Right now we are on the upswing from the great 2008 Economic Crisis. This upswing, like others in the past is starting at a snails pace amongst speculation from business experts from around the world. As the engine gets going again firms are looking for 2 things. #1 is new talent. #2 is advisory.
The race for new talant is not unheard of. Recruiters everywhere are buzzing about understanding the talent pool and being able to supply the best. However, it is quite interesting when we get to the younger demographic just coming out of school;
"there's no shortage of "well- educated" college graduates who can't write intelligible synopses or manage simple spreadsheets. I know doctoral candidates in statistics and operations research who find adapting their superb technical expertise to messy, real-world problem solving extraordinarily difficult. Their great knowledge doesn't confer great skill. Nevertheless, you would find their research and their resumes impressive. You should. But focusing on their formal educational accomplishments misrepresents their skill set outside the academy. Academic and classroom markets are profoundly different than business and workplace markets. Why should anyone be surprised that serious knowledge/skill gaps dominate those differences?" (source)
Thinking about who you are giong to hire is important. Someone once told me that it is best to look for people that have had increasing responsibilities over the years... such as a kid that started out as a lifeguard and moved up into running a public facility. Back this up with a university degree and you have a young adult who has proven responsibility and the ability to learn. Two major components in a good employee.
The new talent will help fill in the gaps from employees that left during the crisis and were never replaced or employees that had to go due to major budget constraints. Either way, the field for the generation coming out of school is wide open... if they have the right experience.
The other point that I want to touch on is the fact that right now companies are looking towards outsourcing for strategic advisory. This traditionally has always happened when the economy start to pick up after a period of instability. When there is crisis companies want to rely on "in-house" talent and when we are on the recovery, companies are looking for outside advice to meet the change in the market place.
So where does that leave most people? Either in a job happy they are getting paid or in the consulting field happy they are finally getting work!
