We interviewed Alif on the challenges and opportunities facing young adults during COVID-19. We thought this topic would be relevant for students looking for summer jobs, as well as recent graduates attempting to enter the already competitive job market.

Alif Huq is a digital marketing specialist and job hunting expert. Since the start of the pandemic, Alif has been offering specialized job hunting webinars and tips on social media. He has also helped numerous young adults to learn the art of marketing themselves online.

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What kinds of challenges are you hearing about from young adults engaged in the job search process?

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What I’ve noticed is that there’s a lot of hiring freezes. I have friends who work in the HR space where they probably had five interviews lined up. And unfortunately, due to COVID-19 and hiring freezes, those interviews were basically on pause or cancelled because companies are thinking more about how to sustain their budget and a new hire can be costly.

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What pet peeves when it comes to people using social media ineffectively to get a job?

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So my biggest pet peeve is when people ask “Can you refer me to a job?” or “Alif, do you know any job opportunities?” and I don’t even know them. Being on the receiving end of a lot of these messages does get very annoying, and it feels like I’m being used. Instead of saying, “I noticed there’s a company opening, here’s my resume”, the best way to establish trust and is to ideally get them on a phone call with you.

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How can young adults, who do not have a lot of work experience, present themselves as capable professionals?

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The first thing I would say is, you’ve got to develop a tangible skill set. The way I got hired into my first marketing assistant role, without any marketing experience, or even any connections or education was because I made a YouTube video where I was showcasing my copywriting skills. They saw that video of me and decided to onboard me for the role itself. For example, if you want to go into graphic design, instead of taking just a course on graphic design, you might want to actually create your own graphics and a portfolio. For digital marketing, instead of taking a Google Analytics course, you might want to start your own blog and experiment with SEO and paid advertisements.

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Alif’s Book Recommendations

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4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss

I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi

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Thank you, Alif, for sharing the excellent advice with us and our readers! 

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