Dive into the 2024 Job Market: Set Yourself on the Path Toward Success!

Ever felt like you're scrambling to regain your footing after the holiday extravaganza? Laura and Mary are here to guide you through the art of pressing the reset button in January, sharing stories of their own struggles and triumphs in returning to a healthy, organized lifestyle. 

Our candid conversation takes a crucial turn towards the growing influence of AI in career development, unraveling why understanding this technology is no longer optional for professionals aiming to stay ahead of the curve.

As the workplace landscape undergoes a seismic shift, we shed light on the emerging dynamics between employers and employees and why there's an exodus from traditional roles in engineering and administration.

We'll navigate through the fresh expectations employees have for performance reviews, and I'll share actionable insights on steering your career with intention and foresight. 

Join us as we examine the essentials of nurturing a work culture where growth and feedback go hand in hand, ensuring that the new year brings not just resolutions but revolutions in our professional lives.

"Don't get comfortable where you're at, get comfortable with your skill set. "
                                                                                                                                   - Laura Bashore

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Transcript

Mary Fain Brandt: 0:02

Welcome to the Redefine Your Career Journey Podcast, where we help career minded professionals like you become the CEO of your career.

Laura Bashore: 0:11

I'm Laura Bashore and I'm here with my co-host, Mary Fain Brandt. Together, we have over 25 years of experience in career development and coaching.

Mary Fain Brandt: 0:19

We're thrilled to share our insights and expertise with you on this podcast.

Laura Bashore: 0:22

So grab your favorite cup of coffee, tune in and let's start the show.

Mary Fain Brandt: 0:26

Woohoo, laura, I don't know about you. The holidays were amazing in the Brandt family household. Here we only had five guests. I know that you had like 10, but this week between Christmas and New Year's it needs to have its own name and we shouldn't have to work or do anything because my house is a mess. I've got piles of Christmas stuff because I'm the person that right after Christmas I want to put everything away, because I want to start my new year with a house clean, everything put away, and my husband's like no, leave it up to New Year's, and I just can't do it. How about you? When do you put away Christmas?

Laura Bashore: 1:12

Well, you know to your point actually, because I had so many guests here, my house is about as clean as it's been since we moved in. Me and my husband just said we finally feel moved in. We're at two and a half years in this house and we finally just feel moved in. And I had a tub in my kitchen that was just of all the Christmas foods and snacks that I had. So that tub is empty now but we don't take down holiday things until the first we have lights up and stuff. But I agree with you. I am kind of glad to hear that I'm not the only one who just feels lost and doesn't know what's going on. So I just kind of lean into it, though Like I'm confused. I will continue to be confused all week. You'll have half good conversations with me, half of like what are you talking about and that's just. You know what it is.

Mary Fain Brandt: 2:09

I know I hear it, I mean my silly ideas. I'm like Laura, let's get and let's rock it. I just, you know, record three podcast episodes this week where I'm not really busy. You know I've blocked off my calendar. I've had a few client calls and some work, but I'm like this is a great time. And then I'm like, oh, we have to get ready and record podcast.

Laura Bashore: 2:29

Yes, and with me being an hour behind you you know I was on here at 745 in the morning. Oh yeah, so you're really you're working it, but it's okay, my kids are cooperating, it's fine, we're good.

Mary Fain Brandt: 2:45

We're good we appreciate you, we used to do this.

Mary Fain Brandt: 2:47

Yeah, we used to do 7am. Well, I'm excited for January, so I'm trying to get rid of all of the sweets in the house. So I'm sending you know, my guests home with candy because I make like chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, christmas cookies, peppermint bark, chocolate covered pretzels dipped in sprinkles and glitter Like it is a whole production here. So I have a whole bag ready to go to a friend that lives a couple of blocks from me and I'm going to take that over and I'm telling my husband here, eat this lemon cake, eat this fudge, because January is no alcohol, no sweets in our house.

Laura Bashore: 3:22

So that's a double whammy right there. That's a lot I'm planning on just doing dry January. So I'll join you in that one. But sweets aren't that big of a thing for me.

