Americans Are Looking for a Change in Their Careers, but Don’t Know Where to Start

LinkedIn just released new research around how people are thinking about their careers as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Over half of American workers report experiencing a career awakening and want more fulfillment from their work.
LinkedIn has launched a new set of tools to help employers and employees find their right fit.

The pandemic has made the entire world, and especially the workforce, reconsider their priorities. On October 27, LinkedIn released its new consumer research around how people are thinking about their careers as a result of the pandemic, as well as delving into whether working Americans are feeling fulfilled at work.

According to LinkedIn’s October 2021 survey of 2,000 working Americans:

59% have experienced symptoms of a career awakening since the pandemic; they want more fulfillment, yet they’re overwhelmed and intimidated about their career path.
Almost half (47%) of working Americans say the pandemic has changed how they feel about their career, with 73% of these workers saying they feel less fulfilled in their current jobs.
59% say feeling happy and fulfilled in their role drives them to produce their best results as an employee.
41% feel overwhelmed, afraid or intimidated when they think about switching to a new career.
37% say they don’t have a clear idea of what they want their career path to look like.
One third (37%) of working Americans are looking for a change in their career, and career changes are up on LinkedIn.

With many people working outside of the office, flexibility is a top priority. LinkedIn is seeing that job seekers are craving remote work.

Of the global searches utilizing LinkedIn’s new filters, 65% are for remote-only jobs, and according to global data from Glint, 87% of workers would prefer to stay remote at least half of the time.

The number of people transitioning in their jobs globally has increased at an unprecedented rate, up more than 50% over last year, and it doesn’t appear that it will be slowing down anytime soon.

Navigating this massive transition is a challenge, so LinkedIn has launched new job tools to help job seekers, hiring managers, and everyone in between.

For those looking for a career change, now is a great time to find more job fulfillment with a record-setting number of open jobs on LinkedIn. People are landing jobs faster than ever and there are fewer applications/competition since January 2021.

LinkedIn is unveiling new features to help job seekers find roles that match their needs, including:

Dedicated remote, hybrid and on-site filters: These filters within the LinkedIn Job Search and Open to Work feature on LinkedIn Profile are designed to help job seekers discover opportunities that match their workplace preferences. Setting these preferences, along with other preferences such as job title, allows you to privately signal to recruiters what you’re looking for so the right job can find you.

Company Pages: This feature will help job seekers get more insight into a company’s workforce policies, like vaccination requirements and other return to office information, company benefits, and more. Employers can highlight their workplace policy information at the top of their Home tab or in the about section to increase transparency, and activate their employees to share more about their workplace culture through new My Company Tab features.

Service Pages: This will be geared towards entrepreneurs, freelancers, side-hustlers, or those seeking a non-traditional career path which make it possible to share more about services they offer, manage projects, get discovered and connect to opportunity right from their LinkedIn Profile.

For those looking for additional resources and guidance, LinkedIn is making the following learning courses free until November 30, 2021:

The “Finding a Job During the Great Reshuffle” learning path will teach you how to put together an action plan to achieve your dreams as the job market heats up and new opportunities appear.
The top 15 LinkedIn Learning courses from the past year will help you navigate the changes to our world of work and embark upon the #GreatReshuffle.

LinkedIn Career Expert Andrew McCaskill provided his insight on how people get more of what they want out of their career.

“The pandemic has changed how people feel about their career. They want more fulfillment, work-life balance, better pay, and so on. We’ve heard that people are reimagining their vision of success, feeling bored, or seeking advancement. Some have a desire to find a new job that better meets their passions or what they love. But 41% of working Americans feel overwhelmed, afraid or intimidated when they think about switching to a new career. Taking it one step at a time is key,” McCaskill told Allwork.Space.

He says that for those looking to get more out of their career and possibly switch fields or industries, start with your skills. It can be tough to know where to start, especially when wanting to make a larger change, but the key is to be able to identify and highlight your skills that can translate seamlessly between industries.

Now could also be the time to upskill, so McCaskill recommends taking an online course to supplement the skills you have with skills you need to land a new role. LinkedIn is unlocking LinkedIn Learning courses (making them free until the end of November) to help build the skills people need to make their next career move.

“Something we’re hearing from a lot of recruiters is that they’re seeing an influx of people applying for roles that aren’t a fit, or to multiple roles at different levels at the same company, which makes it clear you’re just applying to everything and seeing what sticks. Instead, be intentional when you apply for something new – be prepared to articulate why you’re a good fit, and be ready to give examples of how you’ve demonstrated those transferable skills in the past,” McCaskill told Allwork.Space.

McCaskill suggests that job seekers should:

Find a mentor. From LinkedIn’s research, more than half (55%) of Americans have never had a mentor. Mentors are great for those seeking guidance.
Consider a side hustle. One third (32%) of workers who’ve experienced symptoms of a career awakening are trying to pursue a side hustle or passion project in a new field, and 1 in 4 people have a side hustle (“another job they’ve picked up during the pandemic”) according to a recent a LinkedIn News poll.

“Think through what a side hustle would look like to you – what would you do, how much time would it take, could it eventually become your primary source of income – and try dipping a toe in with small projects to start if you do want to test the waters,” McCaskill told Allwork.Space.

How Is LinkedIn Impacting the “Great Reshuffle?”

As the demand for remote shows no signs of slowing, LinkedIn is launching dedicated remote, hybrid, and on-site filters within the LinkedIn Job Search and Open to Work feature on LinkedIn Profile, designed to help job seekers discover opportunities that match their workplace preferences. Setting these preferences, along with other preferences such as job title, allows you to privately signal to recruiters what you’re looking for so the right job can find you.

1 in 8 jobs on LinkedIn are now remote, up from 1 in 67 pre-pandemic, catering to a growing desire for remote/hybrid options. The share of remote job posts on LinkedIn grew more than 8.5x since the start of the pandemic, increasing from 1.9% of global job posts in March 2020 to 16.3% in August 2021.

LinkedIn is launching Company Pages to help job seekers get more insight into a company’s workforce policies, like vaccination requirements and other return to office information, company benefits and more, and the new Service Marketplace is geared towards entrepreneurs, freelancers, side-hustlers or those seeking a non-traditional career path.