The year 2017 is expected to improve the job market, which will give applicants and employees more leverage when it comes to their work. It's important, though, that these applicants have an idea of what the trend will be in 2017 to take advantage of the improving job market.

U.S. News reports that it's important for employees and applicants to be prepared for them to enjoy the constantly improving job market. This would mean that they know the rules of the game and what the job market trend will be in 2017.

According to Forbes, applicants and employees can also look forward to an increase in salary for 2017. A more flexible working environment will also increase in demand next year as more employees and applicants would want to have more freedom with their time.

So what will be the trend of the job market next year? Here are six things that applicants and employees should be looking out for.

The first thing is that companies are likely to focus on is to improve the interview experience that candidates, applicants and prospects are going through. Companies are becoming aware that candidates will be talking about their interview experience, so 2017 will show companies investing more in providing a good experience for candidates whenever they go for an interview.

The second trend that employees and applicants will see in 2017 is that companies will be more creative and innovative in offering perks and benefits for candidates. With the job market improving, employers will have a hard time attracting new talent. So in order to make their company more attractive, employers are offering more perks and benefits that will treat candidates better, and chief among them is flexible working hours, an in-demand benefit.

The third trend would be companies will be asking applicants, candidates, and prospects to do more of the interview process online. A lot of companies will be doing most of their interview processes online, with probably the final interview being the face-to-face interaction with an applicant. So it's important that you are prepared to do this, ensuring that you're home, or wherever you will be conducting the online interview, won't be a distraction or disturb the interview.

The fourth trend would be companies are going to focus more on teams than the individual. Companies know that a high-performing team would propel them forward than a high-performing individual. So expect to see companies restructuring their companies to focus more on team performance than individual performance.

The fifth trend would be annual performance reviews would be a thing of the past. A lot of the young employees know prefer for their company to provide them a performance review or feedback instantly, instead of the usual annual review, and a lot of companies are doing this. These young employees believe that annual performance reviews doesn't really help them in knowing where they need to improve on or where their strengths lie.

The last trend would be for employees and applicants to prepare to work alongside freelancers and for managers to prepare to manage these individuals. With freelancing on the rise, a lot of companies are already blending their regular employees with freelancers, seeing the advantage of this kind of workforce. So it will be important, especially for managers, to know how to deal with employees who are remotely working for the company and to get them to work well with the team.

With 2017 just around the corner, it's important that an employee or candidate prepares himself or herself for what's coming. To know which companies to work for in 2017, visit Jobs&Hire.