Are you staying ahead of the crowd in your career and your career field?
The other day I had coffee with a friend, Paul, who used to be in recruiting. Now he is VP Sales for a wonderful background check service, PreTrax. I was curious why he left executive search. His story struck me.
Paul said twenty years ago he predicted that artificial intelligence would replace the headhunter so he planned his next career.
Let that sink in a minute.
A couple of things about this statement are startling.
Artificial intelligence will replace the recruiter? Twenty years ago? Wow. I didn’t see that coming. And yet here we are.
This morning in my LinkedIn feed I found this advertisement for a recruiting robot. Paul was right!
Paul correctly predicted that a robot using artificial intelligence (AI) would be able to absorb a job description then go into the Internet to places like LinkedIn to find people whose profiles match the keywords describing the ideal candidate. The AI would screen the candidates then forward to the hiring manager the names and contact information of candidates out in the world who match the criteria, thus eliminating the need for a person to take these steps.
No more headhunter soon. Time to find another gig.
Paul planned his second career because he saw into the future that his present career would disappear. He didn’t wait until Ally the Recruiting Robot delivered the termination notice. Paul is happy, healthy and successful in his new career that he chose in his own timeframe.
We can pull a lot of lessons from this story:
- Does your social media profile in LinkedIn and other social media platforms allow you to be found by Ally the Recruiting Robot or a real headhunter looking for someone like you? Are you using the right keywords? Do you even know what those keywords are? If not, get on it right now because the future is here.
- Are you thinking about your future? What game changers are coming at you down the road that will impact your career? What are you willing to do about it right now to prepare for the future?
Don’t get caught in a dead end career or in a dead end company. Think realistically about your future. Be prepared for the next step before you have to take it. Utilize all your resources including social media platforms to publicize your strengths.