Employment Trends

Top 7 Trends That Will Help You Find a Job Next Year

job-market
Written by Peter Jones

So you want a new job for 2017. That’s great! Unemployment is lower than it has been in 7 years, at 5%—and even lower if you have a bachelor’s degree or higher. It’s also a great time to get a raise. Studies show workers might be able to expect a 3.1% raise this year—even higher if you’re a top performer.

Here are a few job market and hiring trends to keep in mind as you head into the new year.

1. There’s more out there than tech and healthcare.

Those sectors are always growing, but they aren’t the only places hiring. There are plenty of opportunities for new jobs and long-range career growth in fields like marketing, sales, transportation, and finance. Aside from nursing, software development, and network/computer system admin, marketing and sales management, industrial engineering, construction, and financial management are all booming.

2. If you are in software development, congratulations!

This is going to be a great year for you. Almost 1 out of every 20 job postings will be right up your alley. Your skills are in incredibly high demand, particularly if you have any expertise in data analytics.

3. Marketing management is your entrance into the tech world.

Some of the biggest companies like Amazon and Facebook need marketing managers. It’s the second highest volume job opportunity after software development. And it’s becoming more and more about digital consumer advertising. Beef up your analytics skills and transition into the tech field with your marketing chops.

4. Millennials, your time is coming.

Nearly 30% of managers these days are millennials—and we can expect that to go up in the coming year. Within the next 10 years, nearly half of these positions could be occupied by millennials—even senior and executive positions.

5. Look out for an increase in video recruitment.

Video is a great medium to convey company culture and to generate excitement and understanding of a company’s mission or product or services. There’ll be lots more of this—even videos shot on cell phones—used for recruitment purposes. There might very well be video job postings and even actual video job offers.

6. Companies are turning to data-driven recruiting.

Did we mention data is key? New technology will help recruiters optimize the process, with data guiding them to better, more qualified candidates and more streamlined methods of recruiting and hiring.

7. There will be a Mid-Atlantic and Southeast boom.

These areas will experience the biggest hiring uptick—up from as much as 40% from last year. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic or the Southeast, or are willing to move there, your odds of getting hired just went up.

About the author

Peter Jones