Is The Switch To Remote Work Backfiring On Jobseekers?
Between The Great Resignation and remote jobs, is it hard to find a job?
If you have paid even the slightest bit of attention to job news over the past year, you’ve heard about The Great Resignation or The Big Quit — a movement of workers quitting their jobs, many without another lined up, and heading for better gigs.
It’s providing workers with more power according to Labor Secretary Marty Walsh.
According to some, this is a great time to make a career change, and the skills necessary may not be required.
But, what’s the reality?
If you’re on the job hunt right now, what does it look like?
One major challenge is getting seen by the job posters.
“We think that we made it easier 20-something years ago when Monster started posting jobs. It makes it easier for the employer, it doesn’t make it easier for the job seeker,” said J.T. O’Donnell, the founder and CEO of career coaching platform Work It Daily, who runs a popular TikTok account with work advice. “You’re not getting rejected, you’re just never getting past the technology.”
Compound that with an abundance of listings on sites like LinkedIn, as well as the abundance of jobseekers, and you’ve got a great situation — right?
Enter the complexities of the pandemic and the introduction of remote jobs.
Two years ago, remote jobs were unique, but not the norm. Today, that’s nearly the opposite. The necessity to work from home has forever altered the workforce and career landscape.
And with so many searching for jobs, the way we look for jobs, and the way we compete has changed too.
If you applied for a job in your city two years ago, you competed against a localized marketplace. But with so many jobs offering remote alternatives, your competition is now national — maybe even international.
Look at the job posting above again — 25 applicants in the first hour!
Here’s what the job insights look like as provided by LinkedIn Premium for that job.
You are competing against a talented, senior, and national pool of talents.
So how do you stand out and beat the competition?
According to Glassdoor, the average number of applications for a job at a publicly traded company is about 250; the average number of people interviewed is five. Source: Vox
That article continues and suggests that “Recruiters are so inundated with résumés flowing in online that they only look at the first few, hiring the people they can get the fastest instead of the people who are the best fit.”
If that’s true, then your best shot is to sit on LinkedIn, refresh constantly, and be ready to fire off your resume (heavily keyworded), and a templated cover letter that you can adjust quickly to better match a job.
Is this jobseeker reality sustainable for the economy? The answer isn’t clear. There are people switching jobs, and there are new jobs out there, and there are plenty of jobs in the supply chain that need filling.
Will this be a blip in the pandemic and career shift, or is it the start of a larger problem and reckoning for how employers and workers find a balance that works for all?
Only time will tell.
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