for all different reasons. I , for instance never expected rather never believed that history would repeat it’s one of the worst realities again.
“Just because things are the way they are , they’ll not remain the way they are.”
 – Bertolt Brecht
UN chief advisers have termed COVID19 as the worst thing to happen since World War II.


Corona virus or to be more specific COVID19 originated in Wuhan , a city in China. And before even the rest of the world could understand what was happening, the unwanted guest was already at their doors. Past these months, thousands of people have succumbed to it, and lakhs lay in the hope to recover. The situation in US had completely shattered the dogma that a superpower can conquer it all. And the eeriness in the’ Bel Pease’ (beautiful country) , Italy, has put the world in a shock. The world is suffering in all possible ways. But few positive outcomes of all this tragedy is the audible sound of birds chirping, the visible blue sky (which was not so visible, and not so blue before), the damaged ozone layer healing itself, and obviously the Earth finally getting a chance to breathe again. Sometimes I wonder how karma pays back and how maybe this situation is what we humans sort of had it coming.
The soldiers in this war, the doctors, police , cleaners and all those people who have been working these past months non stop have shown us that how humanity is the priority.

Novavax and J&J join the Covid-19 vaccine push | Evaluate

After many lives lost in the ongoing 2nd wave and the country preparing itself for the 3rd wave, we should all remember that to get vaccinated , wearing masks and following the social distancing guidelines is surely the key.

How can other people help in fighting the corona war you ask ?
Be Kind. This is a difficult time. Not a time to play the blame game but to play SAFE. Couple of days back I read that a girl from northeast was spat on by a person and called out as CORONA. This is so derogatory and discriminating. This difficult time is not only testing your patience but also testing to what level can you maintain your humane level.
A little help to the helpless please. Do whatever it is in your hands to help the needy. Donate food , money so that they can also get a fair chance at staying alive.
Who let the dogs out?! Well technically the lockdown has left them all alone. So please do take care of the animals out on the street. Don’t lock them out of your hearts.
Meditate the stress away I understand how this lockdown can be so stressful, so in order to keep calm , keep meditating.
Laugh it all out Stay happy and also try to keep your friends cheerful by calling them up. There might be plenty of your loved ones in different parts of the World, who must be waiting for a shoulder to lean on, so go ahead and give them a virtual shoulder to lean on to.
Being Munna bhai MBBS?! I agree that jaadu ki jhappi is all we need, but social distancing ,you know. Also don’t spread rumours and let the real doctors do the real work.
People all over the world are helping the needy with all their heart. Plenty of NGOs , business men, members of film fraternity, and many more have come forward to fight this war the humane way. Love,compassion, awareness and a sprinkle of humanity can help us to get through this war.


John F Kennedy rightly said ,
Ask not what your country can do for you , but what you can do for your country, and right now all you can do ,is Stay Inside.

Why is vaccination important?

COVID-19’s catastrophic second wave left India crippled. Shortage of oxygen, hospitals on the brink, unbridled Covid deaths, rampant Covid cases, people in agony pretty much sums up the second wave.

The virus evolves as it spreads. India is coping with the UK version, South African variant, Double mutant, Kappa variant, and Delta variant- to name a few.

When will COVID-19 come to an end?

Some of the viruses responsible for previous pandemics, such as the H1N1 swine flu virus, continue to spread today, so does H3N2.

And, the bitter truth is, this may also be the case with COVID-19. COVID-19 is far more difficult to eradicate since it may spread from animals to humans and from humans to humans.

“The virus sticks around, but once people develop some immunity to it — either through natural infection or vaccination — they won’t come down with severe symptoms. The virus would become a foe first encountered in early childhood, when it typically causes mild infection or none at all,” quoted Jennie Lavine, an infectious-disease researcher at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Eradication, on the other hand, isn’t the sole option. We’ve previously controlled and confined Ebola, hepatitis B, measles, and SARS, all of which were similar to the current COVID-19.

“The end of the pandemic is not the end of this virus — it’s the end of an unsustainable impact on health systems,” ANDREW J POLLARD, FRCPCH PhD FMedSci, is Professor of Pediatric Infection and Immunity at the University of Oxford said. “If we can convert it into something more innocuous, then we’ll have the end of the pandemic in sight.”

COVID-19 can also be contained and controlled with vaccination. Covishield has a 90% efficacy rate, while Covaxin has an 81 percent efficacy rate. Russia’s Sputnik V has a 91.6 percent efficacy rate. It’s time to get vaccinated for your own and your family’s protection, as vaccination is the only way out of this pandemic.

Post-vaccination symptoms & why they are good?

After taking the vaccination, one may experience some side effects like pain at the injection site, joint pain, redness, headache, chills, swelling at the injection site, fever, nausea, or fatigue.

But it’s perfectly normal and, in fact, beneficial. Side effects are the immune system’s response to the vaccine & a sign that the vaccine is working.

“The good news on our part is that a brisk response equals an effective response,” Dr. Mark Loafman, chair of family and community medicine for Cook County Health in Illinois, told NBC 5. “It tells us that the vaccine is working. Our body’s forming a robust immune response and we feel that that’s a positive thing. So, we tend to see the vaccines that have a higher efficacy rate also have more of the so-called side effects or the symptoms because they work so well.”

Vaccines are designed to give you immunity without the dangers of getting the disease. Common and mild or moderate side effects are a good thing: they show us that the vaccine is working. Experiencing no side effects doesn’t mean the vaccine is ineffective. It means everybody responds differently. 

Happy Doctor’s Day

A heart felt gratitude to all the super heroes around!

What exactly is National Doctor’s Day?