Mary Fain Brandt: 3:35

They're huge for me, which is awful. So it's like it's all got to go out and that's it Kind of like. I feel like the beginning of the year is a good time to like reset after all the holiday. You know, there's a lot of extravaganza going on and eating and drinking a lot more than you normally do or things that you normally do, so I'm like juicing and lots of soups in January for us in the house. My husband is so excited.

Laura Bashore: 4:02

So no sweets, no alcohol and some liquid soups. That's where we're going, Okay.

Mary Fain Brandt: 4:10

Yep, I just made. I made the big batch of fresh vegetable chicken soup and froze it so that we're ready for January. It's just kind of like a reset month, so.

Laura Bashore: 4:20

Well, and I think everybody thinks like that, and that's why we're kicking off our 2024 schedule with today's episode. So what are we going to be talking about?

Mary Fain Brandt: 4:30

Well, we're going to be talking about the landscape of the current market, what you need to know and things you know what you can do about it, and I'd love to kick it off with one of my favorite topics, as you all know if you listen to us at all or follow me on social media AI artificial intelligence. So I want to start with this statistic about AI, because you know I'm very passionate about it. I'm sad, dove all in and AI got my AI certification and this statistic should open your ears and eyes of why you need to understand AI. So nearly all HR leaders 98% of them expect to use AI in 2024, according to a November report from the broadleaf group. So approximately 85% say that they are already using it. So 85% of HR leaders are already using AI. You guys and businesses say that they're going to implement AI in the next 12 months and they're gonna implement it in support, customer service, strengthen IT operations, screen resumes and identify potential candidates. Now they're already screening resumes, kind of with ATS because, that's an AI, but what else?

Mary Fain Brandt: 5:49

what's the next level? So I'm gonna go out and on a limb right now, laura, and say that, no matter what your role is, you need to start learning AI, at least understand it, and see if there are ways that you can implement AI, because if you can talk AI and use AI, that's gonna give you, I think, a little more job security in the upcoming year.

Laura Bashore: 6:12

Well, I agree. I mean that really ties into what we were discussing with Jeff Hunter when we had him on and talking about this very topic, and I think, just like with any other changes that come along, we just need to get comfortable with repositioning, because we have been using AI more than we probably know or understand, and now it's about really leaning into it and understanding how to use that jargon. Half the battle is understanding how to use that and talk about how you utilize AI, because something that you understand, that you've been using, maybe now it has a different term, or maybe now it's just more in depth, and so you're right, you definitely wanna be getting on board with that. Don't wait for it to come to you. Start finding ways that you can connect with, how to integrate that into what you're already doing, so that you can be somebody who's showing that they're an active learner, right, I mean that's what it is Exactly, and if you're someone who works at a smaller company small to mid-size maybe you're the person that helps implement AI in the company.

Mary Fain Brandt: 7:20

Talk about like standing out being seen helping the company grow, because I was helping a local flower shop here understand how to use AI in their business and the flower shop it's a local flower shop. I think there's five employees right, so there's not a big staff. So how can we use AI to help them be more visible and grow their business? So there's opportunity everywhere. It's really about the mindset. Are you going to embrace change and learn how you can use it, or you become a dinosaur and be out of a job?

Laura Bashore: 8:01

I like that analogy You're either moving forward, you're a dinosaur, that's an, that's it.

Mary Fain Brandt: 8:06

Sorry about it.

Laura Bashore: 8:07

She's sweating Laura.

Mary Fain Brandt: 8:11

I call you our stats lady here, so I'd love for you to go ahead and share some of the these are November 30th stats of what's going on in the job market.

Laura Bashore: 8:22

Well, I agree with this stat too. So the unemployment rate fell slightly to 3.7%. Us unemployment rate edged down to 3.7. The number of employed persons showed little change from at 6.3 million. So basically what that means is people were choosing their jobs, and I think that's something to remind everyone. Basically, we're now looking into 2024. But when people say that they slow down during the holidays, I can name you four people that I know not clients, but just four people that I even know, who are colleagues, who have new positions that they secured in the last quarter of 2023. And now they'll be starting it in 2024.

