Job trends data provide a wealth of information that's invaluable to entrepreneurs and job seekers in helping make intelligent decisions. As outlined by Trends Research, an authority in providing trend information, it:
* Allows you to anticipate change, recognize the implications, and take proactive strategies
* Alerts you to the trends shaping the future and
* Identifies short and long-term strategies and action plans for profiting from trends

In a freelancer's perspective, information on trends such as; what are the most sought after skills, highest number of hires, highest paid jobs, the most number of opportunities can help us better position ourselves in landing a job. If we are educated about competition in a certain niche, we can avoid ending up charging too low just because competition is stiff. A Joblance article also described how you can benefit from trends by helping you shift to more profitable fields.

Even if you are not so sound technically or have no technical background, you can learn new technology with ease. For example, there is widespread demand for programmers with knowledge of Dreamweaver, WordPress, Joomla, PHP, etc. Now, you can take up an online course to learn these, or you can also surf YouTube and search for the related topic. You will find tens of hundreds of videos that will teach you the course for free.

If you are a provider in Elance, there is a also a very informative data that was posted regarding the second quarter Online Employment Report. Some of the highlights of the report include the following information:

  • Online Professionals earned a record $23 million on Elance in Q2 2010, a 45% year over year increase
  • IT (up 44% in Q2 year over year) and Creative (up 36% in Q2) continued to be the largest categories for earnings, with Marketing showing the most significant growth with Q2 earnings up 73% over Q2 2009 and Operations up by 49% over the same period
  • Growth in IT earnings was fueled by high demand for Providers with expertise in Google App Engine and Mobile development skills including iPad, iPhone, Android and Blackberry
  • Growth in Marketing earnings was driven by high demand for online marketing skills, including SEO, Lead Generation and Social Media Marketing

Also, one of the most important data included in the report is the top 100 skills which outlines the most in-demand skills in Elance. Check out the list below and see if your current skills orientation is among the top 100.

How to Benefit From Online Job Trends 1

Conclusion:

Trend information is important and is a vital data in decision making, whether you are a job seeker or an entrepreneur. Trends help us understand the overall picture of our employment sector and it provides us a direction, both for the current and future outlook. How we are going to act on this information will be the turning point of how well we can cope up with what the trend dictates. On the other hand, trends are not the all in all of our decision. It is also imperative, that while we consider the trends in applying for jobs, we must not forget to consider that job satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment in what we do is still of utmost importance. Trends should not be the sole basis of our decisions but should give us a sense of balance from a personal and general standpoint.

Image: Top 100 Skills in Elance
[ad#468×60 Text]

Opt In Image
Get tips, news, and job alerts!

Sign up to receive updates straight to your inbox.
You’ve just scratched the tip of the iceberg! Learn more in depth freelancing tips, how to get a better chance at getting hired, cutting edge tools for productivity all for FREE