You need to have exceptional job search skills if you want to buck the trend in the job market. You have to be prepared to get beyond the old-fashioned job search skills. Or you run the risk of falling victim to some sad realities.

Take a look at these discouraging statistics:

1. Americans are working for less pay than they have worked for in the past. Organizations adding jobs are paying an average of $14.65 an hour. Those discarding jobs pay $16.92.

2. 5 of the 10 fastest growing occupations over the next decade are DEADEND, e.g. retail clerks, janitors and cashiers. In addition, more people are working part time than ever.

3. It takes an unemployed worker an average of 20 weeks to find a job . . . 50% longer than in the 1970’s.

4. Jobs created in the next two years will pay an average of $36,000. Jobs lost in the last three years paid $43,000.

5. By 2015, an estimated 3.3 million service jobs will be lost to off-shoring or technology.

What does this mean to you?

It means you have to be on top of your job search skills game if you’re entering today’s sophisticated job market. You must understand the dynamics of today’s marketplace and play by its rules. The old-fashioned last-century approaches just don’t cut it anymore.

For example, we used to think (back in the day) that the way to find a job was to write a good resume and then get it out to as many hiring resources as possible. OK. I’m not saying you won’t get a job that way. But it will take weeks or months. And what you wind up with is something you’ll have to settle for because you don’t have any other choices.

If you want to buck the statistical realities of the job market . . . if you want to lock up a high-paying job in a matter of days instead of the 20 weeks mentioned above . . . then you need to make some changes in your job search skills. In short, you need to abandon the old 20th Century methods in favor of strategies and techniques that are consistent with the marketplace.

In other words, you have to refocus your job search skills in the direction of meeting employers’ expectations rather than promoting what you want. For instance, an objective statement on your resume is meaningless to a hiring manager who wants to know what you can do for him/her that will contribute to the organization going forward.

If you can’t do that you just missed the train! And you’ll never enjoy the rewards of the gravy train. It’s up to you!

Image taken on 2006-05-20 18:15:59. Image Source. (Used with permission)