Written by Josh Musominari

Think of all the career decisions we make throughout our lives. Will you remain in one industry throughout your career, which offer will you accept, should you apply for that promotion? All of these questions are processed internally, we listen to our thoughts, weigh up the options and in our own way make a decision based on the factors and information available to us. In many ways, we act as our own computer to reach a final outcome. But what about the factors we cannot see or measure accurately?

The demand for big data has not been as extensive and widely used as it is presently. We are for the most part interacting with numerous systems and devices that are constantly collecting and processing information on our habits, patterns and preferences to deliver improved service and experiences. One of the major uses of this information is in the study of health and wellbeing data, which on a personal level is firmly connected to our careers.

Wearable devices and smart technology are being used extremely successfully in medical settings and this has translated to the wider public and consumers. Our smartphones and watches now can track our activity, sleep and numerous other health factors. Imagine if you had a tangible and numeric value to the stress level a position would carry and on top of that what your capacity for stress is or how often employees experience burnout at a particular company? This would be extremely valuable to both those looking to evaluate job opportunities and the hiring organisation. This is just one of the examples of the many ways data insight could be used in the future to make these decisions.

Organisations are consistently looking to find ways to provide an effective level of balance between career challenges and wellbeing for their employees. We often see that extensive effort is extended to expand employee support but how effective can these services be when they applied with broad strokes. If a large organisation invested heavily in creating an employee mental health service, how would they know if those that required the support were truly receiving the benefit needed? A company could expand their understanding of what support is required and whether their existing measures were adequate, they could target or consider more extensive services to those individuals or teams that need more support and relax support in other areas. Efforts to understand one’s workforce are immensely valuable and allow organisations to deliver more value to an individual and in turn have a more balanced and adjusted talent operation.

Creating a more holistic and personalised HR service is the goal for numerous organisations and data insight will be at the centre of these efforts. On an individual level taking efforts to look at different organisations, opportunities and the like with more clarity is already an effort numerous people use to make their decisions. Reading reviews and speaking to our wider networks to ask questions is natural and commonplace. On the other side, organisations collect references, undertake interviews, use psychometric tests and profiles to make their decisions. But this relationship between information and decisions will naturally advance as more information is made available.   

There is numerous way our world will continue to change, and the subject of careers and personal decision making will continue to become more data-driven. How data is collected and for what purpose will always have regulatory considerations, but there is plenty of value that could be gained if this information advises our decisions more effectively. On top of this, organisations will see more possibilities to make their organisation more attractive, accessible and add more value to their workforce and prospective hires. How this happens will likely take time as the opportunities will always require mutual consent and be clearly outlined. We at Pertemps are always looking to the future and how to respond to the changing landscapes we all face.

What effect will the increase of large-scale data analysis and measurement have on our careers in the future? The demand and use of big data are accelerating across multiple fields, sectors, and in our personal lives and we can only anticipate that this will begin to play a factor in our careers and career decisions over time.