如果你最近正在找工作,尤其是已經(jīng)在自己所從事的行業(yè)工作了十幾年,你可能會(huì)注意到,越來越多的公司正在尋找簡歷中不常見的多技能人才,甚至可能是迄今為止被認(rèn)為是相對(duì)立的技能。例如營銷崗位要求具有統(tǒng)計(jì)分析專長;軟件工程師和IT項(xiàng)目經(jīng)理要具有創(chuàng)造力、視覺設(shè)計(jì)以及像團(tuán)隊(duì)合作這樣的“軟”技能;銷售崗位的升職需要CRM軟件方面的專長。
為什么會(huì)出現(xiàn)這種情況?
歡迎來到“復(fù)合型”工作時(shí)代。勞動(dòng)力分析公司Burning Glass Technologies的報(bào)道在分析了10億多條當(dāng)前和歷史工作招聘數(shù)據(jù)庫后發(fā)現(xiàn),科技正在重新塑造250多個(gè)崗位的工作方式。工作內(nèi)容的日趨復(fù)雜和多技能要求并非是什么新趨勢(shì)——Burning Glass最初于2015年開始跟蹤這一趨勢(shì),但它卻在加速發(fā)展。該報(bào)道預(yù)測(cè),復(fù)合型工作崗位數(shù)量將在未來10年中增長21%,是整個(gè)就業(yè)市場10%增速的兩倍多。
復(fù)合化案例:移動(dòng)應(yīng)用開發(fā)人員這項(xiàng)工作在20年前第一款手機(jī)出現(xiàn)之前并不存在,其工作要求看起來似乎跟其他的軟件開發(fā)人員一樣,不外乎良好的編程技能。但事實(shí)并非如此。設(shè)計(jì)移動(dòng)應(yīng)用當(dāng)然需要編程知識(shí),但還涉及用戶界面設(shè)計(jì)、內(nèi)容和營銷。
以數(shù)據(jù)分析為例。Burning Glass的調(diào)查稱,在2010年,僅有150個(gè)崗位面向擅長使用統(tǒng)計(jì)學(xué)來解決商業(yè)問題的專業(yè)人士,而且大多數(shù)都集中在華爾街。與之形成對(duì)比的是,到了2018年,涵蓋幾乎所有行業(yè)的超過170萬個(gè)工作崗位都要求求職者擁有數(shù)據(jù)科學(xué)技能。
對(duì)于那些嘗試在持續(xù)變化的劇痛中進(jìn)行職業(yè)規(guī)劃的人士來說,復(fù)合型工作的崛起帶來了兩個(gè)方面的絕佳機(jī)會(huì)。首先,雇主對(duì)技能組合的需求越奇怪,那么合格的求職者就越少。Burning Glass的首席執(zhí)行官麥特·斯基爾曼說:“招聘者將這類人才稱為‘紫松鼠’。”為了搶奪這些稀有人才,雇主通常愿意支付不菲的額外薪金。例如,擁有數(shù)據(jù)分析專長的營銷經(jīng)理的薪資通常比普通營銷經(jīng)理高出40%。
復(fù)合型工作的第二大優(yōu)勢(shì)在于,他們有抵御自動(dòng)化的能力。Burning Glass的調(diào)查顯示,約42%的雇員某一天可能會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己將被人工智能取代。作為對(duì)比,復(fù)合型工作的復(fù)雜度相當(dāng)之高,非常倚重于專業(yè)人士的判斷和同理心以及想象力這樣的“軟”技能。Burning Glass預(yù)測(cè),自動(dòng)化可能最終只能取代12%這類工作。
那么如何將自己轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)橐恢弧白纤墒蟆保俊皞鹘y(tǒng)的穩(wěn)定職業(yè)——在從事數(shù)十年的重復(fù)性工作后退休——如今可能僅存在于工會(huì)或者郵局。對(duì)于所有人,終身學(xué)習(xí)是通往這些復(fù)合型工作的重要途徑,事實(shí)上,有可能是必經(jīng)之路。”
當(dāng)然,問題在于,弄清自己應(yīng)該學(xué)習(xí)哪些技能并不是一件容易的事情。斯基爾曼認(rèn)為,要不了多久,雇主會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己難以聘請(qǐng)到足夠的“紫松鼠”,因此他們不得不加大培訓(xùn)和培養(yǎng)現(xiàn)有雇員的力度。與此同時(shí),要找到自己還需要學(xué)習(xí)什么內(nèi)容,其中一個(gè)方法便是查看業(yè)內(nèi)大量的工作招聘內(nèi)容。斯基爾曼解釋說:“在很多行業(yè),各大公司如今正試圖聘請(qǐng)他們認(rèn)為公司在不久的將來會(huì)需要、但目前沒有的復(fù)合型人才。如果你查閱了足夠多的招聘內(nèi)容,就會(huì)逐漸發(fā)現(xiàn)一些新出現(xiàn)的規(guī)律,它們會(huì)告訴你該朝哪個(gè)方向努力。”
密切關(guān)注所在行業(yè)的行業(yè)媒體,以及業(yè)內(nèi)影響力人士在會(huì)議中以及領(lǐng)英群組中所討論的內(nèi)容,此舉也能夠提供重要的洞見。最重要的是,隨著復(fù)合型工作的普及,我們不妨按照冰球傳奇人物維恩·格雷茨基的思維模式來思考這個(gè)問題。一名記者曾經(jīng)問他有什么秘訣。格雷茨基說:“我盯的不是球,而是球要去的方向。”
如今,總有一款技能值得自己去學(xué)習(xí)。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
安妮·費(fèi)希爾是職場專家和問答類專欄作家,是《財(cái)富》雜志21世紀(jì)工作生活指南專欄“Work It Out”的作者。 譯者:馮豐 審校:夏林 |
If you’ve been looking around for a new job lately, and especially if you’ve been working in your field for a decade or two, you may have noticed that more and more companies are looking for combinations of skills that aren’t usually found on the same resume—and may, until now, even have been thought of as opposites. Marketing roles call for expertise in statistical analysis; software engineers and IT project managers are supposed to bring creativity, visual design, and “soft” skills like teamwork with them; and moving up in sales takes expertise in CRM software.
What’s going on?
Welcome to the era of the “hybrid” job. Technology is reshaping the way work gets done in more than 250 occupations, according to a report from workforce analytics firm Burning Glass Technologies, drawn from its database of more than 1 billion current and historical job postings. The trend toward more complex, multi-skilled jobs isn’t new—Burning Glass first started tracking it in 2015—but it’s speeding up. The study projects that hybrid jobs will grow by 21% over the next decade, more than twice the 10% growth rate of the job market overall.
