4 Ways Watching Trends And Breaking News Can Help Your Job Search
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I’d love to get your views on careers and AI and also comments on the industries that are still seeing growth vs those that got hit with layoffs (block, meta). How much will this war, geopolitical events, the midterms impact careers, mobility and how can we cope?
April is National Financial Literacy Month, and trend-following is a popular choice for improving financial prospects. Following trends can also improve job search prospects. Here are four ways market trends and breaking news can help your job search:
1. Growth Areas Have More Job Openings
AI is one example of a growth area that is impacting hiring. Companies are looking for AI- proficient employees. If you have AI skills and/or experience, you can be competitive for more job opportunities. You can also tap into the new companies that emerge from growth trends, such as AI.
2. Emerging Areas Mean Less Competition
If you identify a growing industry, or growing company earlier than others, you face less competition from job candidates not paying as close attention as you. Think of how many more applicants spray and pray into the Magnificent 7 or Fortune 500 companies v. newer, smaller companies who are not yet household names. With smaller companies, you can more easily identify the senior leaders and other decision-makers (and you can network your way in, even if you don’t know anyone).
3. Breaking News Uncover Time-Sensitive Opportunities
This financial consultant should look across their existing pipeline and review how the war, geopolitics, midterms, and other trends and news are impacting their clients. This could uncover time-sensitive opportunities for expanding consulting projects or introducing new services. If there were prospects who weren’t interested in working with you before, breaking news might change their minds, if what they need has changed and how you can help has become more critical. At sales pitches, job interviews and networking meetings, highlighting how your top skills and experience are relevant for today’s market shows prospects that you are a valuable hire for right now.
4. Staying On Top Of New Developments Keeps You Developing
As you identify new technologies or skills to learn, you’re forced to learn to remain competitive. Staying on top of changes in your field also keeps you curious and less complacent. If you’re not interested in how your industry, role or company is developing, then it’s an early warning sign that you may want to change your career or pursue FIRE (financial independence, retire early).
Be Careful About Overdoing It
While staying on top of trends and breaking news is important, it is only one of many activities required for a productive job search. You still need to optimize your LinkedIn and resume and prepare to ace your interview, If the hot companies or industries are not really of interest to you, you may give up your job search too soon and be better off pursuing slower-growth areas that you genuinely care about. Finally, with the speed of today’s news cycle, if you switch your focus every time you hear about something new, you risk creating a frenetic, diluted search, where you know too little about too many targets to really make an impact.
