Back to work: What is happening in the global labour market and what advice do the experts have about securing that dream job?

It is the first week of September and my nearly 8-year old daughter starts a new school today. It is traditionally a time of mixed emotions for parents as they take a de rigueur photo of their children in front of their house for the annals (and Instagram, of course), wave them off and then feel a wave of relief that another summer holiday has been survived!

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This is also not just a week of new chapters for children, but also one where many people start new jobs or firms start to look to the job market to fill roles that have lay fallow over the northern hemisphere summer. So, what has changed in the global job market since the pandemic and how has job hunting changed since the advent of more and more digital tools for search, networking and interviews?

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The comprehensive World Economic Forum ‘2023 Future of Jobs Report’ provides world-leading market context, and predicts even more significant disruption in the labour market in the next 5 years:

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·??????? The market will be even more competitive: Employers anticipate a structural labour market churn of 23% of jobs in the next five years.?This can be interpreted as an aggregate measure of disruption, constituting a mixture of emerging jobs added and declining jobs eliminated. Of the 673 million jobs reflected in the dataset in this report, respondents expect structural job growth of 69 million jobs and a decline of 83 million jobs. This corresponds to a net decrease of 14 million jobs, or 2% of current employment.

·??????? The key skills will be massively disrupted – how do you measure up?: Employers estimate that 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted in the next five years.?Cognitive skills are reported to be growing in importance most quickly, reflecting the increasing importance of complex problem-solving in the workplace. Analytical thinking and creative thinking remain the most important skills for workers in 2023.?Resilience, flexibility and agility; motivation and self-awareness; and curiosity and lifelong learning – in recognition of

the importance of workers ability to adapt to disrupted workplaces. Dependability and attention to detail, ranks seventh, behind technological literacy. The core skills top 10 is completed by two attitudes relating to working with others – empathy and active listening and leadership and social influence – as well as quality control.

·??????? Technology will change everything: Technological advancement through increased adoption of new and frontier technologies and increased digital access are expected to drive job growth in more than half of surveyed companies, offset by expected job displacement in one-fifth of companies.?

·??????? Some new jobs will appear and old ones disappear: The combination of macrotrends and technology adoption will drive specific areas of job growth and decline:

-??????? The fastest-growing roles relative to their size today are driven by technology, digitalization and sustainability.?The majority of the fastest growing roles are technology-related roles. AI and Machine Learning Specialists top the list of fast-growing jobs, followed by Sustainability Specialists, Business Intelligence Analysts and Information Security Analysts. Renewable Energy Engineers, and Solar Energy Installation and System Engineers are relatively fast-growing roles, as economies shift towards renewable energy.

-??????? The fastest-declining roles relative to their size today are driven by technology and digitalization.?The majority of fastest declining roles are clerical or secretarial roles, with Bank Tellers and Related Clerks, Postal Service Clerks, Cashiers and Ticket Clerks, and Data Entry Clerks expected to decline fastest.

·??????? An unstable market: Employers also recognize that increased geopolitical divisions and the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will drive labour-market disruption – with an even split between employers who expect these trends to have a positive impact and employers who expect them to have a negative impact on jobs.

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So, what does all this mean for candidates securing a new role this autumn? I asked 5 subject matter experts who spend their lives creating job opportunities and supporting people to secure them for their advice.

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1.????? How did you secure your current role?

Encouragingly, there remain many fruitful avenues at your disposal for finding the dream role. The Career Coach ?secured all her roles through networking and most of her career has been as a self-employed consultant. The HR Director has secured 80% of his roles in his career through referrals. The recruiter set up his own business. The Talent Director worked with a coach and spoke to lots of recruiters to work out what she wanted to do next and what the market opportunities were. ?She then contacted all of her network, and found her job working for someone she’d worked with in a previous role. Finally, the Careers Advisor had to complete an application form with no CV.

Mic drop: Network is everything and knowing people on the inside is not just a way to become aware of opportunities and hiring managers, but also a good way to ask honest questions and assess a situation before you take the plunge!

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2.????? What is the best piece of career advice you have ever been given?

My 5 experts have a combined experience base of over 100 years to draw on. It shows. The Career Coach was told to, ‘Do what you love and remain authentic’. The HR Director was advised that, ‘During interviews, once you get over the urge to be in sell mode to secure the job and keep paying your bills it will make these conversations much less threatening’. The recruiter was counselled that, ‘The best form of marketing of yourself for the future is how well you do the work you are doing now. That reputation will always precede you, follow you and open up doors for you. So stay present and focused’. The Talent Director was reminded that, ‘Nothing is permanent, so don’t look for perfect; take a risk and try it!’ Finally, the Career Advisor was reminded that, ‘You have two ears and one mouth. Use them in that ratio. Now I observe others and listen quietly rather than feeling like I have to be the loudest person in the room’.

