I think some of my thoughts will be like those of many employers, for sure.
As a sole proprietor, I found that COVID took away, first of all, the plan I would have had. Maybe I wanted to hire employees to help my business grow. It stopped that whole plan completely. There was a second piece I was looking at. It was a slow growth, but it was the time in my business to raise what I would charge as an hourly rate. When COVID hit, the first thing I had to do was put everything on hold. I had to think about there being no growth in that piece, but also about where I was going to be able to get funds to carry the household.
I'm an extrovert. I love to be around people. It really put me in a quandary. People say to try to think outside the box. Well, my thought was that, I guess, moving forward, there's no box anymore. I took two weeks to put my head down and think: What talents do I have? To give you an example, I did 40 years of hiring, coaching and training staff before what I do now. I wanted to be able to bring that talent and show people how to apply for work. When COVID hit, employers didn't have people to work. What was happening was that employers had so much work to do but fewer employees. I then said to them, “Let me help you. I will do your interviewing. I will do what you need.”
I was able to put a few pieces on the plate with that. Did it help through all those COVID bumps? It wasn't bad, but I think the biggest thing for me was the fear: Where do I go from here?