Next Avenue, a specialty news agency that focuses on people over 50, reports that the 2018 job market is hot for job seekers. The news agency sent a representative to Indeed.com's job search conference, attended by 1,700 people, to learn the latest hiring trends from some experts in the field. Discover what Next Avenue learned and how you can leverage that information into a new job.
Statistics
The overall unemployment rate for Americans is 3.8 percent, which is lowest it's been since 2000, even lower than when the tech bubble burst. If you're on a job search in 2018, the market favors you because there are just as many open positions as there are people looking for a job. Pay attention to local numbers, though. The jobless rate in Rochester, New York, is higher than the national average, but it's much lower in San Francisco.
Approximately 1.2 million people have been out of work for 27 weeks or more, or about one-fifth of the overall workforce. Of those 1.2 million people, about one-third are 55 and older. Older people, from ages 55 to 64, have been without a job for an average of nine months. If you're older and on a job search, you may find it harder to get a job.
Because of the tight labor market, companies are raising wages to draw top talent. Technology is a hot sector right now, and more tech companies need skilled workers to keep pace with expanding markets.
What You Can Do to Land a Job
Pushes for diversity on teams are huge in 2018, due in part to high-profile cases (such as Google and Starbucks) where diversity training seems to be a priority. Cisco implemented a policy where the company increased diversity on interview panels, which increased the odds of Hispanics landing a job by 50 percent and blacks by 70 percent. If you represent an ethnic minority, you may have to sit through more panel interviews, but you have an advantage on a job search versus an ethic majority.
Utilize a blind resume strategy to reduce bias during your job search. What this means is you should reduce the number of ways a resume can indicate demographic data about you, such as your location, age and gender. For example, you can list the fact that you have a college degree but not necessarily from what school or when you graduated. You can reveal that information during an interview. You may find that more and more companies are using software to filter out biases inherently found applicant trackers or job application software to find people who are truly the perfect fit.
Nontraditional job paths are also part of major hiring trends in 2018. Indeed.com eliminated the requirement of a college degree on more than 3,000 positions when it determined that degrees were not essential to success. Compose, a cloud-based computer systems firm, relies on mock projects and short stories about data to make hiring decisions. If you lack a college degree, you have better chances of landing a top job if you have the right skills.
Your job search can lead to a great position in 2018. Pay attention to current trends, adapt your resume accordingly and prepare yourself for a real-world assignment as an interview for best results.
Photo courtesy of hi5Rohan at Flickr.com
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