The corona crisis has had an enormous impact on the economy. Starters, in particular, are having a hard time on the labour market. What can they do to increase their job opportunities? And is the high unemployment rate among this group really reason for concern? Robert Dur, Professor of Economics of Incentives and Performances at Erasmus School of Economics, answers these questions in an article by Intermediair.
No reason to despair
Fortunately, there is no reason to despair, says Dur. ‘If you can't find a job after graduation, that is of course very frustrating, but the good news is: you will catch up with the backlog you are currently running up. Furthermore, when you are in your twenties, unlike your fifties, you are immensely popular with employers. After all, you have new knowledge to offer and you are not that expensive yet.’
Invest in yourself
According to Dur, we should try to look at the situation from the bright side. ‘You can make good use of this time by investing in yourself,' he says. ‘Ask yourself: what are the qualities and skills that I can work on, so that when the crisis is over, I will have a better position in the labour market? If you know that your English is poor, for example, you can invest in that. And with languages such as Russian and Chinese, you also have a head start at many companies.’ It is also important to think about how you could modernise your skills. For example, a lot of companies are looking for data scientists now. So, it can help to master the latest data science skills.’
Build a network
It is also good to invest in your network. Many people who are just starting to work often lack a good network. ‘In many cases, you can build up your network while doing a course or training, because that's how you meet new people. Because of the corona crisis, a lot of these activities take place online, but many of these training courses still involve interaction’, Dur says.
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The full article from Intermediair, 25 September 2020, can be found here (in Dutch).