Ohio University graduates have been experiencing big changes in their careers due to the rise of COVID-19 and social distancing restrictions.
Some graduates are experiencing the process of moving work to home while others are working essential jobs and taking proper precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19. They advise current students to practice structure skills, continue networking and avoid letting their fears of the pandemic cause discouragement from the field they are going into.
Mary Carter, a 2019 OU graduate who studied strategic communication, works at PR Newswire in Cleveland and was on vacation in Miami when she found out she was going to have to start working remotely.
While at the beach, Carter found out that her manager was planning on having her and her coworkers take their laptops home everyday after work to prepare in case of complete remote work. Her manager then told her that starting March 13, workers were given the option to work from home for safety reasons. She has been working from home since the day she returned from vacation.
Carter said that working from home is more difficult than working in office because she has never worked fully remote before. When she started her remote work at her small studio apartment, she didn’t even have a desk for her workspace.
“I would say that this has definitely put a really new perspective on the idea of recent graduates entering the workforce longing to go back to college,” Carter said. “This made me realize that I don’t miss college, and I miss having normal human interaction with people doing the same thing as me. I need that sense of structure and that ‘we’re all in this together.’ I wish I would have had more structure in college.”
Kyle Caulfield, a 2019 OU graduate who studied marketing, said that as a social media manager at a marketing agency in Dayton, OH, most of his work, even in normal circumstances, consists of online interaction through his computer and other software that helps him complete his duties. He and his coworkers rarely ever need to meet their clients physically.
“The only issue with working from home indefinitely is struggling to separate work from home life,” Caulfield said. “I find myself actually working longer and spending more time on work and projects than taking a break. I believe this is because my desk now sits in my living room, so I feel more obligated to work on job related things.”
Caulfield said the biggest adjustment with working from home for him is having much less social interaction. He said it is unfortunate that he cannot visit his coworkers at their desks to discuss assignments.
Emily Poulton, a 2019 OU graduate who studied psychology, works as a mental health technician in a psychiatric emergency room. Her work is still done in-person, and she is exposed to new patients everyday. She is provided with masks and gloves to wear for safety precautions.
Poulton said her workplace has not had as many patients as usual because most are sent from medical hospitals, which most likely have not been accepting as many patients due to the pandemic. The emergency room she works for tries to keep the occupancy low, and that they try to ensure patients are spaced out in the holding area. All patients are asked questions about COVID-19 symptoms and given a mask if they have a cough regardless of if they are positive.
“My advice to students is to not let this pandemic scare you away from working in mental healthcare,” Poulton said. “This isn’t quite what I signed up to deal with but life happens and I still love what I do at the end of the day. Take the time that you’re still in school to get a feel of what it’s like to work with patients, or research subjects so that when you graduate, you have a good understanding of what next steps to take professionally.”
Mikayla Liston, a 2018 OU graduate who studied creative writing, is an associate accounting executive at PR Newswire. While switching to online work, she was in the process of moving from one apartment to another. She is now settled into her new apartment and is sharing the dining room area with her boyfriend as a workspace.
Liston has been working from home since March 12, because her boyfriend texted her about one of his co-workers shaking hands with someone who had later been tested positive with COVID-19. She said the hardest part of working from home is trying to find working space rather than relaxing space because at home, everything is blended together.
“It is scary for students right now, especially those who are graduating, because companies are laying off employees or furloughing them,” Liston said. “If I were a student, I would be using LinkedIn avidly, being aware of what industries need your help and networking as much as possible.”
