Grit and grind will always matter in the job search as much as having adequate hard and soft skills. But hard work in years to come will look much different as a does today. Partly due to how job seekers will market present themselves to the world long before a single employer is interested.
Many surveys including Remote.co predicts half of the population will be remotely employed by 2020. This will require a major change in the way we navigate our careers. Everyone should imagine what 2020 will look like for their career. I have, and this is what I saw as takeaways.
Your life lessons matter in your career.
Although hardships are not a direct career accomplishment, it is part of the fiber of your career trajectory and success building blocks. Resilience is what employers will need to see more of as opportunities are more global and the work/life balance lines burr. Navigating your career becomes the "Scylla and Charybdis" because mobile career is not a haven everyone thinks it will be. The cost will need to be counted whether it's life style changes or career choices. It won't be easy. Just be ready.
Compensation negotiation is constant.
As you consider salary as a priority, you'll also need to consider how much everything else means to you in your negotiation package. Healthcare packages become more costly and on the fringes of unaffordable for the long term. Packages will change during the duration of one employment stint, not just from employment to employment. Pensions and social security will have changed. Are you still thinking about saving for retirement? You'll need to change the way you think of retirement? It will be a luxury if you can.
A clear career trajectory ten years ahead will be rare if not impossible.
Technology shifts are impossible to predict five or ten years down the line. Everything is about automation through robotics or virtualization. Time and productivity for everything is measured, so unless you can prove you can do things quicker, better, and faster, it will be harder to compete for technology careers. You will need to prove it before you can consider being competitive in the market.
Your network is your career navigation.
Those who are vigilant and connected to their networks discover jobs more seamlessly than ever. Social proof is the norm rather than the exception. There is a clear difference between a strong network and a weak one based on the relevance of your connections, and their connections. Not only your direct connections matter, but also 2nd degree connections matter more.
Your team will matter more than your boss.
We've seen the rise in teams interviewing job candidates. In 2020, a candidate enthusiasm for working at a company is based on his or her projected team. Remote work as a norm will promote team branding and the entrepreneurial spirit. Individual branding is essential to attract the team as catalyst for hiring. Individual accolades will result from excelling within a role.
Mobile, agile, visible, and adaptable.
One of your options may not include physically moving, but understand roles with movable parts are interchangeable. Technology will create opportunities as much as opportunities will fade as the need for companies to alter business plans and objectives. Although the quality of your work is stellar, doesn't guarantee its relevance from one year to the next, or between companies.
Career title focus signals a failure to brand.
Having one job is complacency--so we understand. The problem will stem from pursuing one job. If you want to brand yourself beyond 2020, several roles are needed. The preparation to use different skills within different roles is critical. Although most will say you can't be an expert in everything, you must offer several specialities because it's likely you'll have three or more part-time jobs while you're young for years to come.
Failure to take control of your career now will become more difficult in 2020. By then, the cliches such as "fill out many applications as you can" and "send your resume everywhere" are heard in movies as a punchline, not as viable advice. If you want some indications of how your brand appears now, look at your LinkedIn headline and does it speak value, or does the title of your position stand out. If it's the latter, it's not too late to relaunch your brand for 2017.
