I was recently asked by another career professional if there are any ‘trends’ that candidates should be aware of in this current employment market. After considering the question carefully, two things come to mind:

One trend that won’t be going away anytime soon is that recruiting and interviewing stages have become much more robust – and much more exhausting (for candidates). It’s expensive to bring on a new employee. Employers no longer have unlimited funds to correct a mistake. For this reason, candidates are sitting through more rounds of interviews and employers are taking extra measures to ensure the candidate will be a good fit. Some of these measures are taken before that candidate even comes in for the interview! Candidates can expect their social media accounts will be reviewed, references will be checked and more filters will be put in place. But the good news is that once you’ve been offered a job, you’ve earned bragging rights!

Another trend is that more employers now find their candidates through in-person and social networking. Employers aren’t publicly posting as many jobs like they used to (unless they are required to, by law). For the past few years it was alright if a candidate wasn’t on LinkedIn, or had a ‘skeletal’ LinkedIn profile. That’s no longer acceptable. Having a sub-par LinkedIn profile or a non-existent profile is now just as damaging as having a sub-par resume.

These are the two biggest trends in hiring that I believe are here for the long run.