Learning
5 min read

How to fill the COVID Gap on your CV

Paddl
Team

If you're like most, you've spent 2020 in lockdown with your face pressed to the glass watching your personal and professional plans be thrown on a dumpster fire.

The world of work has become remote, distributed and online. Job opportunities have disappeared and the pathway to where you want to be has never been more difficult / confusing.

A small price to pay to save lives. But at the other end of all this, when opportunities become available once more, what will your 2020 story be?

We're going to cover some simple, practical tips to make the most of your time in lockdown and be ready for opportunity when it comes your way.

1. Develop an Infinite Mindset

The first step to filling the COVID Gap on your CV is adopting the mindset of an infinite learner - someone who embraces the world of learning beyond traditional work and education.

We get that knowing where to start can be overwhelming, so we've put together a list of recommendations to help you stay productive and take your learning to the next level.

Here's a quick video on some infinite learning fundamentals from Simon Sinek.

2. Complete an online course or program

Courses are becoming more and more micro, meaning you don't have to spend big money and commit months of your life to learning new things from qualified teachers.

Here are some of our favourite providers of short courses that can help you sharpen your skills of the future.

  • General Assembly - expert-led training in coding, data, design, digital marketing, and more.
  • The School of Life - a global organisation helping people to lead more fulfilled lives.
  • Coursera - choose from a fantastic range of world-class, online courses.
  • Brilliant - build quantitative STEM skills with fun and challenging interactive explorations.

3. Join an online community

Learning something outside your comfort zone can feel daunting and sometimes lonely, doing it remotely can make it even more challenging. Luckily you're not alone!

Here are some of our favourite open and online communities to join.

  • Creative Mornings - join a community of creatives for regular meetups (soon to be launched virtually) and access to useful resources.
  • Startup Grind - access to high-quality resources, online experiences, and a curated network of the best companies in the world.
  • ThisWeek in StartUps - global slack community from the creator of the TWiST podcast Jason Calacanis.
  • Paddl Academy - coming soon to the Paddl community - stay tuned!
"Right now it is easy to feel like you’ve lost a lot of experiences, but this is an awesome opportunity to get experience on your CV! Our biggest fear right now is that there will be a huge time gap on our CV, and we will have to explain that to potential employers in an interview and explain why we did nothing. In using Paddl, you don’t have to explain that. You can still gain experience that employers are looking for." Jesse Munzel, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Bachelor of Business (Management and Marketing)

4. Enter a challenge!

Competitive challenges are an exciting way to test your skills and pick up new ones. In a year where time seems to either go too slow or too fast, having a milestone to work towards and be part of can be really fulfilling.

Here are some of our favourite providers for virtual challenges and hackathons to practice your design thinking.

  • Angelhack - the world's most diverse hacker community, driving innovation of tech products through developer programs.
  • ProductDesign Tips - help solve environmental, health, and social inequality issues through design.
  • National Innovation Games - bringing together thousands of people from around Australia to innovate, network and build new skills using the best in class design thinking.

5. Capture your Everyday Learning

Keeping track of your everyday learning is critical to demonstrating all of your skills and experience. Unfortunately there's no place for modern micro learning on traditional CVs or professional profiles.

Not to worry, that's why we created paddl.com!

Your Paddl Profile captures all kinds of learning activities with many more on the way because all experience is valuable and we never stop learning.

Ready to get started?

Head over to paddl.com and create your Paddl Profile to capture the valuable experience you gain from the providers above and in your everyday.

You'll be joining a community of infinite learners from 96 countries using Paddl to capture and demonstrate their infinite learning during the COVID19 pandemic.

Unlock your next big opportunity with Paddl.

https://www.paddl.com/register

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