Vice President at JMJ Phillip Executive Search, overseeing corporate strategy and service delivery.
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For those of us who work in recruiting or career services, we know that the start of every year, between January and April, is "career season." Whether catalyzed by New Year's resolutions or organizational budget renewals, the start of each year signals the start of a hyper-competitive environment for both job seekers and job providers.
If you're in the market for a new job in 2021, you're in luck. In an interesting trend, despite widespread economic destruction through much of 2020, hiring did not dip as much as people might think. In fact, hiring and separations both moved sideways for much of the year with an enormous spike in separations between employees and companies in March and April of 2020. The massive uncertainty and destruction of demand across so many industries forced the hand of organizations, who needed to cut costs and looked at their organizational structures in order to do this quickly.
The good news? Since the summer of 2020, companies have realized that there hasn't been a better opportunity to upgrade their talent. What does that mean for job seekers? 2021 could be the year to upgrade your job prospects and change the trajectory of your career, but only the most thoughtful, well-executed job search campaigns will be successful. Why? Because the pandemic has changed a few key aspects of the job search that job seekers need to be made aware of, and hopefully, can capitalize on.
HR will lean into automation like never before.
The mainstream adoption of work-from-home models will catalyze a shift to an increased reliance on automation for previously tedious tasks. The reality is that nobody has the time anymore to sift through resumes, one by one, to determine who gets an interview or not. Remote work, with so many juggling home and work in the same space, means HR professionals will be forced to use their time more efficiently. Applicant tracking systems (ATS) become a strategic move for organizations willing to invest in the requisite infrastructure such that resumes, and applicants, get digitally sorted and ranked. Pre-pandemic, 75% of application documents weren't read by humans. This percentage will only grow as HR and recruiting professionals continue to leverage ATS to streamline their work process.
Knowing this, job seekers will need to place more emphasis on getting their résumés and digital profiles, such as LinkedIn, optimized for performance against the keywords and themes they want to over-index across. Basic errors like poor formatting, uses of images and charts and improper résumé layouts, will not be able to get through these applicant tracking systems. Job seekers will need to take a long, hard and objective look at their application materials. In 2021, there is no room for weakness.
Job seekers will spend more time in virtual interviews.
In 2021, job seekers should expect to spend more time on virtual interviews — both pre-recorded and live — as HR departments look to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of their vetting processes. According to one study of over 9,000 workers, nearly a third don't want to return to the office, ever. This trend will continue through 2021. Add that many U.S. workers have reported an increase in productivity since implementing a work-from-home strategy, and what job seekers will find is an increased reliance on virtual interviewing and HR processes.
Virtual interviews can be a real advantage for job seekers though. Interviewing from the comfort of your own home means more control over the environment. Candidates can place objects, books and conversation-starter pieces strategically in-frame to catalyze conversations. Also, more personality can be shown in a more relaxed environment. Never before has the job seeker had as much control over the interviewing experience as they do in 2021.
Geography will tumble down the list of priorities.
Traditionally, an individual's proximity to a company's office had a profound impact on the viability of a candidacy. Companies did not want to hire individuals who lived too far away. Job seekers, too, did not want to incur unnecessary costs, such as gasoline, derived from a titanic commute. The shift to remote work has proven to be a talent unlock for organizations, such that they are now able to access a broad base of candidates without geographical limitations.
With appropriate digital communication infrastructure, proper management structures and U.S. unemployment sitting at 6.7% as of the end of 2020, companies have access to a diverse candidate base and can hire and build teams of individuals spread across the globe even. This is a game-changer for hiring, on both sides of the table. Job seekers now have access to nearly any job in the world, while companies can now be even more particular about the candidates they choose to bring in to interview, and eventually, hire.
As we begin the new year, HR teams across the country will have had nearly an entire year of practice working remotely and transitioning hiring processes online. As companies renew their budgets for the new year, and organizational leaders reengage their priorities for the year, HR departments will be relied on to step up and provide the talent base that enables business achievement — all while maximizing efficiency and efficacy in the remote work environment. It's going to be an interesting year.
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