THE NEW WORK RULES FOR 2018
Anna Bonet talks to Pip Jamieson, founder of The Dots, about this year’s new work trends
Pip Jamieson is the world’s greatest optimist. “The future is positive,” she beams over coffee. This year, according to Jamieson, the world of work is going to look more diverse, more open and more socially driven. And she would know. After struggling to connect with creative talent while she climbed the ladder of MTV, Jamieson founded The Dots, an online platform that Forbes has described as ‘Linkedin for creatives’. Now, The Dots has thousands of users; from freelancers looking for work, to giants such as Spotify and ASOS posting vacancies.
Jamieson’s main advice for this year? “Don’t be scared to put yourself out there. We’re in this moment where there’s such low unemployment that it’s a buyers’ market. But it won’t last forever, so now is the time to go for it.”
2018, we’re coming for you.
1 THE RISE OF THE PORTFOLIO CAREER
“Very recently on The Dots, there’s been over a 100% increase in companies searching for freelance talent. In 2018, we’ll see the mass adoption of project-by-project working: you might work three days one place, two days another, or even work full-time somewhere but start your own fashion label or blog on the side. This has been happening quietly for years, but it will become the norm, not the exception.”
2 THE DEATH OF THE JOB TITLE
“Last year, there was a monumental rise in the word ‘content’ appearing on job sites. But what does it actually mean? Some people are looking for strategists, some for writers, others for videographers. Traditionally, your job title defined who you are. But ‘content’ is the perfect example where a job title is meaningless because the skillset could be anything. This world of buzzwords – digital, brand, content – is only going to grow, so don’t pigeonhole yourself to a job title: get back to your core skills and think about how they can be applied to different formats.”
3 THE TIME FOR FLEXIBILITY
“A recent article in Forbes said half of millennials will choose flexibility over pay. This is exciting, because when you’ve got a generation coming through that values flexible hours to such an extent, companies are going to be increasingly forced down that track in order to attract the best talent. It’s wonderful for women; this will have a brilliant knock-on effect for working parents.”
4 THE NEED TO BE SEEN
“More than ever before, it’s so important to build your personal brand, have an online presence and promote yourself and your work. Something we’ve noticed on The Dots is that the most forward-thinking companies, such as Google, aren’t posting vacancies any more. All they do is direct sourcing. So, if they’re head-hunting talent, you need to be visible. And remember everyone’s looking now, so if you’re having a bad day, don’t be Trump-esque on social media.”
5 THE WORK-LIFE BLEND
“Up until now, everything was about the ‘worklife balance’. It implied that your career and your personal life are completely separate, and that one doesn’t impact the other. But there’s this shift happening where people want their work life to feel more personal: a US study found 71% of employees now want their co-workers to feel like a family*. This year, office culture will continue to
“DON’T BE SCARED TO PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE”
get more relaxed and more familiar. It’s about loving what you do and where you do it, and it’s so much healthier. I like to think of it as the work-life blend.”
6 THE PRO-SOCIAL CALLING
“I can’t name names, but when the CEO of a company that posts jobs on The Dots was recently in the press for doing something bad, their job application numbers plummeted overnight. Today, people want their workplace to have a conscience. The millennial generation aren’t into buying unethical products, meaning for the first time there’s an alignment between profit and purpose. So 2018 will see a big rise in pro-social jobs – ones that are profit-based but socially driven. Now is the time to work with a social heart.”