If you’ve held the same job for many years but are starting to think about switching gears, there are some things you should know about job searching in 2016.

Recently, the Boston Consulting Group and Recruit Works Institute surveyed more than 13,000 individuals from around the world on their job searching habits. Not surprisingly, 55% of job searching happened through job search websites and 35% of those people used their smartphones to do the searching.

If you’re getting back out into the job search world, here are some of the biggest ways your job search for the better!

1. Social media will become your go-to job search platform 
More and more, people are using Facebook and Twitter to gain insight into a company before they apply.  Checking into a company's social media helps you get a better feel for the company's culture- something that's not always clear when looking at their website.

2. You'll perform your own reference checks on the employer.  
Websites like GlassDoor give you a true look at a company based on reviews from their current and past employees. Everything from salaries, benefits, and culture are open for review, no matter how good, bad or ugly. Long before applying you'll know if the company is a good fit for you.

3. Traditional resumes aren't as important as in the past.
In the past, it seemed as if your job searched lived and died by resume. Fortunately, that's not the case anymore.  Many hiring managers are opting for casual conversations with job candidates and in some cases never even ask for a resume. Job descriptions can create such narrow possibilities for candidates that employers would rather hire an experienced candidate with drive rather than hire the person with the closest matching skill set.

 

Of course, these are just three of the many ways that things have changed in recent years and hopefully, they help you land your dream job!

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