3 Strategies to Survive and Thrive in the 21st Century Job Market

3 Strategies to Survive and Thrive in the 21st Century Job Market3 Strategies to Survive and Thrive in the 21st Century Job MarketThe 21st-century job market is rapidly changing, and it can be quite anxiety-inducing thinking about if your job will even exist in ten years. With more jobs being outsourced or replaced with an automated machine, the current workforce is rightfully intimidated by the future. Although we cant predict whats to come, the best strategy is to have a job seeker mindset even when were perfectly happy with our current job. Here are three strategies to help you thrive during career disruptions.Be a lifelong learnerLearning new skills is crucial to remaining employable. If youre not sure what skills will make you the most competitive, scan job listings with similar job functions as your current job or the jobs youre aiming for in the next few years. Another way to identify key skills is to keep up with industry news. Pay attention to trends in new software or techn ology that can affect your role. Being the first person to learn a new technology that will benefit the company can make you indispensable in your current role as well as attractive to other companies. Keep your resume and LinkedIn profile up-to-dateBy keeping your resume and LinkedIn profile current, youre not only ready if a recruiter approaches you with a new job opportunity, but youll be able to review your own career progress. When you update your resume every month or once a quarter, youll notice if youre making progress in learning new skills or taking on new projects. Plus, if you did well on a particular project, youll be able to ask your colleague or supervisor for a recommendation while the project and your effort is still fresh in her mind. Develop relationshipsMost people tend to attend networking events when theyre job hunting, recruiting new talent, or need something. But the first rule of networking is to develop the relationship before making the ask, so this is the perfect time to start developing relationships without desperately needing a job. Its your option to help a connection achieve something, and in the future, your connection will remember your support and be more than willing to help you find a job a few years down the road when you need it.