What is the Great Resignation?
2021 was a defining year for the world of work— it was the year of the ‘Great Resignation’. The whole globe watched as tidal waves of workers quit their jobs at rates never seen before.
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the United States, the number of people that resigned from their jobs reached unprecedented highs in November 2021, with 4.5 million workers walking out the door. China, India and many countries in Europe also experienced a mass exodus of workers.
The phenomenon that is the Great Resignation has captured the intrigue of many around the world. But it is more than just a catchy phrase. It is a real economic trend, driven by real people who have dared to rethink the concept of work and careers.
Why are people leaving their jobs?
Skeptical critics may characterize ‘great resignee’s as lazy individuals who simply do not want to work. However, the real motivation behind thousands of workers quitting their jobs so decisively has to do with reclaiming agency and control around one’s career and productivity.
During the pandemic, many workers experienced a small glimpse of what life is like without the daily constraints of being confined to an office, and now they can never return to the status-quo.
The Great Resignation is about taking a pause to reconfigure what work means and to actively pursue or create a job that satisfies one’s newfound meaning of work.
Re-entering the job market after the Great Resignation
If you are one of the millions who parted with an unsatisfying job in 2021, chances are you will be ready to begin working again sometime in 2022. Fortunately for you, the Great Resignation has created an almost equally historic hiring crisis for employers.
A study published in Fortune magazine in late 2021 found that 73% of CEO’s at Fortune 1000 companies anticipated a worker shortage in 2022. Additionally, 57% identified talent acquisition as one of their companies most difficult emerging challenges.
About 35% of CEO’s have already started expanding benefits to keep employee turnover from being rampant and to entice new talent.
In the United States alone, a staggering 10.6 million open positions were available in November 2021. This is an extraordinarily unique time to re-enter the workforce.
What people will look for in a job when they return to work?
For many great resignee’s, job flexibility and the ability to do remote work will be major deciding factors when searching for a new position.
Many companies have already adopted flexible work into their culture following the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. And many more companies are considering permanently transitioning to flexible and remote work to appeal to the new wave of job searchers.
With location removed from the equation, employers now have access to the global talent pool. It is more competitive to land a job with a company that aligns with your work values now than it was before.
How to be successful among the new wave of job seekers?
This begs the question - how can you land a flexible work position in 2022? To be successful you will have to show your potential employer that you are capable of high performance in a flexible work environment.
A winning resume for remote work
One of the most valuable tools that you have to show your potential employer that you are capable of performing highly is your resume.
That being said, writing a CV or resume for a flexible or remote position is unlike writing a resume for an ordinary 9-to-5. If you do not approach it correctly you could potentially find yourself in a non-satisfying work environment similar to that of the pre-Great Resignation era.
For remote work, employers look for very specific traits when screening applicants. They seek self-starting, organized and disciplined individuals. A successful CV or resume will provide proof that you possess these qualities.
Write a Winning Resume
Here are some tips on how to write a winning CV or resume to land a remote position.
1) Make sure the quality is high
This is perhaps one of the most important tips, and despite being drilled into job seekers it is often overlooked.
Your resume is a representation of the level of work you can produce. If it includes grammatical or structural errors, this can be a deal breaker for the hiring manager.
Crafting a resume takes time, and you may find that you need several different variations and resume templates depending on the specific roles you are applying to.
Fortunately, there are several online CV and resume building services that offer thousands of free CV and resume templates for just about every type of job, allowing you to create a free cv online. Their tools provide extensive capabilities for customizing your resume with multiple pages and guiding you through the process from start to finish.
2) Tailor the resume to the job
At the very least, hiring managers want to know that you have read the job description. And these days many companies will even use Applicant Tracking Systems to screen candidates' resumes for keywords. It is necessary to tailor your resume to each specific job you apply to.
You should remove previous positions that are irrelevant to the position you are applying for. And you should only include past projects or tasks that relate to the position you are interested in.
If you do not have enough past experience that directly relates to the job you are applying to (for example, if you are making an industry change) then get creative. Think out of the box about how you can link non-related experience to the job you are applying to.
3) Include quantifiable tangible results
One major concern employers have about remote work is the fact that they cannot physically monitor how much you are working each day. This often leads to concerns about productivity.
With remote work, job performance tends to be evaluated based on outputs rather than hours spent working. To impress hiring managers you will have to prove that you are highly productive.
There is no better way to do this than listing quantifiable and tangible results and outputs that you achieved in your previous positions. Quantifying your resume will highlight your impact and symbolize the yield of your productivity.
4) Tell a story
Because remote positions mean a larger applicant pool, it is important that you write a memorable resume.
One way to do this is to tell a story. Don’t just list generic bullet points about your past work experience. You should use your work history as a chance to create an engaging narrative. This should include a description of the situation you were in, the problem faced, the action you took to solve it and of course, a quantifiable result.
It can be tricky to create these types of narratives and present them in a brief and digestible way. Fortunately, there are several frameworks that break down the process into easy steps. The STAR framework is a popular example. Remember that you don't want to go on too long in your resume. Depending on the case, recruiters will appreciate the extra effort to accompany it with a cover letter. Ideally, you will follow the same pattern as with your resume. Now, how long should a cover letter be? Make sure you deliver a structured cover letter. More often than not, only one page will suffice so you can use recruitment one-pager templates as you will want to keep it brief and professional.
5) Show what you can do
In our highly digitized world, simply listing your accomplishments on your resume isn’t enough. You need to go one step further and show your potential employer what you can do. This is especially important for remote work, which often prioritizes what you can produce.
If you have a portfolio that highlights your previous work, this should be referenced in your resume. This may include a website you are featured on, articles you have written, publications and even interviews. You can even add links to LinkedIn accounts or your social media platforms if they are relevant to the type of position you are applying to.
6) Show that you have done your homework
Recruiters will want to know whether you are the right fit for working remotely. Simply listing previous work-from-home experiences is not enough.
Thousands of workers were forced to shift to remote work during the covid-19 pandemic. This does not necessarily mean they were a good fit for flexible work.
Remote work is difficult. It requires practice, impeccable communication and discipline. One way to prove to the hiring managers that you are serious about remote work is to show them that you have been interested in it long before it was trendy.
If you had a previous remote job, highlight that experience on your resume. Stress the number of years you worked remotely.
If you have not worked remotely before, try to identify projects that you worked on at your previous job that showcases skills related to remote work. For example, maybe you managed a small team at your office using Microsoft Teams or Slack.
Leverage the Great Resignation
The Great Resignation has also been coined the terms the ‘Great Negotiation’, the ‘Great Reset’ and the ‘Great Reimagination’. This is for good reason - you have a blank slate of sorts to negotiate and win the type of work you have always aspired to do.
If you approach these opportunities with intention and strategy, you will be sure to succeed in this new and exciting phase of your work life.
