By Chana Wakslak, Senior Business Editor and Business Manager
Entering the corporate world amid the current employment landscape requires a thoughtful approach. You might wish you could don a Neverland costume, stick your head in the sand, and avoid the corporate chaos a little longer. But reality beckons, and you’re about to dive headfirst into the enigma that is the current job market.
The good news? Most of your competition seems to be competing in a race to the bottom. Employers have been complaining about workers being lazy, apathetic, and incapable of basic communication, providing an opportunity for those who exhibit consistent dedication and basic professional skills.
Further, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, at the closing of 2023, the job market has been holding strong, with 2.7 million new jobs created and an unemployment rate holding steady at 3.7%. With a market like this, it seems like it should be pretty easy to get a job that will help you further your professional aspirations.
The not-so-good news? The hiring market for choice jobs is tightening, as highlighted by a LinkedIn study reporting an average of one job opening for every two applicants, a shift from 2022’s one-to-one ratio. Entry-level job seekers, in particular, report experiencing prolonged searches, often going months without securing an offer.
An elevated number of job openings doesn’t always translate to real opportunities. Misalignment between job seekers, available jobs, and acceptable work contributes to this issue, with a majority of jobs considered low-quality, intensifying the competition for select positions.
It’s not just you who might feel intense competitive pressures when searching for summer internships or entry jobs. Across industries, job postings attract more applicants, guarantee an elongated hiring process, and involve more decision-makers. The introduction of one-way video interviews adds a new format, presenting a learning curve for applicants and enabling companies to interview a greater number of candidates. A vicious cycle emerges as job seekers, frustrated with the hiring process and realistic about their odds of success, apply to more jobs, increasing overall competitiveness. LinkedIn reports that in 2023 job seekers sent out 40% more applications compared to the previous year.
So what can we do to set ourselves apart from the pack? To navigate this challenging landscape, three experts, Liza Kirkpatrick, Assistant Dean of Career Services at Kellogg School of Management, Joel Schwartzberg, a professional presentation coach and author, and Nahia Orduña, a technical leader at Amazon, all delve into strategies for achieving hiring success.
Being Proactive
Kirkpatrick underscores the crucial step of researching industry-specific hiring trends to proactively identify potential hurdles, such as hiring slowdowns or layoffs. She also suggests exploring roles in adjacent industries where your skills may be highly valued.
The Resume
Schwartzberg emphasizes the importance of tailoring resumes to specific job descriptions. His advice encourages job seekers to organize their resumes strategically, either by skill or job experience, ensuring bullet points demonstrate maximum relevance to the desired job description. These tailored approaches, rooted in industry awareness and a keen understanding of the job requirements, maximize relevance and increase your odds of being selected for an interview.
Addressing the rise of AI and other new technologies, Orduña asserts that staying ahead of the hiring curve involves a comprehensive understanding of these technologies and the acquisition of relevant hard skills, including cloud computing, user experience (UX) design, cybersecurity, and marketing. Orduña emphasizes that possessing these skills positions employees as indispensable across various industries, enabling them to fill roles that have emerged with the integration of advanced technologies. More broadly, learning transferrable and in-demand technical skills can help make you more relevant and marketable across industries.
The Interview
Kirkpatrick emphasizes the importance of learning to use effective storytelling during interviews as a means to showcase one’s abilities and experiences compellingly. To succeed during interviews, it is essential to thoroughly research the company and its culture, tailor responses to specific job requirements, and ask questions to demonstrate interest.
The job market is ours for the taking. With the correct focus on technical skills and acing the hiring process, there are plenty of opportunities for success even in a competitive market.