Laura Bashore: 9:14

So understand that you may not want to start a new position, but those who are securing the positions that they value and that they want have already done so. So make sure you understand that when we're talking about taking control of your career. The other thing that we have here is the long term unemployed has edged down a little bit. So in November, the number of long term unemployed those who were jobless for 27 weeks or more edged down to 1.2 million, which was compared to 1.3 million just in October. That is a huge change, and I'll tell you when I used to run the career centers in Escondido and Oceanside. Here we were referred to the long term unemployed, as they were referred to as work, our adults in our program, and so that's something to think about because that is a real stat that is tracked. I was part of an agency that did track that. So to see that big of a job, that is a really good improvement. And it also shows don't be afraid of the gap, figure out how to position yourself because you are still employable.

Mary Fain Brandt: 10:27

And I just want to throw out there because I don't know about you, laura but I hear all this chatter and the job market sucks. No one's hiring. I've been unemployed for nine months and there are legitimate people that are having trouble finding the right job, so I don't want to take away from that. But when you look at this, overall, the job market is improving. So don't despair and don't give up, because we hear a lot of chatter from colleagues and clients. The job market sucks. I can't find a job. I've been looking for three months or six months and I don't think it's the job market. I think the job market is so strong.

Laura Bashore: 11:14

I mean, honestly, that's where you pair up with somebody like you and I and it's not to just plug that, but that really is the thing I always say within three months of your job search. So you haven't been asked to interview or gotten past a screening, then you need to reach out and have somebody help you, and that's where it starts.

Laura Bashore: 11:36

And if you have been interviewing, you need to reach out to somebody who can help you go through coaching with your interviewing skillset, because you should be getting job offers. That's just how it is.

Mary Fain Brandt: 11:49

And the bigger jobs, like the C level jobs. Those take a little longer to secure. There's a process.

Mary Fain Brandt: 11:55

They do You're interviewing. Usually I'm going to go out and limb and say it's not a 30 day interview, get the job. Those C level jobs, those are intense interview process, so don't give up. So, like Laura was saying, if you're stuck, if you need some guidance, we do have a joint program, so you get two coaches for the price of one and we help you with everything from LinkedIn positioning, resume revamps, outreach on LinkedIn networking and resumes. Wait, I already said that Interviews the whole gauntlet.

Laura Bashore: 12:31

Interviews.

Mary Fain Brandt: 12:33

We're going to drop that in the show notes If you're interested in our caffeinated career packages. So what else do we have to share about? Excuse me, about the job market at this time.

Laura Bashore: 13:58

Well, I think so, how we saw a lot of shift, but not a lot of shift in the numbers, but just those who were coming out of being unemployed. Likewise, the quit rates have slowed too, so less people are leaving those positions. Hopefully that means that they are in a position that they love or where they found that they are making the contributions that they want. So, ok, we'll вот rid of that. In addition to that, you've got more companies are posting their salaries, and some of that is because it's a requirement. But I will just say that that caveat of you know, having a 40 50 thousand dollar range, when the range is unrealistic.

Mary Fain Brandt: 14:48

You know, I mean yeah, yeah, anyways.

Laura Bashore: 14:53

Moving on, take it with a grain of salt right this is positive, negatives, as always in life, and then job seekers are increasingly looking outside of their current field. So a lot of transition, figuring out what that's next, what that next step is gonna look like. So I Think here we've listed a couple of industries that are kind of picking up right, or is this? Are the industries that?

Mary Fain Brandt: 15:23

people the largest jumps in the workforce since 2019. It's civil engineering, industrial engineering, administrative assistant and Electrical engineering. Those are the five industries that people are actually looking to leave. They have the biggest jumps and for you know, I guess, a lot of different reasons. I don't have the facts on that as why they're looking to leave, but they're looking to pivot or try something else. I I will touch on you guys what employers Need to be looking at in 2024, what are the trends and and what do employees need to do to employers need to do to keep the good Employees attract the talent that they're looking for.

