MKTG 347/Week 2: 4 Ways the Job Hunt has Changed

It's no surprise that as time goes on things change. The job hunting process is one of those many things that constantly changes. The major turning point was in 2008 when the great recession hit and affected many Americans. Even though the recession occurred about 8 years ago, the job market is still recovering and the way that job hunting process behaves is different from the past. The book titled, What Color is Your Parachute gives some great insight as to how the job market and how to make your job search run smoothly.

Today it seems difficult to find a job, even with a college degree and experience. Many of you might be wondering why it is a challenge, so below you will find some of the aspects of the job hunt that have changed.

Employers Changed:
Employers adapt to the times, while most job hunters stick to the same process. For example, job hunters will always turn in resumes, but depending on the time, job hunters will not always read them. When times are good, employers are looking to fill open positions, read through resumes and post vacancies, but when times are tough, and there are a number of people unemployed, they have more applicants to choose from. Since there is more to choose from, employers stop reading resumes and posting vacancies, but job hunters don't switch tactics.
Also, many employers tend to over-screen and be more selective with who they hire than in the past.

The Length of the Hunt Increased:
Today 22-30% of all unemployed people are spending more than a year to find work. Between the years of 1994 and 2008, about half of all unemployed people actively looking for a job, found work within five weeks, Spending over a year unsuccessfully looking for a job is both time consuming and frustrating, so many people are staying away from the labor force altogether for the time being.

Job Hunting has Moved Online:
Before the internet, job seekers would go to newspapers to find job openings, but now there are thousands of job boards online.  NetStart Inc. and Monster Board were two of the earliest job boards that started in 1994, but today there thousands of job boards that serve different purposes.
For instance, there are search engines which are used to locate job openings. There are also mega job-boards, niche job-boards, company job-boards, and job-boards for certain ages. In addition to job boards, social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are commonly used throughout the job hunting process.

We Speak Two Different Languages:
The job hunting system was built by employers for employers. Because job hunters and employers are so different, there are usually some contrasts which make finding a job even more difficult.
For example, as job hunters we see the process of finding a job to be a hiring game, but the employer sees it as an elimination game.

Also, we want  the employer to hunt for us the same way we are hunting for them, but that does not happen. This is because as job hunters, our main concern is time, but an employer's main concern is risk.

Even though the job hunting process has changed drastically since 2008, it is important to remember that there are jobs our there, It might be more challenging to land a job at this point in time, but it is possible.