3 Strategies to Survive and Thrive in the 21st Century Job Market
Simply Hired Staff
The 21st-century job market is rapidly changing, and it can be quite anxiety-inducing thinking about if your job will even exist in ten years. With more jobs being outsourced or replaced with an automated machine, the current workforce is rightfully intimidated by the future. Although we can’t predict what’s to come, the best strategy is to have a job seeker mindset even when we’re perfectly happy with our current job. Here are three strategies to help you thrive during career disruptions.
Be a lifelong learner
Learning new skills is crucial to remaining employable. If you’re not sure what skills will make you the most competitive, scan job listings with similar job functions as your current job or the jobs you’re aiming for in the next few years. Another way to identify key skills is to keep up with industry news. Pay attention to trends in new software or technology that can affect your role. Being the first person to learn a new technology that will benefit the company can make you indispensable in your current role as well as attractive to other companies.
Keep your resume and LinkedIn profile up-to-date
By keeping your resume and LinkedIn profile current, you’re not only ready if a recruiter approaches you with a new job opportunity, but you’ll be able to review your own career progress. When you update your resume every month or once a quarter, you’ll notice if you’re making progress in learning new skills or taking on new projects. Plus, if you did well on a particular project, you’ll be able to ask your colleague or supervisor for a recommendation while the project and your effort is still fresh in her mind.
Develop relationships
Most people tend to attend networking events when they’re job hunting, recruiting new talent, or need something. But the first rule of networking is to develop the relationship before making the ask, so this is the perfect time to start developing relationships without desperately needing a job. It’s your chance to help a connection achieve something, and in the future, your connection will remember your support and be more than willing to help you find a job a few years down the road when you need it.
