The Nature of the Job Hunt is Changing

The first chapter of What Color is Your Parachute reveals the recent changes in the nature of job-hunting and how job applicants can change their strategies to make more productive progress toward finding jobs. Over the past decade, employers have adapted and changed the way they hunt for job applicants, while the workforce has been following outdated job-hunting methods that make finding jobs seem impossible. Employers have stopped reading piles of resumes and posting job openings for everyone to see, and job-hunting has increasingly relied on online methods using job boards and social media sites to find opportunities. 


Employers prefer to fill a vacancy by promoting from within or hiring someone they have experience working with before. Next, they will consider someone who is trusted by a friend or colleague and given a referral. After exhausting these methods, an employer would use a recruiter or employment agency as using a stack of resumes from advertisements are their last choice to try to find job applicants. Most job applicants today that submit resumes to countless companies have no luck because of these recent changes in employer behavior, so job-hunters must update their job-hunting skills as this can make all the difference. 


Job-hunters must try to get temporary positions at the company they want to work for to gain experience and prove they are trustworthy, and they should try to find a connection to the company through a friend or contact to find someone to introduce them, vouch for their character or work, or get them an interview. Job-hunters must understand the nature of the job-hunt has drastically changed but there are plenty of jobs out there, and if they adapt to these changes by finding new avenues for opportunities, using multiple methods, and staying positive in the face of rejection, they will be successful.

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