2011 Employment Trends Supercharged with Twitter

One thing I always advise my career coaching clients:

"Don't assume a hiring authority will understand your company-speak. Use generic words to spell out your skills and experience. On your resume and in your job interview, demonstrate your job hisory with terms that are easily translated into how you can meet an employer's needs."

Even though I espouse "don't assume" in my professional career coaching advice, I sometimes catch myself doing just what I advise against. Let me explain.

Active on Twitter for two years, I tend to assume everyone else knows all about Twitter and its far-reaching capabilities. Wrong! Some career coaching clients have never heard of it, and many don't see its value in helping them with their careers. Last year "The Twitter Job Search Guide" by Susan Britton Whitcomb et al was published. It offers to help you "find a job and advance your career in just 15 minutes a day." If you don't have this book, get it! You won't be sorry! (A few of my tweets even made it into the final draft!)

My 2011 career coaching prediction:

***Twitter will become one of 2011's most-used job search tools - online or off.***

Not only can you find tweets that offer a wide-range of information on job search strategies from careers  experts, it has many users who post quality job openings in a wide range of fields. Recruiters tweet, as do career coaches and consultants, job board owners, and job seekers themselves. The key to Twitter success for a career changer or job seeker entering this new online world is to quickly determine the best "experts" to follow. Then, create specialized lists for each group of experts that you can easily track. And when you start to post your own tweets (which I know you will want to do - it's contagious!), make sure you act as a true professional to keep all that digital dirt at bay.

I spent this morning reviewing my December 2010 tweets with the intention of sharing some predicted 2011 trends with you. But I've come to the conclusion that the real story here isn't the list of employment trends below, but the online technology that enables me to quickly produce this list! (Follow me on Twitter @KCCareerCoach.)

Here are 15+ of my tweeted career-related trends moving into 2011:

1) 84% of working individuals plan to find a new job in 2011. http://bit.ly/gjKo8l
1a) Almost half of British workers are fed up in their jobs. http://bit.ly/ejIgwa

2) Companies may lose top talent as economy recovers. http://bit.ly/gMVsNi

3) 86% of Recruiters Use Social Media. http://bit.ly/9l2BhC

4) One third of U.S. workforce now composed of non-traditional contract workers. http://bit.ly/eMomtr

5) Baby boomers drive change to career services. http://bit.ly/h60bGf

6) Why U.S. companies are reluctant to start hiring. http://bit.ly/dXycOs

7) Survey results: Of workers laid off earlier in 2010 & found new jobs, 61% took pay cuts. http://bit.ly/e06Opt

8) Prediction & hot IT jobs: "In 2011 expect (digital resumes) to become standard for hiring short or long-term employees" http://bit.ly/hnxAB9

9) Companies hire detectives to check out employees playing "hooky." http://yhoo.it/gaSiPz

10) Digital Dirt continues to strike! "Happy about getting laid off? Don't tell Facebook" http://on.msnbc.com/f3X9lx

11) 72% Americans expect to work through retirement, 39% because they have to & 33% because they want to. http://bit.ly/ictjAS

12) Detailed 2011 professional trends report: "Robert Half Professional Employment Report" http://bit.ly/ff2PFh

13) Rising unemployment among less-educated U.S. men part of longer-term trend. http://bit.ly/fmBLW3

14) Fewer people insured by employers. http://on.today.com/dFoHFI

15) Employers Won't Hire The Jobless Because Of The "Desperate Vibe." http://huff.to/e7Fl8t

What you do with this employment and career information is up to you. Please just keep in mind that it is all based on generalities. You are a very unique individual. As such, you have the power to defy all odds when you work from a carefully constructed career plan. Just take the first step and make that plan!

Wishing you ultimate career success in 2011!

Meg

SPECIAL NOTE: I am honored to be a member of the Career Collective, a group of careers experts who each month share their advice and tips to enhance the management of your career. Please link to their blog posts below. Your comments are invited and much appreciated. Please follow our hash-tag on Twitter - #careercollective - as well as follow each expert's individual tweet on this month's topic of "Things job seekers should keep an eye on in 2011 (trends/tools/hiring practices). You'll be amazed at all the free career advice and knowledge that is available to you from these professionals in the careers field!

