Coronavirus In Colorado: Employment Experts Shares Advice With State's Unemployed
(CBS4) - With thousands of Coloradans now laid off from business closures resulting from COVID-19, one of Colorado's employment experts hopes he can help. For more than 20 years, Andrew Hudson and his job board website have helped countless people land jobs.
"There's no shame in being unemployed," Hudson said on Wednesday. "Be completely prepared so when the economy does start picking up again you're ready to go and those job interviews will come and the job offers will come."
Hudson says while many restaurant employees may now be looking for work, there are many other industries looking to hire.
"One of the best pieces of advice I give to folks is, use this time to inventory your skills. Understand the value that you bring to an employer," Hudson said. "Being able to think on your feet, being in a deadline-oriented environment, customer service skills, those things are going to be helpful, and they will assist you when you're looking at other jobs."
Hudson's site still has more than 300 job openings posted on it. He assumes some jobs may be on hold, but believes many more are still active.
RELATED: Latest Updates On The Coronavirus Outbreak In Colorado
"If you think about the life cycle of a job posting to when someone actually gets hired, it's about six to eight weeks. So companies are still posting jobs and you should still apply for those jobs. There are still lots of jobs being posted out there."
Hudson also says people could look at temporary jobs at grocery stores or Amazon's offer to hire 100,000 people.
"I don't think there's any job that pays that's above anybody at this point. You need to seriously consider what are the opportunities for you to be able to pay your rent and pay your bills that are required," he said.
No matter where people are looking for work, in a pool that is now saturated with other people, Hudson says it's going to take some extra work beyond his website to nail down a new opportunity.
"Use your energy not just on the computer, but making phone calls and networking with friends and former colleagues and former bosses," he said.
The last piece of advice Hudson talks about is the 50 Colorado Workforce Centers sprinkled around the state that offer resources and grants to help people land jobs.