Mary Fain Brandt: 16:13

And the number one thing I found this interesting, and I agree with it, is Employees want more performance reviews. Now, I'm not talking about the annual performance review, what they are looking for. Our employees want timely, specific and meaningful feedback from their managers. Are you listening, you guys? Rather than relying on the annual performance review, some companies are shifting to more frequent and Informal check-ins throughout the year, and I've got two stories to share with you. The first one Amazon. You guys know my husband works at Amazon and they actually do this he the out. The annual performance review is the larger one, but they actually I think it's every three months, he gets an informal review with his boss so to help him keep moving up the ladder, and I think that is critical. So I know Amazon's doing this.

Mary Fain Brandt: 17:10

Number two, my own story. I worked at the Bishop School for ten years in loja and when we had a shift in the in the, my boss, so I went from the headmaster, who'd been there forever, to a new head of school. She was there for I was there four years with her. Never had a performance review, ever right. And then you know ever, in four years I Worked for the top, for the top person. You know, I was her executive assistant and the executive assistant to the board of trustees. So I had a lot of responsibilities and in four years never had a performance review. And this is a lesson learned. You guys never had the performance review.

Laura Bashore: 17:53

And then I had one and it was the worst one I ever got in my life, and so wait, she trusted you for four years to not give you any feedback on anything and let you just run with it. And then, year four, what happened? You said it was the worst you ever had.

Mary Fain Brandt: 18:10

It was the worst my mom. That was when my mom was sick. So you know, if you guys know my story, my mom had Alzheimer's so she Um started a fire one day. She went missing. We have the SWAT team out for her. She was in the hospital emergency like I had all this personal stuff going on, right.

Mary Fain Brandt: 18:27

So did I make mistakes? Yes, am I human check? Yep, I'm not a robot. So I made mistakes, but she never addressed it. Then, yeah, she she said oh well, you need to fix it. What did you do? And, of course, you fix a mistake and you move on. That's what I learned. Like you don't dwell on it, you learn from it, fix it and and address what happens so you don't do it again.

Mary Fain Brandt: 18:50

So that last year, I got the worst performance review of my entire career and she listed out like four big mistakes that I made that entire year and the writing was on the wall like that was her way to get me out. Yeah, it's all like in hindsight, like I'm fine because look where I landed right. However, that's the thing that Laura and I, one of the things that we are trying to educate our audience about is you need to become the CEO of your career. You need to take charge, you need to manage it. Don't wait on your boss, your manager, your co-workers or the company that you work for to promote you, to tell you what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong. So performance reviews need to change. We've been saying this for a long time, laura. I believe they need to be quarterly and they don't have to be a full report Right.

Laura Bashore: 19:43

No, I had you had those quarterly check-ins, things would have been different, and at least you would have left Filling a type of compassion that was out there, because if things don't know workout, they don't work out right. But at this point now you don't have that, and so that's something for employers to think about too. You know, a lot of times they'll do like let's do an exit review. Well, if you'd like real feedback, you need to give real feedback as things are going along.

Mary Fain Brandt: 20:12

Um, and that speaks to the culture, because if you don't think employees are going to talk, if you treat employees with respect and can, consideration and grace, even if they leave, even if you fire them, they're going to remember how it was done, right, and it's going to be like okay, I, you know, I did make those mistakes and, yeah, she had the right to do that. Um, it's just different feeling and the culture is different. And so, you know, I didn't get fired, I, it was a joint decision. I'm like you're right, you know what, and I didn't say like that.

Mary Fain Brandt: 20:47

But I'm like yep, end of school year and she wanted to announce it and I was like, no, you don't get the glory of announcing that, so everyone can come and talk to me, because I don't want that. So, literally a week before the last day at the end of a school, I was like, okay, we can put out an email quietly. And then, of course and that's what I didn't want, because I am a professional and I didn't want to bad mouth anyone, right then, because that's not who I am. But let me tell you it does speak to the culture of the community. So, performance really does?