Mic drop: Every interview is a conversation and a chance to meet interesting people, learn something new and build your network. Always keep in mind that they are talking to you because they have a problem and you might be the solution!

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3.????? What is the one thing above anything else that job seekers simply must do?

Lots of consensus here around (1) get to know yourself, (2) network and (3) persevere! In terms of networking, ask genuine questions, to genuine people about genuine things. In terms of perseverance, remember that the right role/employer will be out there even if it takes time to find. Stay positive, energised and don’t settle for something you have doubts about unless you absolutely have to. Finally, in terms of knowing yourself: know your strengths. Look at the skill which is the ‘wow’ and then the ‘how’ do I demonstrate that.

Mic drop: Awareness. People need to know who you are, what you can do for them and that you are available. This applies to your network and to the search partners / recruiters in the official channels. Those familiar with securing gigs – seasoned execs with portfolio careers, interim pros, etc invest time and energy in maintaining both and not just when they have a problem. So get better at staying in touch, referring others for opportunities you might not be interested in and be more than just a candidate.

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4.????? What is the golden rule for candidates in interviews?

Both the Career Advisor and the HR Director reinforce that interviews are two-way rather than one-way processes. The HRD observes that, ‘When you are interviewing for a job you are in transmit mode, i.e. you listen to the question and quickly think of the best answer to give ensuring you present yourself as best as you can. But you aren’t really listening, you are thinking what to say next and every question is littered with clues about what it’s really like to work there, what happened to your predecessor and what are going to be giving you headaches if you accept the job. So many times I speak to someone I hired 3-6 months ago and they tell me how they are struggling or surprised how difficult the environment is even though I was convinced I had done a good job to scare them off in the interview’. The Career Advisor notes that, ‘the candidate should use the time to suss out if this is an organisation that they want to work for. Do the organisation’s values align with your values and can you see yourselves happy there. Talk to the receptionist! You can learn a lot from them’. The Recruiter focuses on practical advice: Prepare (research the organisation, annotate the job specification, remind yourself of your strengths/career highlights, have 5-6 questions in mind), use “I” more than “we”, listen/pause to think/answer fairly concisely, weave business/people impact into your answers as the punchline and evidence data where possible. The Talent Director keeps it simple: be yourself.

Mic drop: Learn how to tell engaging stories that show what you have loved doing, full of personality and content with a strong ending!

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5.????? How have the labour market and selection processes changed in the last 5 years?

In short, beyond recognition. The HR Director reflects that, ‘being in the job market during Covid was very difficult and not having access to face-to-face meetings, networking events, etc just made it harder and more lonely. A lot of people made some poor career choices they are still trying to recover from. Business uncertainty continues and whilst we don’t have the lockdown barriers to overcome, the job market continues to be very fragmented which means you have to kiss a lot of frogs and learn to moderate your coffee intake. Fragmentation means you need to pull every lever available to you to build awareness and get plugged in to the market. It’s easy to think that just LinkedIn or your 5 favourite search firms will be sufficient. The growth in opportunities for digital transformation and private equity brings a sharper focus on what skills you bring and what results you have achieved. Staying current in the digital space is crucial and therefore the company you keep is critical to not being left behind. In PE you need a reputation of results delivery and ensuring the people making the hiring decisions are aware of that. Being able to lead yourself and others through change is so under-valued, but will be the critical factor in how successful you are in this post covid world’. The Recruiter points out that, ‘the labour market always has cycles where the skills that are in and out of demand change. The biggest non-cyclical factor in the last 5 years has been IR35 considerably reducing the appetite for and viability of limited company day rate interims. Covid accelerated the biggest change in selection processes with the massive shift to video-based interviews, post-pandemic they are still the prevalent format, albeit with more face-to-face at final stage. It’s time efficient, but doesn’t deliver the same experience and useful research would be to investigate whether it results in the same decision. The Career Advisor reiterates the increasing importance of equity, diversity and inclusion within the workplace and how to challenge when necessary and speak up. ‘Neuro diversity is something we have to consider when addressing the needs of individuals and within the workplace. There are lots of specialised companies that work just with neurodiverse candidates in finding them jobs; this is really positive for students to hear as they are anxious about entering the workplace if they have needs. Names taken off CVs to prevent bias and prejudice is also a good step forward.

Mic drop: The increased use of algorithms in selecting who should be interviewed has been a game-changer. It is not only a human being anymore, much of the heavy-lifting has been assumed by technology. This will potentially reduce bias, but also means that a generic (rather than job-specific) mindset from the applicant is not likely to result in success. Make sure your CV can get through the applicant tracking system to maximise your chances of being considered!

Good luck, everyone!

#newyear #careers #jobhunting #development #newchallenge