During conversations with my clients, I often find myself telling them that the game has changed. Many of them are  looking for work after years of being with one organization and now either that company is going under or the boss has finally upset them enough for them to look for a new job. Whatever the case – whatever has you looking for a new gig, it’s important to know that the job game has changed.

Here are 5 Game Changers.

1. Where to look. The classified ads are a thing of the past. Yes there is Monster and Career Builder but the job search has gone mobile. Here is the top 5 mobile job apps; Jobr, Job Interview Questions, Job Compass, TweetMyJobs, Jobsearch & JobandTalent. Learn more about these apps from this article on FastCompany.

2. How to look. Unemployment is 6.3% so that means there are less openings which means there are more applicants for the jobs which are open. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics estimate that there are 4 million open jobs in the USA right now. (bls.gov) So you have to look more than just occasionally. You can’t look for a new job sometimes and expect to beat out the person who is looking all the time. Look online, use apps, career pages and your network of friends. You can’t simply use one avenue anymore.

3. Identify your brand. Okay, this one is tricky. Not everyone has a brand. If you are an entry level employee then you are still defining your career and your brand. If you have been working for 3-5 years or you are an executive level talent, then you should have a brand. This means you have to know what you are good at, and what you want to be known for…basically, what do you bring to the table? Why should someone pay you to work for them?

4. Social media identity matters. If you like it or not social media and mobile technology are a part of the game now.  Over 93% of all employers look for talent via social media. And trust me they are not all looking for bad things, they are looking for character, personality, communication skills, and influence. 68% of the 93% of employers say they found something positive regarding a candidate online which caused them to hire that person. In other words, they like their social identity so they hired them!

If you do not have a social personality, you run the risk of losing out on job opportunities and being seen as old school. That’s no good!

5. Resumes have changed too. Yes – yes, I have to say it, the way a resume looks today is different than years gone past. 6 seconds is all you get…okay maybe 10. Is your resume scanable? No one is going to sit down and read your 1000 word resume anymore – edit it.

It’s okay to have a link to your website, twitter, LinkedIn or even Facebook account now. It’s okay to drop the home and the just put cell number – that’s the one most of us use anyway. It’s okay to lose the jobs from the 80’s, and now 90’s! You don’t have to tell the employer everything that you’ve done, just  tell them the major accomplishments and value adding duties.

Join the ResumeCrusade – contact me ‘[email protected]’