Don't Let the New Employment Landscape Disrupt Your Career Development

As I write this, nearly 40 million people in the US are being reported as unemployed. Forget whether or not that number is accurate (hint, it's not – it's worse), tens of millions of people reported as out of work means the employment landscape has been flipped on its head in just a few short months. With the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program scheduled to end in July, there will even more people searching for jobs.

Those numbers are more than enough to put anybody off their career development plan. No matter how positive the reason – seeking the promotion you’re more than ready for, transitioning into a job that aligns with your passion, finding something more fulfilling – the idea of voluntarily facing the job market is, well, unpleasant. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. Periods of great external change can be ideal times to make big personal change. You just need to know what you are getting into.

Whether pushing forward with your career development plan or looking to re-enter the job market, in order to be successful in the new employment landscape, you need to be:

Psychologically Prepared – The job market is completely upended. What was recently a candidates’ market – a low unemployment job market that favors employees – has shifted to favor employers in an unprecedented way. This historic employer's market is gong to be highly competitive, and not in a good way for candidates. With fewer available jobs, millions actively looking for work, and almost all of the power in employers hands, you need to be mentally ready for a protracted job search that is going to feel like a cage fight.

Practically Prepared – It has always been important to be able to clearly communicate your value when searching for a new job. That's how you differentiate yourself. But what used to be wise is now a survival strategy. Employers are going to have an candidate pool the likes of which we've never seen. If you are going to stand out, you need to be able to speak to your value, not just across your career, but in the context of the current landscape. For example, if you’re currently working, maybe you can speak to how you’ve met the moment (i.e. delivering results while working from home, roles you've played in driving business continuity during the pandemic, ways in which you've protected the business, etc.). If you're not, find ways to tie your past achievements to the new reality of the world.

Logistically Prepared – If you thought the job search process was user hostile before – the applicant tracking systems, the automated screening software, the series of hoops you've had to jump through – steel yourself; things are about to get worse. Or at least more unpredictable. Just like the grocery store experience is changing by the week, recruiting, hiring, and on boarding systems are transforming rapidly to deal with the changes in the world. Additionally, many of the people who manage and use those systems are working remotely, which just further complicates things.

All of this sounds rough, and it should. It’s just not going to be easy to navigate the new employment landscape.

But there is hope.

Businesses still need talented people. New opportunities still pop up. The cogs of industry keep turning. If you can go into your job search fully prepared, you are more likely to break through the crowded field and land the job you want. Maybe even with your sanity still intact.