A feature that students love about our new website is the job trend data powered by Lightcast. While many think the primary purpose of this tool is for job searching, this trend data can actually be used for career exploration too. Here are some ways you can Lightcast to explore career paths.
1. See if a field you are considering is growing or shrinking.
Lightcast offers a unique feature of providing data projections for various fields. These projections can be immensely valuable for career exploration as they forecast the future of specific fields or positions up to 10 years. Understanding whether a field will grow or shrink in the coming years can assist people in making informed decisions about pursuing it as a long-term career or setting realistic expectations for that profession.
2. Learn about technical skills and core competencies that different jobs require.
Every profession requires a variety of technical skills. Some of these skills may seem more obvious than others, such as content creation for marketing specialists. However, there may be other skills that are less familiar to you, or skills that you already have but didn’t know could benefit your long-term career goals. In addition to technical skills, Lightcast can inform you about the core competencies that are valuable to a particular field, as well as how valuable they are. Having a good understanding of core competencies and working to enhance those skills can be a major factor for career success or securing a specific job in the first place.
3. Get a sense for what earnings are in the field.
When it comes to choosing a career path or accepting a job offer, financial incentives such as base pay, bonuses, and other benefits can play a vital role. That’s why it’s important to do your research beforehand and make sure you’re prepared for the negotiation stage. At times, it can be overwhelming to navigate through the job market, which is why I highly recommend using Lightcast. It provides you with a comprehensive range of salaries based on data from individuals holding similar roles to the ones you are interested in. Remember, you deserve to be compensated fairly for your skills and experience.
The earnings shown above are nationwide. Lightcast gives you the option to either view nationwide or by state.
4. Find related job titles that you might also look into.
If you are looking for a job, you might be familiar with certain job titles or come across them while searching for a career in a specific industry. However, if you are a student and searching for a job for the first time, you may not know all the industry terminology or different titles/keywords you could be using to find the next step in your career journey. This is where Lightcast can assist you. Lightcast can provide you with 20 different job titles for roles (or similar roles) based on keyword searching. Knowing what keywords to use can be a key differentiator in your job search and can ultimately help you find an amazing role that you wouldn’t have known to search for otherwise.
5. Find names of companies hiring in the field and use this to find UML alumni on LinkedIn whom you could contact for an informational interview to learn more about their career path and/or about the company where they work. And notice in the screenshot below that you can also see what degrees people in a field typically hold.
It’s not always about finding available job positions, but also about knowing which companies are hiring. This can help you focus your research on organizations that are looking for people with skills and interests similar to yours, and prepare for informational interviews. Lightcast is a great tool because you can filter your search by location. For instance, if you’re a student at UMass Lowell looking for jobs in Massachusetts after graduation, you can use Lightcast to find out who is hiring in your area and what education level they require.
Lightcast is a great tool to help you discover your career interests and explore potential career paths. By using Lightcast for more than just job searching, you can explore more about possible careers than what would be available on just a traditional job board or through conventional job searches, which can in turn help you make more informed decisions about your future career goals. To learn more about this tool or to get some one-on-one assistance with your career exploration, feel free to make an appointment with the Career & Co-op Center career advisors.