Laura Bashore: 21:19

It certainly does. Yes, um, you know, I had something real quickly that I wanted to throw in to talk about because, as you were talking, this popped into my head as well. Over the holiday, I did have a client I was working with who, um, in the middle of our project, we were going to be working towards an internal promotion Show me to help get everything ready for it and, um, in the middle of that, she called me and said hey, we are going to have to change this because I'm no longer up for the internal promotion. I just got laid off Right before Christmas. Right before Christmas, you know, and this is somebody who was doing some of those things that we talk about, which is getting involved in the community. She's on a board of directors for a nonprofit, like she, and she's a little bit on the younger side, but she's really getting involved, and I think that that got mistaken for job security. So listen to.

Laura Bashore: 22:20

What I want to get across to our audience is that. So one of the trends that has been happening is that hiring had slowed a little bit, but also layoffs had slowed a little bit. In a regular, thriving economy, you do have layoffs that occur. It actually doesn't mean that it was you, but it is with the restructuring of organizations and so she's. I was looking over the resume and she has been doing the thing where, you know, every two, two years has been a change in position. But she's also in the nonprofit sector, so you need to understand that if you're in an industry where there's a lot of turnover, you need to expect to be turned over. Those decisions aren't always made on you and that's why keep yourself ready, keep yourself engaged and also every two to three years is actually how you can control moving and progressing forward in your career. So it's not a bad thing that.

Mary Fain Brandt: 23:27

I just wanted to throw that out there, yeah.

Laura Bashore: 23:30

I just wanted to throw that out there.

Mary Fain Brandt: 23:32

That's a really good point is that layoffs are going to happen. I've been laid off like three times. I know you've never experienced that right. You just jump, you just move. You were the mover. That's a great.

Laura Bashore: 23:43

I'm the mover, but I was fired one time. I was fired one time. I can't believe that and deservedly so, so it's fine.

Mary Fain Brandt: 23:50

See, yeah, but I've been laid off. But it and it does happen at the end of the year and it sucks, let's just say it. Getting laid off at the end of the year, at Christmas time, sucks and I wish employers didn't do it. But they're looking at their year end, they're looking at their financials right, that's part of it. They're restructuring so they can have a better next year and it's going to happen. So don't take that personally.

Mary Fain Brandt: 24:13

But if you do what Laura and I suggest and become the CEO of your career, you're ready. You've built this network that you can reach out to on LinkedIn. Your resume is updated. You know twice a year that resume should be updated. Your LinkedIn is updated. You know, you practice, you stay relevant. If you do get laid off or fired, you're ready. All you know you. You go. You know in two weeks like you need. You need to take time to process, but then you're ready to start your job search. So it's and it's not always a bad thing. It leads to a new opportunity. So I wish your client all the best of luck. And nonprofit industry that's a that can be a challenging one.

Mary Fain Brandt: 24:56

You have to understand the industry that you're in and what's going to happen.

Laura Bashore: 25:01

I think, especially for younger workers or those who are starting out in their career, because she's a freshly graduated 2016. So, still in the beginnings of career, and just you know, work with somebody to help you kind of stay up, be show you, guide you how to build your network, like you were talking about Mary, because it's always about being prepared for the next opportunity and that means don't get exactly comfortable where you're at, but get comfortable in your skill set.

Mary Fain Brandt: 25:35

Oh, I love that and I think that we should just end on that. Laura, say that again. Wait, is that? Don't get comfortable where you're at, get comfortable with your skill set. So, you guys, we're going to I think we're going to wrap up this episode with that because, laura, that is profound. We need to make that a quote and post that everywhere. So stay positive stay connected and, and what else, stay prepared.

Laura Bashore: 26:02

Stay prepared and caffeinated. You always need to, and caffeinated.

Mary Fain Brandt: 26:06

And, on that note, we're going to have to take a break and end this episode, because I am out of coffee.

Laura Bashore: 26:11

If you enjoyed the podcast.

Mary Fain Brandt: 26:12

Show us some love. Please rate, review and subscribe to our podcast, and if you have any feedback, go ahead and share that with us too, because we want to hear from you and don't forget to visit our website.

Laura Bashore: 26:23

You need to find your career journey that can help you take the next step in your career.

Mary Fain Brandt: 26:28

We'll see you next week with another episode was to help you redefine your career journey. Until then, stay focused, stay motivated and stay caffeinated.