Social Media Recruiting to Grow Further in 2011, @debrawheatman

Another Year, Another Job Search Begins, @GayleHoward

In 2011, Increase Your Prospects With Better Differentiation, @WalterAkana

4 Lessons Learned From Job Search in 2010, @Careersherpa

Your Career Action Plan for the New Year, @KatCareerGal

Trends Job Seekers Should Look For in 2011, @erinkennedycprw

Things Every Job Seeker Should be Thinking About in 2011, @expatcoachmegan

Let your presence be known or send out a red flag, @MartinBuckland @EliteResumes

How to find a job in 2011: Pay attention to emotional intelligence, @Keppie_Careers

2011 Employment Trends Supercharged with Twitter, @KCCareerCoach

3 Traits for Facing Weather, Employment and Chronic Illness, @WorkWithIllness

Everything old is new again @DawnBugni

Career Trend 2011: Accountability + Possibility = Sustainability, @ValueIntoWords

Career Tools to Check Out in 2011, @barbarasafani

What Was in 2010, What To Expect in 2011, @chandlee

The Future of Job Search: 3 Predictions and 2 Wishes, @JobHuntOrg

Comments

[jeans clearance]

You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this topic to be really something which I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and very broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post.

[Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, Master Resume Writer]

Excellent post, Meg!

I agree that Twitter is contagious, and it's also quite intuitive, once you get past the basics.

Your advice for job seekers to determine the best experts to follow and then create specialized lists to easily track those folks is perfect! What's neat, is even with a short starting list, a job seeker can then watch (and additionally follow) people THOSE folks are following to continue building their lists.

Thanks, also, for sharing 15+ of YOUR tweeted career-related trends - fun!

You always have such great, meaningful messages to communicate!

Jacqui

[Gary Zukowski]

Totally agree (if not somewhat biased... ;-)

The trends we're seeing at TweetMyJOBS.com reinforce your article. We're seeing a pretty steady uptick on signups, traffic, jobseeker inquiries as well as many more companies looking at our service for their Social Media Recruitment Marketing needs. As more jobseekers "get it" regarding how to use Twitter effectively, these trends should continue. Fortunately, we make it an extremely easy door for them to walk through.

Thanks for the article!

Gary Zukowski

[Career Sherpa]

Meg:

What made your post so wonderful is your mastery of technology. OK, you may not call it mastery, but your ability to pull together these significant posts means that you have a firm grasp on how to source and reference critical information. It also means you are constantly consuming information and a life-long-learner! In my book, these are admirable talents!

Your site and posts are wonderful resources for those looking for new employment!

Happy New Year!

[Gayle Howard]

If I hear one more person say "I don't care what people are having for lunch" when describing Twitter, I won't be responsible for my actions! Ok, well possibly that is a little extreme, but there are a lot of misconceptions about social media and in particular Twitter. Twitter has untold power and if a topic captures the imagination of people it can take hold around the world in hours. Just last year in Australia, Kraft actually renamed a product only days after launch due to the immediate, scornful reaction from people on Twitter. If consumer anger can make multinational company like Kraft go against its own marketing and branding advice, you have to know this a medium with power!

Sourcing employers and advice, receiving recommendations, giving recommendations is all part of the way we think collectively these days. (Good or bad!). It certainly will be a growing trend in 2011.

Thanks for the article.

[Megan Fitzgerald]

Meg,

Great collection of tweets! Those stats and stories give us real insight into what is really going on out in the marketplace. Keeping up to date can be a challenge, but as you say Twitter can make connecting, sharing and staying informed easy!

My best,
Megan
@expatcoachmegan

[Rosalind Joffe]

Med - Not sure I agree with you about Twitter but I love reading your tweets here -- they're a nugget. What a good resource. Thanks for sharing here.

[Susan P. Joyce]

Great post, Meg! And, so true that many people reall don't "see" any value in Twitter. I think they just haven't used it, so they don't understand what it offers. I absolutely agree about your point on the wide-range and value of the information available on Twitter. I've learned so much through Twitter. Amazing!
Thanks!
Susan

[Miriam Salpeter, Keppie Careers]

Meg - I hope you are right, as I am a huge fan of Twitter and believe it offers so many (often underused) opportunities for job seekers and anyone trying to manage their careers.

I love your compilation of trend tweets! Thanks for your post and for being a member of the Career Collective!

[Chandlee]

Meg,

Great stats; thanks for putting all of the statistics in context for us here--most helpful. I'll be bookmarking this as one of my own go-to resources.

Thanks so much also for the shout-out to The Twitter Job Search Guide. Deb, Susan and I really appreciate it.

All the best,
Chandlee Bryan