Did the COVID-19 pandemic ring the death knell for your career? Looking to jumpstart your career? If you lost your job and it’s not coming back, it’s time to take your career in a new direction. But where are the jobs right now, and how can you get started? If you’re looking for a new career in today’s volatile job market, look no further. These are five opportunities you can harness to get through the pandemic and beyond to jumpstart your career.

Find a Remote Job

Remote work is the ideal employment solution during COVID-19. A remote career is also relatively easy to start. Online freelance platforms like FlexJobs, Upwork, and Freelancer let users leverage their skills for short-term paid positions in admin, tech, design, and more.

Freelancing is a great way to jumpstart your career and make ends meet during the pandemic. However, it lacks the stability of a full-time career. Luckily, you can do that from home too with fully-remote jobs. To find a remote job, use remote work keywords to search for openings instead of searching by geographical location.

Get Into Healthcare

It’s no surprise that parts of the healthcare industry are busier than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes more than credentialed healthcare professionals. Healthcare organizations are also hiring for customer service, administrative, food service, and custodial positions to meet the increased demand.

Healthcare is also a smart choice for those seeking a new career path and jumptstart your career. Healthcare has a strong job outlook and a wide variety of career opportunities in administration, patient care, and laboratory tech as well as physicians and surgeons.

Become an Entrepreneur

Making your own job is one way to start earning ASAP right now. Whether you walk dogs, sell handmade masks, or lead virtual fitness classes, there are a variety of businesses you can start with minimal infrastructure.

A small business doesn’t have to be a stopgap solution but a great way to jumpstart your career. With a strong business plan, you can turn your business idea into a viable career. Once you start growing your business, it’s important to form a legal business entity to protect from liability and over-taxation. If you’re unsure if you need to form a corporation or LLC or what documents you need, there are online services to walk you through the business formation process.

Tune Up Your Tech Skills

While the tech industry has seen slowed job growth during the pandemic, companies in social media, e-commerce, and delivery are still hiring at high rates. Even without a background in tech, it’s possible to find work in customer service or administrative support at tech companies.

Tech is also a career you can pivot into relatively quickly and jumpstart your career. In addition to coding boot camps that teach programming skills within a matter of weeks, there are a number of entry-level certifications job seekers can earn. These include CompTIA certifications, Cisco Certified Technician, Cisco Certified Network Associate, and Certified Associate in Project Management.

Start an AMT Career

Job seekers looking to reinvent their careers should consider a career in aviation maintenance. While not a career you can launch overnight, aviation maintenance is challenging, dynamic, and well-paid.

Starting an aviation maintenance career requires completion of an FAA airframe and powerplant certificate from an FAA-approved school, also known as a Part 147 school. The training is heavy in applied science and math and upon completion, students must pass written, oral, and practical exams before becoming a certified aviation maintenance technician.

After certification, you can find a job as an AMT or start your own aviation maintenance business serving private planes. To start your own aviation business, you’ll need a business plan, insurance coverage, and financing.

All isn’t lost after losing your job. Opportunities are out there if you know where to look. Whether you’re seeking short-term work to make ends meet or an exciting new career, use these five ideas to seize your next job opportunity.

Would like to thank Craig Brown for submitting this article!