What’s happening (and why it feels confusing)

If you’ve been watching job boards and thinking, “Wait… is the market improving or not?”—you’re not alone. In many industries, hiring is returning, but it’s more selective, more role-specific, and more measured than the fast-growth years.

The big shift: companies are optimizing for proof of impact over potential, and they’re trying to reduce bad hires by tightening interview loops, increasing take-home/skills screens, and prioritizing candidates who can ramp quickly.

Key trends candidates should adapt to

1) “Targeted hiring” is replacing broad expansion

Instead of hiring 50 people across a department, companies may open 3–7 roles tied to specific initiatives (cost reduction, AI enablement, new revenue lines, compliance).

What to do:

• Tailor your resume to match one role’s outcomes, not a generic “I can do it all.”
• Mirror language from the job description (without copying blindly).

2) Interview processes are getting more evidence-based

Expect more:

• Work samples / case studies
• Structured behavioral questions (“Tell me about a time…”)
• Scorecards and debriefs that compare candidates side-by-side

What to do:

• Prep 6–8 stories using STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
• Quantify results: time saved, revenue influenced, risk reduced, customer impact.

3) AI skills are becoming “assumed,” not “special”

Even in non-technical roles, many teams now expect comfort with AI tools for drafting, analysis, research, and automation.

What to do:

• Add a bullet showing how you used AI: e.g., “Built a weekly reporting workflow using X, reducing manual work by 30%.”
• In interviews, explain your judgment: where you do and don’t use AI.

4) Culture and collaboration are being tested harder

Hybrid is stabilizing, but companies are increasingly picky about communication, ownership, and cross-functional influence.

What to do:

• Prepare examples of: handling conflict, aligning stakeholders, and working asynchronously.
• Ask smarter questions: “How do decisions get made?” “What does ‘high ownership’ look like here?”

Quick checklist before your next interview

• One-sentence value proposition: “I help ___ achieve ___ by ___.”
• 3 metrics you can defend (and how you measured them)
• A 30/60/90-day plan outline (even informal)
• 2–3 thoughtful questions about priorities, success metrics, and team constraints

What trend are you noticing most right now—longer interview loops, fewer roles, more AI screening, or something else?