The implications for job search are to ensure your skills are current and to use any available time between jobs, to update your technical and industry knowledge.

There have been a lot of changes in organisations in recent years. As the landscape for business changed, it has also changed careers. In particular, there are three key drivers that have impacted significantly on jobs and careers.

Technology

Not only has technology changed a lot of roles, it has created new roles like intranet designers, but eliminated common roles like secretaries. Most managers are now very used to doing their own correspondence, emails and arrangements like meetings and travel.

General productivity has increased as we became more accustomed to the technological advances in electronic diaries and mobile phones to the integrated devices like iPhones.

As we get used to smarter technology, certain roles will continue to be at risk, such as checkout operators. Whilst some people are quite happy to do those jobs, many jobs are not particularly interesting, even boring, such as toll road workers, processing transactions that are very repetitive.

As technology surrounds us, we see a shift back towards roles that require interacting with humans, such as call centres. The type of work that cannot easily be automated includes complex communication such as sales; identifying and solving new problems; and certain physical work such waiting on tables.

Multiple Careers

There would be few employees that are starting their careers that would expect to work for only one employer – very different from those employees that are close to retirement, who have worked their whole life within one industry and for the same company.

Research indicates that the new career starters will have five careers in their lifetime. This means a shift in focus from employment to employability. Employees need to embrace all learning, whether it is formal learning and training, or by moving to different roles to add to their skills set.

If you have been in the same role for a number of years, or have only been with one employer in the last ten years, then you should sit down and seriously reassess your situation. It may be time for a career change. My ebook, Job Search Secrets, will be useful to explore some new opportunities.

Roles not jobs

There is time bomb ticking away in a large number of organisations as they have an ever-increasing number of employees that are nearing their retirement age.

Companies that are failing to address this issue will risk future skill shortages, succession planning issues and a loss of institutional knowledge that will only be recognised too late. If you ever wondered why the same problem seems to rear its head without being solved, it is often due to a lack of sharing knowledge. To deal with the skills shortage, it is likely that organisations will be recruiting for skills, rather than to have one permanent employee in a role.

We will increasingly see employees in various and multiple roles, rather than in one permanent position. A cluster of roles with different employers may be build around an employee’s desirable skills set. There are many roles that are simply not feasible to create on a permanent basis. For example – a small company may employ a marketing manager to work only one or two days per week, as the marketing budget is unlikely to be big enough to justify a six-figure manager. Working for three companies in different industries may be a great way to have a flexible career.

Search Strategy

The implications for job search are to ensure your skills are current and to use any available time between jobs, to update your technical and industry knowledge. Whilst income is always a concern, it may be wise to invest in some additional training to add to your skills-set, particularly if you are considering a different industry. Often, a contract or part-time role may develop into a new working relationship, along with the opportunity for personal growth.