4 Reasons Why Finding Your Career Path Is Easier Than Ever
Let’s face it, most people spend more time on finding their next vacation spot than they do finding the right career path. And it’s no wonder. One of these things feels like an exciting and fun opportunity to experience something new. And it’s probably not your career path. In fact, answering the question “Which career path should I take?” is often a frustrating exercise. Good career guidance and advice are scarce unless you count those career path tests and quizzes that are about as useful as that quiz you once took on which Hogwarts house you belong in.
Traditional career advice tends to emphasize things like finding a good and solid employer, being a loyal employee, and rising through the ranks until you can afford a comfortable lifestyle. And this was valuable advice back when business was more predictable, the pace of change slower and careers were vehicles for becoming a respected member of your local community and gaining the respect of your friends and neighbors. But this advice is becoming increasingly difficult to apply in a world where our work is shaped by frequent organizational changes, 24/7 email availability, and the race to keep up with new technology.
So it’s hardly surprising that many of us end up with unintentional career paths. It’s even less surprising that, according to Gallup, only 56% of Americans are completely satisfied with their jobs. According to another survey, 43% of employees are unsatisfied with their career path and their prospects of achieving their career goals.
But here’s the thing - with great change comes great opportunities. The biggest one being all the new choices. They enable us to find our dream jobs and career paths in a way that was impossible before. And while there are many contributing factors, we see 4 trends that make us believe this growth in career opportunities will accelerate in 2021 and beyond.
#1: Proliferation of digital platforms
Everyone is familiar with LinkedIn by now. After all, they’ve been around since 2003. As we’re writing this, there are more than 5.5 million US-based job openings posted on LinkedIn. They have over 760 million users globally and are used by virtually every recruiter and headhunter looking for candidates. And that’s just LinkedIn. There are many similar job listing sites, some of which are specialized in certain industries, domains and professions. And most of us have used these platforms to browse jobs. But there’s one thing that these platforms do that might be even more important than job listings. They provide unprecedented access to the information we need to identify possible career paths and create career plans.
On LinkedIn, you can see who has the kind of job you might be thinking about. Not only that, but you can also see the career path that led them to that job and understand the experiences they had to gain and the skills they needed to acquire to get there.
On Glassdoor, you can find information about a company’s culture. The reviews are written by previous and current employees so you’ll get the good, the bad and the ugly on how the company is managed, how employees are treated, how much they are paying, and many other relevant things.
While Quora and Reddit aren’t career platforms, they have tons of career-related content. They are great for getting answers to very specific questions. If you’re wondering what a typical day looks like in any given job or what it takes to get promoted at a company you’re considering, this is the place to ask your questions. You’ll get your answers from people who have been there and done it.
These are only a few examples of how you can acquire information relevant to your choice of career path by using digital platforms. Whether you use these platforms or find other data sources, it’s never been easier to find the information you need to understand what options you have, what it takes to get there, and what it takes to succeed once you’re there.
#2: Work from home
The Covid-19 pandemic changed how we work and some of those changes are here to stay. One of the major shifts was the introduction of work from home policies. But as sudden as this was for a lot of people, working from home (partially or fully) was already an established and growing practice in some industries. One such example is the technology industry. Many tech companies recognized the demand for working from home even before 2020. Consequently, they’ve treated work from home policies as an employee benefit and used them proactively to attract more and better candidates.
And as challenging as the pandemic has been, a lot of employees have appreciated saving commute time, having more time with their families, and maybe even taking up a hobby or two. So much so, that 1 in 2 employees says they won’t return to jobs that don’t offer remote work after the pandemic. And while some might think that this is hyperbole, people are already voting with their feet. The current work from home policies, and the expectations that they will remain in place after the pandemic have encouraged people to leave cities like New York and San Francisco. They are moving to suburbs and tier 2 cities like Austin, Phoenix and Denver where they can afford larger homes, be closer to nature and have a higher quality of life.
Whether you’re planning on moving or staying put, this opens up a new range of career opportunities. Because employers are also realizing the benefits of a remote workforce. 74% of employers plan to move at least some of their employees to permanent remote work and 82% plan on allowing remote work some of the time.
This is a massive mindset shift. It also means that the number of jobs you qualify for without having to move or increasing your commute just grew exponentially. And you should manage your career path accordingly.
#3: Growth of freelancing
You may also think of this as contracting, solopreneurship, gig work, having a side hustle, etc. Whatever you call it, it’s here to stay and it’s an absolute phenomenon. Sounds like we’re laying it on thick? By some estimates, there were 56.7 million Americans doing freelancing work in 2020, either partially or full-time. And this number is projected to grow to more than 90 million by 2028, which means that more than 50% of the US workforce will freelance in some capacity.
This tells us that the lines between traditional employment and entrepreneurship are being erased. It used to be a binary choice - you were either gainfully employed or you took the plunge and became an entrepreneur. And the plunge was scary. The initial investment was often high, expensive specialists (accountants, lawyers, etc) needed to be paid, customers needed to be found...
These days, a lot of those scary risks have been mitigated by technology companies and digital platforms. Getting started is quick and cheap. Websites, email systems and payment solutions can be set up in a matter of days at the cost of a few tens of dollars per month. There are affordable software solutions for accounting and taxes. There are specialist services that are priced specifically for freelancers and platforms like Upwork and Fiverr for finding work. As the numbers show, people are jumping on the opportunity. And they’re succeeding at it. The average annual income for freelancers is $67,169. Not too bad considering that median household income in the US is $68,700.
Anyone thinking about their career paths should evaluate this opportunity. And not just as a choice between being employed or freelancing but as a way to expand choices and try out new ideas. Many people try freelancing because it lets them keep the job they have while they are trying out entrepreneurship or testing how they can apply their skills and knowledge in companies or industries that are different from their current ones.
#4: Specialized recruiters
Companies have been using outside recruiters and headhunters for a long time, and this trend is expected to accelerate. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the main reason for an employer to use recruiters was speed. In a tight labor market with a low unemployment rate, many companies simply couldn’t afford to post an opening and wait until enough qualified candidates applied.
Post Covid-19, one of the main drivers for increased use of recruiters will be the employee skills gap. As technology and new competition increase the pace of change, new skills are required across the board. According to Harvard Business Review, job ads listed 33% more required skills in 2020 than they did in 2017. And only 16% of hiring managers feel that new hires have the skills necessary for their current and future jobs.
Recruiters and headhunters are trying to solve this problem by becoming specialists with deep networks. Whereas earlier they tended to be generalists that were helping their corporate clients hire for a wide variety of positions, they are increasingly specializing in specific types of roles such as performance marketing, product management or finance. This allows them to gain a deeper knowledge of what it takes to succeed and identify candidates that will have a lasting impact. And because it can be difficult to find such candidates on short notice, they are spending a lot of time getting to know talented people and building relationships ahead of time.
For anyone thinking strategically about their career path, this is a major opportunity. Because these recruiters want to get to know you. Once you’re a part of their network, they’ll keep you in the loop about new exciting job opportunities. But more than that, they are an amazing source of information about salary levels, future career paths, and which skills you should focus on acquiring. And this is very valuable information when you’re choosing career paths and creating career plans.
Tiles Collab is a career development community. We help high performers identify the right career paths, create career plans and achieve their goals by focusing on strategies and tactics that work in real life. Visit our homepage for more information about our approach and services.