By Jessica Jones
COVID-19 has forced us to learn new and innovative ways to adapt. We use video chat apps like Zoom,Teams, and WebEx to actively communicate, and schools are teaching courses through virtual learning.
Many places are starting to reopen with strict rules and guidelines. Amusement parks, libraries, and restaurants re-opened with outdoor dining options. Masks are required in every place you step. With this new normal, how does professionalism remain? I’ve attended classes with messy hair, blankets wrapped around me, and pajamas. I’ve even forgotten what normal clothes look like post-quarantine. Professors are teaching classes while their little ones run around their houses. Many of my peers, myself included, still run late to class even though it’s only a few feet away. It seems that professionalism during a global pandemic is more lenient. In most cases, informality is embraced. Employers seeking to hire candidates use virtual interviews. Interviews before quarantine were a way for employers to get to know you. Employers actively studied your face, body language, eye contact, smiles, clothing, and, most of all, your firm handshake. Now, it’s different: there are no more firm handshakes. Virtual interviews are either video-chats, phone calls, or, for the brave, in person (with masks, of course). These options are flexible when it comes to meeting potential employers. With in-person interviews, there are a host of issues. A mask makes it hard to read faces. There are struggles — making sure your mask does not slid down your face and preventing your glasses from fogging. Your eyes are the new way of smiling. In virtual interviews, you can only see from the top up. You can easily don a button-up while rocking pajamas for pants, and you can finish your interview by closing your laptop and crawling back into bed. The question is: has COVID-19 allowed us to widely accept informality? I recently talked to a fellow NCC student, Nataly Hoyos, about her experience with professionalism at her job during COVID-19. I asked her if her uniform requirements become more strict or flexible, and if her mask has to meet certain requirements. I asked: how do you converse with customers? Her response was, “before COVID-19, we (associates) were allowed to wear more casual clothing, with the brand showing. Now, I have to wear more solid colors. We’re able to wear stylish masks of our choice. Talking to customers is harder since I can’t hear them sometimes, or they can’t hear me. Fitting rooms are closed so customers cannot try on things, which can be annoying. I can’t get in close contact anymore in order to give proper measurements. I have to rely on the information the customers give me. For the most part, customers are more understanding and appreciate all the help.”