Doctor’s day is celebrated around the nation on 1st July every year marking the birth and death anniversary of a renowned physician and former chief minister of West Bengal, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy. Doctors, the real life heroes are not just to be remembered on this day. We should be conscious of their job throughout. Doctor’s day is just meant to celebrate their contribution to each of our lives.

Who doesn’t fear for their life? – The Doctors

Doctors? Are they not angels sent from heaven to protect God’s creation from all the fatal diseases and accidents? They dedicate their lives to serve people, save life. Truly no less than a super hero. They compromise with their own health but makes sure that every patient they treat return to their families all fit and fine. The doctors, don’t they have a family waiting for them back home? They do, right? Doctors at work are also a son/daughter, husband/wife, father/mother. They too have people waiting for them to have dinner together. How strong would they have to be when they know he/she might be fighting for someone’s life forgetting about their own. Are they not equal to the other batch of heroes fighting for our country at the borders? They are indeed.

This pandemic which started last year has yet not been over. The death toll is soon going to hit 4 lakhs in India. Not just a number, they are people whom we lost. Among which around 800 doctors lost their lives in just the second wave of covid. They too had a family which got shattered at their deaths. This pandemic would have destroyed the world completely if they cared about their own life and sat home in fear. Life inside a PPE kit is not at all easy. People can’t even wear masks properly. Have you all even thought of being inside a PPE kit for hours serving people whom you don’t even know? That’s humanity! At such crucial time, when common people need strict rules and fines to stay home and wear masks to protect themselves, there are people inside the PPE kits in such humid climate, fighting to save lives of those careless people.

Doctors are humans too. They’ve been seeing such devastated condition of the nation for more than a year now. So many people dying, their families crying. It’s a humane instinct to cry along seeing others cry. They are helpless, can’t even put their arms around to hug and console them. How heartbreaking would each day be for them at the hospital. They try their best to make them live a little longer. Still, when they’re gone it seems to them as a failure. They failed to make them live. Is it so easy to live with a feeling of failure everyday a thousand times for more than a year now? One needs to be strong to see people lose their life in front of them.

Above all, they are constantly being criticised by several of them for not doing their jobs and killing their patients purposely. Are these false allegations so easily bearable? Have you ever wondered what if all the doctors around the world go on strikes in this situation? You’ll beg for them to return. That’s the position they hold among us.

On the occasion of National Doctor’s Day, I would like to thank all the doctors and physicians for their care and support not just during this pandemic but for all the crucial times when we needed them. They are no less a hero to this world. I wish they pay no heed to the critiques. They are doing a wonderful job serving us and I trust our doctors, they’ll bring everything back to normalcy soon. This world has become a better and healthier place to live in with doctors bringing the joy of health and goodness to our lives. Happy Doctor’s Day.

The nation can’t thank you enough!
Stay strong, Stay safe! Jai Hind!

Women’s Financial Security Post COVID-19

The daunting number of jobs lost by women during the coronavirus pandemic is only the beginning of the story.Yes, it’s widely recognized that women have taken the brunt of the nation’s total job losses — they’re still down 5.3 million vs. 4.6 million for men even with the economy having rebounded somewhat off its COVID-19 lows — largely because working remotely isn’t possible in the hard-hit businesses like restaurants, hotels and retail stores where females dominate. And, yes, it’s also recognized that many moms were forced to drop out to look after their kids after schools went remote — with nearly four out of 10 currently working women still actively considering doing likewise, according to a recent survey by Fidelity Investments.But what’s not talked about as much is this: the potential long-term consequences of having had their financial security and career prospects upended by the pandemic.”Being in a position to take a career break by choice can be considered a privilege,” said Lorna Kapusta, head of women investors at Fidelity. “But we know for many in times of crisis like this one that stepping back from work is more like a necessity. Either way, it’s critically important to understand the decision’s impact on your savings today and into the future, so you can take steps to address it.”Fidelity conducted an analysis of the estimated effect even a one-year career break could have on retirement savings, and the results are staggering.Exhibit No. 1: Say you took your “break” at age 35 when you’d been earning $50,000 a year and had to subsequently accept a slightly lower salary just to get back into the workforce. Assuming a conservative 4.5 percent annual growth rate and factoring in lost retirement contributions — including a 3 percent match from your ex-employer on top of what would have been your own 9 percent contribution — your 401(k) would be $106,469 lighter ($733,325 vs. $839,594) by the time you turned 67.Exhibit No. 2: Substitute a $75,000 salary and the difference is even bigger ($159,702, or $1,099,679 vs. $1,259,381).Exhibit No. 3: And bigger still at $100,000 ($212,936, or $1,466,233 vs. $1,679,169).Plus, don’t forget there’s also the matter of lost Social Security contributions. “Your benefit is calculated based on your top 35 years of earnings,” said Kapusta. “So if you work fewer years, have a lower salary, or don’t reach the minimum eligibility, you may have a smaller check when it comes time to collect in retirement.” All of which helps explain the impetus for launching Fidelity’s weekly Q&A discussion series called “Women Talk Money.” Airing live on Zoom every Wednesday at noon ET and available later on demand, each 30-minute interactive episode uses viewer-submitted questions to address a different topic each week, ranging from job loss to health care to the hidden costs of caregiving.”It’s real talk to help answer women’s most pressing money questions right now — no jargon or judgment,” said Kapusta, noting that the program’s six-part, archived video series is also must-see viewing for those who want to learn the key factors that can significantly impact women’s financial futures.Finally, some historical perspective. When the Labor Department first started tracking such data back in 1948, only one third of women held jobs. That number had nearly doubled by the late 1990s.And today? The ratio of women working has fallen below 57 percent for the first time since 1988.