The Future of Job Search: 8 Trends That Are Shaping the Industry

Job searching used to be a straightforward matter of looking at classifieds, hunting for 'help wanted' signs, and handing over a resume to a friend. But with technology evolving leaps and bounds, tectonic shifts have occurred in how people search for jobs and how companies evaluate applicants. Although the old ways still work, anyone looking for a job these days needs to understand the direction that modern job hunting processes are going and stay updated with the latest trends to make their search more successful.

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

More companies are employing applicant tracking systems (ATS), a type of AI that relies on keywords, to evaluate resumes. But more than that, ATS is a scalable learning technology that has the power to do more, such as assisting applicants with questions, simplifying onboarding, and tracking applicant and employee development, among many other capabilities. Statistics from Undercover Recruiter suggest that ATS and other digital recruiting tools will replace as much as 16% of HR jobs in the following decade. As such, candidates need to acquaint themselves with dealing with AI, from writing ATS-friendly resumes to interacting with them throughout the hiring process.

2. Professional branding

In the past, recruiters and hiring managers will require you to submit a list of references so they can gauge your professionalism and skills, among many other hiring considerations. Nowadays, they can do that with a single Google search and a quick look-see at your social media pages. If you're applying for a new job, you should expect to be googled. And with that, you need to make sure your presence online makes you come off as professional, reputable, and worth hiring. Using your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Wordpress, etc., demonstrate that you're someone whom your future managers and colleagues can rely on and be happy to work with.

3. Growing importance of training and certification

Companies are increasingly putting a high value on training and certification for their employees. That's why many of them conduct in-house training for their people with greater regularity than before. Employers are well-aware that when training is used to expand the knowledge base of its employees, this results in improved workforce performance, better employee satisfaction, consistently high productivity, reduced employee turnover, and most important of all, the company's branding, reputation, and profile. As an applicant, individual training and study can give you that much-needed edge to stand out from the horde of applicants.

4. Mobile-focused recruiting

According to Statista.com, as of January 2019, 96% of active users worldwide accessed Facebook via mobile devices. Like most social media platforms, Facebook is mobile-oriented, and its job search tool, Facebook Jobs of the future, lets users post, apply, and communicate with employers or candidates via their mobile device. Facebook's expanding role in job search represents the growing influence of mobile devices in the industry. The convenience of mobile platforms means that employers, recruiters, and applicants alike should uphold a mobile-first mentality and find ways to streamline their mobile use in the application and hiring process.

5. Job hunting treated as an online shopping experience

If you've ever shopped online before, know that online job hunting works pretty much the same way. All you have to do to apply for a job is visit a job market website, use the search tool to look for a specific position, send a resume, and voila, you're done. That said, it pays to be aware of an employer's brand and reputation before you click on the 'Send' button. When looking at job postings, do your due diligence on prospective employers, as you would online sellers when you're shopping. For your own protection, keep yourself informed on the many scams published on many job-posting websites, and learn to read the glaring signs of a job scam, such as when the employer and/or recruiter's location and identity is not clear, or when they require you to submit sensitive personal information before anything else.

6. Data-driven hiring and HR analytics - jobs of the future

With personal data becoming more accessible, data gathering has become a simplified process for recruiters and hiring managers. This allows them to take the guesswork out of the effectiveness of hiring methods and use tangible facts, statistics, and patterns to inform their hiring decisions. Studies show that recruitment teams that use data-driven hiring are more likely to reduce time to hire and costs per hire, enhance the candidate experience, and improve the quality of hires while promoting better employee retention. Applicants can boost their chances of getting hired by their target company by looking into the company's hiring methods, which will likely be available online.

7. Less rigid interview processes

With gathered data informing their hiring methods, companies may put less focus on candidate interviews, thereby making these one-on-one encounters less intimidating and more varied. Nowadays, an increasing number of companies are relying on video and even virtual reality to put candidates more at ease during interviews so they can better relay their qualifications. Likewise, more accurate tools and tests are helping employers gain a better understanding of applicants' behaviors, principles, and skills. As a workaround, applicants should read up on job interview and recruitment trends as they come to see how these may affect their chances of getting hired.

8. Optimized resumes

Before the Internet, job applicants had a hard time finding the right professional resume format for the position and industry that they're interested in. Thanks to websites like Resumeble, people now have access not only to tips and advice, but also to professional writers whose main job is to help you create a crisp resume that meets the requirements of hiring managers and recruiters, and even applicant tracking systems.

While various improvements to the job searching process are primarily designed to benefit businesses, there's no reason they can't benefit you as well. Brush up on these trends, follow your favorite industry leaders, and continue learning on your own to develop a keen sense of understanding of how these trends are evolving the world of recruitment.

Resumeble's writers have the qualifications to ensure your resume looks polished, comes in the proper format, and showcases your skills and abilities in a way that impresses. Let Resumeble be your partner in landing that dream job.