Watch these three trends as hiring picks up. Even if rates of unemployment fluctuate companies and other organizations will continue to demand the best talent. If you want to be recognized as the best candidate pay attention to what employers will do within the next year to ensure they have what it takes to handle any setback. Remember also that it is not always the person who is the most qualified who gets hired it’s the person who knows how to get hired.
Here are three trends to look for and prepare yourself for whether you are an executive in transition or, frankly, just about any serious jobseeker:
Your Personal Brand Will Be Followed and More Public – If you haven’t started paying closer attention to your personal brand it’s time. The days of waltzing through your career unnoticed and quiet will be coming to an end for a lot of candidates, careerists and jobseekers alike. Trends that seem to me to be coming will be Follow Me features within professional (Linked In) and so-called social (Twitter, Facebook) networks but look for this to continue beyond these social networks. Affectionately introduced, these tracking of you trends that seemed to be fun and entertaining will be a feature aspect of your career. Get used to it.
You Are Now Multi-Media – Your words will be pumped to the Internet real time and they already are but look for trends like hi-def video and pictures to start working their way into your world. You are now starring in your own career movie – are you ready for your close-up? It’s coming and employers will start adding you, your face and your brand to their brand. For some career choices you will be hidden for awhile longer but all career paths will become three dimensional. For those in search be ready for your computer camera or other devices to become the new “phone screen” interview.
Interviewing Will Become Even More Sophisticated – I already hinted to the coming trend of video. Look for more employers to use the web and video to ensure you have all the right moves down. Look for face-to-face interviews to get harder. Many companies ask that you write and develop multi-page presentations or essay-length papers to their real or proposed problems. You will need to finish these assignments in days or even hours. You will be asked to present on topics like your interview is a Toastmasters meeting or improv at Second City. Look also for employers to add group interactions, social situations and other group tactics to find out if your lofty claims of working with and getting to know others really works. Employers may be watching behind one way mirrors. Don’t think it will happen? Well, get ready.
These are just a few of the trends that I predict we will see within the next 12-18 months and beyond. Some of these tactics have been done before. But look for them to be bundled, come faster and be harder to handle if you don’t start preparing for battle now. How do you prepare now? That’s a very individual decision that we can help you answer. But you need to start working on it yourself.
