Fundamentals of Job Searching

The fundamentals of job hunting have not changed dramatically in the last 50 years. Job seekers still need a resume to summarize their experience, skills and abilities. Employers still expect a cover letter to accompany and introduce the resume. As in 1950, many job seekers identify desirable positions through personal contacts and networking. And, just as it was two generations ago, few of us obtain positions without interviewing with our prospective employer at least once.

Why then, we may wonder, do the tasks of selecting a career and finding employment seem so challenging -- even, at times, daunting? One reason for this, surely, is that the society in which we now look for careers and jobs feels more competitive, complicated and confusing than in the past. And it feels this way because it is this way. The reason for this has to do with the accelerated pace of change. The phenomenon of change, always a feature of human life, has itself changed. Is is occurring at a faster rate than ever before in human history. Moreover, despite our love of future-telling, rapid change makes the art of prediction hazardous for those who crave certainty about what is to come.