Pandemic! Now What for My Career?

I haven’t been through a pandemic before, but this is my third boom/bust cycle (the first was the dot bomb in 2002 and the second the Great Recession in 2007-09). I’ve seen a lot of careers and observed how stars recover. Some tips:

1. Live/work in a geographic area that will recover quickly. The San Francisco Bay Area is blessed to be at the center of many industries, e.g., tech, fintech, healthcare, media, etc.  The Brookings Institute lists San Jose in the top 5 metro areas that are economically safest because of its tech focus. In contrast, Brookings expects the hardest hit areas to be those supporting mining/oil and gas, transportation, employment services, travel arrangements, and leisure and hospitality.
2. Build your practice, ideally in areas that will weather economic downturn. Certain areas of technology will be hotter than others. Payment apps are expected to be very important in this era of social distancing, and PayPal and Square are scaling up job postings. I expect video conference and cloud technologies to also grow in importance.
3. Network. I have seen repeatedly how managers remember and reach out to candidates who are not only excellent lawyers but also are personable. These candidates have made a point to stay in touch and express interest in working for the manager.