If you’ve been out of the job market for a while–well, things have changed. Career skills are changing. Artificial intelligence tools can make job search both easier and harder. And the human touch may be more essential than ever. Here’s how to get a job in 2025.
Have an effective job search strategy.
Many job seekers are now using AI tools to shoot their resume out to hundreds and hundreds of job openings at once. The downside is that recruiters are more overwhelmed with resumes than ever, so your resume is likely to drown in a great, big sea.
The solution is: Don’t be a resume, be a person. What do I mean by that somewhat glib advice? Not that you don’t need a resume–of course you do, and I’ll offer advice on that shortly. I mean that you’ll have a much better chance of landing an interview if your resume is accompanied by a personal referral. Therefore, cultivating referrals should be your main job search activity. You may also need to build relationships with recruitment agencies.
Have an effective resume.
Robot-proof your resume so it performs well in applicant tracking systems (ATS) powered by artificial intelligence. First, make sure your document includes the right keywords. To determine what words and phrases are important, identify at least five or six job postings that are typical of the type of job you’ll be applying to. Make a list of the most crucial job duties, skills and qualifications they mention. Tip: The most important items will often appear toward the top, and/or will be turn up in many postings. Make sure you use those keywords and phrases throughout your resume, especially in your descriptions of your work and accomplishments.
Once you have the right verbiage, format the resume to work well in applicant tracking systems. Avoid complicated formats with columns, graphics and hyperlinks, all of which can cause a resume to function poorly in an ATS.
In 2025, you have a choice of having an AI tool write your resume, writing it yourself, or hiring a resume writer. Each approach has its pros and cons.
Artificial intelligence is often unintelligent. It can generate a decent first draft, but you then need to look the document over very carefully and critically. Does it grab attention? AI writing is often boring. Does it highlight your best selling points? Is it accurate? Is it easy to read? You’ll probably need to revise after considering these points.
Whether you use AI or write the resume from scratch, there’s a lot to know about doing it well. I recommend you read a good book such as Modernize Your Resume by Wendy Enelow and Louise Kursmark.
Hiring a professional resume writer can result in resume that’s a truly strategic marketing document, but if you pay less than $500, you’ll probably get something less than brilliant. On the other hand, paying more is no guarantee. Resume writers vary widely. Readmy post, 3 Warnings about Your Professional Written Resume, and then shop carefully.
Don’t neglect interview prep.
Here too, AI tools such as ChatGPT can be helpful, but we all know about AI’s tendency to “hallucinate.” A human interview coach will generally give wiser, more customized advice. Fortunately, interview coaching is quite affordable, and you can get very well prepared for a few hundred dollars. I offer coaching appointments at $180 per hour, or even less if you take advantage of one of my discounted coaching packages.
Update your skills.
The skills employers were excited about during your last job search may no longer be so hot. Good news: developing new skills doesn’t usually mean going back to college. Good online programs can be found at Coursera, Udemy, Khan Academy, Skillshare and LinkedIn Learning.
Read job postings to find out what skills are in demand currently. But what skills will be in demand five years from now, or in 10 years? Research this via reputable sites such as Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), LinkedIn, Indeed, and the World Economic Forum. Use multiple sources to get a well-rounded view. You may also want to use Glassdoor, but read my post, Is Glassdoor Reliable for Job Seekers?
Some of these sites may initially look a bit overwhelming, simply because there’s so much there. For example, I visited BLS and found the home page crowded with many, many links and headings, and I wasn’t sure where to look for skills projections. In this case I used the site’s search bar and found the skills projections in seconds. I then clicked the Computers and Information Technology heading and discovered that the demand for computer programmers is expected to decrease 9.6% between 2023 and 2033, while the demand for computer and information research scientists will likely increase by 25.6%. Useful information for planning a career!
A smart, up-to-date job search gets results faster.
To get a job in 2025 requires some new approaches. Update your skills, cultivate referrals, work to convey your value effectively in writing and in interviews–and get a great job sooner.
