What makes finding a job in 2016 different from finding one in 2006?

High School Musical was the best-selling album that year, Helen Clark was the Prime Minister, and to really put this into perspective; the iPhone didn’t even exist in 2006. (The first generation iPhone would go on to be released a year later in June 2007.) One of the biggest things that has changed in the last 10 years is the way people find jobs. Let’s look at 2016 versus 2006 with a focus on job seeking and recruitment.  Mobile It’s no exaggeration to say that the iPhone and Android have changed the world in a major way. Many of us couldn’t fathom the idea of going a day without our smart phone. Mobile has also completely revolutionised the way people are interacting with their job hunt. Statistics indicate that the majority of online content consumed by people is via mobile. For employer this has huge implications about advertising to their potential candidate pool. All businesses need to have an online mobile presence otherwise it is extremely limiting the way it can do business. Employers need  to be where their audience is and where they are consuming content. Those places are social websites, websites of interest and apps! Uberization The term uberization takes its name from the company Uber which has completely disrupted the global taxi industry by creating a business model allowing private drivers to be paid for providing what is essentially the same service as a taxi. Technology is replacing the ‘middle man’. With the advent of internet and smartphone apps, people and businesses now have the opportunity to instantly connect in way they never could before. An example of a business creating this kind of disruption in the employment sector is New Force. Rather than posting an ad on a job board or in paper you can now search a community of profiles then match with job seekers who fit your exact criteria. These include skills, and location then review their profiles and send an expression of interest. For job seekers in 2006 the job hunt might have involved trawling through hundreds of ads on a job board, or looking at Saturday employments ads in local papers. In 2016, all you need to do is enter your details such as skills and location into a database like newforce.co.nz, then be matched to specific jobs that are suitable for you. Social Networking In 2006 Facebook had 12 million users and looked like this. Today, Facebook has over 1.65 billion profiles of active monthly users who consume content via the website, communicate via messenger and upload and share images via subsidiary Instagram.That is a huge pool of people with endless granular targeting opportunites. For job advertising this means  you can specifically target potential candidates based on the industry they work in, their interest and hobbies, and their location.  Technology is replacing the ‘middle man’. Choice With the advent of technology solutions people now have the ability to more easily find work that matches their skills rather than simply their experience. Emerging players in the jobs sector such as New Force provide a platform for graduates and entry level job seekers to find and match with jobs via a profile that includes their skills and relevant details. Allowing employers and job seekers to match directly based on specified criteria removes the time needed to decipher whether the candidate had the skills and aptitude neccesary to do the job.  Show employers you have the skills to do the job –  Find out how; www.newforce.co.nz