One example of hybridization: Mobile app developers, whose job didn’t even exist until the first smartphones came along a decade ago, might seem at a glance to require, like other software developers, mostly great coding skills. But no. Designing mobile apps takes knowledge of programming, of course—but also user interface design, content, and marketing.
Or take data analysis. In 2010, the Burning Glass study says, there were only 150 job openings for people adept at applying statistics to business problems, and most of those were on Wall Street. In 2018, by contrast, more than 1.7 million job postings, across every every conceivable industry, asked for data science skills.
For people trying to plan a career in the throes of constant change (that is, most of us), the rise of hybrid jobs is terrific in two ways. First, the more unusual combinations of skills employers need, the fewer qualified candidates they can find. “Recruiters call them ‘purple squirrels’,” notes Matt Sigelman, CEO of Burning Glass. To snare these scarce creatures, employers are willing to pay a premium—often a big one. Marketing managers with expertise in data analysis, for instance, often earn 40% more than those without it.
The second great advantage to hybrid jobs is that they’re resistant to automation. According to the Burning Glass study, about 42% of all employees could one day find themselves replaced by artificial intelligence. By contrast, hybrid jobs are so complex, and rely so heavily on expert judgment calls and “soft” skills like empathy and imagination, that Burning Glass predicts automation could eventually take over only 12% of them.
So how do you turn yourself into a purple squirrel? “A traditional stable career, where you do essentially the same work for decades and then retire, is now possible only in trade unions and maybe the post office,” says Sigelman. “For everybody else, lifelong learning is an essential route into these hybrid jobs. In fact, it may be the only route.”
The catch, of course, is that figuring out which skills you’ll need to learn is not so easy. Sooner or later, Sigelman believes, employers will find recruiting enough purple squirrels so difficult that they’ll have to step up their efforts to train and develop more of the employees they already have. In the meantime, one way to tell what you need to add to your repertoire is to read job postings in your field—lots of them. “In many industries, companies are now trying to hire for combinations of skills they believe they’ll need in the near future and don’t yet have,” Sigelman explains. “If you read enough job postings, you’ll begin to see patterns emerge that will show you where to focus your efforts.”
Paying close attention to the trade press in your industry, and to what influencers in your field are talking about at conferences and in LinkedIn groups, can yield important insights, too. Most of all, as hybrid jobs proliferate, it helps to think like hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. A reporter once asked him what his secret was. “I don’t skate to where the puck is,” Gretzky said. “I skate to where it’s going to be.”
Now, there’s a skill worth cultivating.
Anne Fisher is a career expert and advice columnist who writes “Work It Out,” Fortune’s guide to working and living in the 21st century. |