If you have been out of work over the last year due to the Covid pandemic and lockdown then you may find it hard to get back in to it. Some people have in fact lost their jobs or their business has not been able to survive, meaning that they may need to go through the whole recruitment process again. Others may have been on furlough so although they still have their job, they may not have had to go in to work or have had to work from home. adapting back to a usual way of working is going to take some time but there are steps you can take to help the transition. If you have been working from home or furloughed and you have been asked to start coming back in to work, try and get yourself ready beforehand. You may need to get back in to a routine of getting up early and you may struggle to remember how long your commute will take. Give yourself at least a week before hand where you can get up early and see how long it takes you to get ready, You may even wish to do a practice drive to work to see how long you need to allow. This will all help give you confidence when you do return to work and not worry about being late on your first day.

If you are having to look for a new job, then don’t lost hope. Although it may seem like there are not many job opportunities at the moment, it is likely that the situation will change when more businesses start to pick up and people can resume normal activity. Use this time to prepare for finding work. Ensure that your CV is up to date and that you have got everything you need to start applying for jobs. Think carefully about what it is you want to do and if you are considering changing careers, be sure that you have all the experience and qualifications needed to apply. If you do not have the qualifications needed then you may decide to go back in to education first.

It is easy to think that you cannot afford not to work and to return to education but there is often financial help and support out there to enable mature students back to education.