Impact of COVID-19 on application process and job industry

There is no denying the fact that COVID-19 has had momentous effect on all countries, developing or developed. It has been tough few months coping up with the changes and trying to adjust to the new normal. Unsurprisingly, COVID-19 has impacted the college application process and job industry as well, especially in United States that comprises of more than 30% of global coronavirus cases. But all is not lost, and there have been multiple myths going around that I want to clear out. Here are few things that you need to know for both:

Impact on college application process:

1. APPLICATION PROCESS AND DEADLINES: The most important point I want to call out here is that there is no change in application process when it comes to application components and their importance. Deadlines for Fall and Spring semesters both are the same for pretty much all the universities.
2. GRE/SAT TESTS: Multiple locations in the world have started virtual GRE tests. This is completely dependent on the location and how hard it’s hit with the coronavirus and lockdown restrictions. There are different and new rules if you are attempting the test in home. So, make sure that if that’s case, you get acclimatized to the new settings and rules put in into place. The best way to know about this is to call up the nearest test center in your area and they can tell you how they are conducting the exams.
3. OFF-CAMPUS LEARNING: Since almost all the universities, especially in US and Canada, have been shut down, the universities have been giving couple of options for students who were supposed to start in Fall 2020. First, they can either start the semester as scheduled but virtually. All the lectures and exams would be conducted online, in that case. Second, multiple universities have given the option of deferring their admission ticket to future semesters, Spring 2021 or Fall 2020. This changes the CPT (Curriculum Practicum Training) schedule for a lot of students and universities. The admissions committee can update of that situation for summer internships. That being said, there is no fixed date of on-campus semester resumption for any of the universities as of now (July 2020).

Impact on job industry:

1. Current conditions: There is no denying the fact that a lot of countries, including US, have faced unprecedented levels of unemployment in 2020. As of June 2020, the US unemployment rate is at staggering 14%, a lot higher than the country ever faced in the last few decades. A lot of industries have been hit hard in this period, primarily Travel, Tourism and Hospitality. Few recognizable companies that have been hit hard are United Airlines, American Airlines, Hertz, Uber, Lyft etc. That being said, the software industry has not been hard in the process. It basically depends a lot on the company and the demand of its product/service in the post pandemic era. All is not bad when you really look into the numbers and other industries, for example companies like Amazon, Walmart, Zoom, Snapchat, Facebook etc. have seen a boost in demand since the coronavirus hit. To answer the question- “Is it going to be tough finding a job abroad?” Yes, but it depends on what you target and how you target it. For example, a dear friend of mine lost his job during COVID lockdown but he was able to find a new job within 45 days itself. A channeled approach is necessary.

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