Expert Advice
Everyone hates writing their resume.
That’s why we came up with Resume Therapy.
In grad school, while I was getting my MS in Counseling, I paired up with like-minded SFSU professor and career counselor, Rebecca Toporek, who shared the belief that building a resume could (and should!) be a much more cathartic process than it actually is.
We invented a new type of coaching-infused resume-development model, which we eventually published in the Career Planning & Adult Development Journal (Vol 21, #4). It was Rebecca who, commenting on the therapeutic effects of using our method, came up with the monniker “Resume Therapy.”
Ah. Resume Therapy:
A collaborative process that leaves job-seekers feeling more confident, self-aware, focused, happy, and driven, in addition to churning out an actionable deliverable — that being a keyword-rich, uber-impressive, and authentically representational resume.
Based in proven therapeutic techniques, Resume Therapy draws from several psyschological modalities:
In plain terms, Resume Therapy leverages the therapeutic aspects of storytelling grounded in counseling psychology, human-centered coaching, and career development principles. Coaches guide the client in rediscovering their strengths, embracing unique talents, confronting shortcomings, and establishing congruence between what is and what could be.
It is a guided journey through your work history, bolstered by an intentional counseling approach designed to extract things you’ve forgotten, overlooked, or undervalued.
Resume Therapy is meant to be transparent; that is, you may not even realize it’s happening, until you reach the end of the session and you notice how energized you feel, how much more open your eyes are, and how many more (realistic and achievable) possibilities are in front of you.
It’s transformative, both for you and your resume.
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Each of our all-inclusive resume packages include Resume Therapy.
I founded my company on the notion that there is a BrightSide to everything.
It’s just how I am. But Jesus, where the hell is the BrightSide in this job market?
Seems like everything great about work is being strangled to death and left on the ground to die.
So, how do I hold the torch of hope?
—–
This challenging to be a coach, a career coach right now.
00:07
It’s challenging to be anyone right now.
00:10
It’s challenging to be be anybody.
00:13
But being a coach right now is tough.
00:16
And being a career coach of an organization called Brightside.
00:20
Is particularly tough.
00:22
We’re supposed to be holding the torch of hope.
00:26
We’re supposed to be carrying optimism, real optimism, not some BS.
00:30
Everything’s going to be great optimism.
00:35
And sometimes that’s hard.
00:36
Um, I’ve, I’ve not really struggled with that before, but I struggle with it now.
00:43
And there are days where I just want to honestly hang it up and throw it all away and not talk about how hard it is to look for work.
00:56
And how many people are getting laid off and that they’re getting laid off when they’ve been there for 20 years and it doesn’t really matter.
01:06
They have to pack U and leave that minute.
01:09
It’s kind of like it’s like the career coaching is the epicenter for sad stories.
01:15
They’re just kind of coming in and piling on and piling on.
01:20
And I’ve been thinking about like, how do I hold?
01:25
How do I hold the torch?
01:27
How do I hold it up?
01:29
You know, I gotta be authentic.
01:30
I gotta be real about it.
01:32
But I still want to be here for people.
01:35
I still want to be hopeful And I, you know, I, I realize it almost every time I get off the phone because there’s this cycle I go through I.
01:45
Could be kind of down.
01:47
I’m working on something, you know, running a business.
01:51
So there’s always something.
01:52
And then I’ll have a call with a client and going in, I’m a little bit disillusioned.
01:59
But coming out I always feel better and I’ve realized it’s, it’s basic.
02:05
What keeps me going and what I think can keep anyone going And that’s that’s each other.
02:13
That’s you guys.
02:16
That connection, that real connection around how hard this is, that’s making it work for me, that’s making this possible.
02:25
Um, there’s got to be something there.
02:29
We’re all, we’re all in the same.
02:33
Boat almost all of us.
02:35
If you have a job, you’re working your ***** off right now.
02:39
You’re doing 5 people’s jobs.
02:41
And if you don’t have a job, join the freaking club.
02:45
There’s so many people out of work, about to go out of work, worried they’re going to be out of work.
02:52
There’s got to be some power.
02:54
In that common thread that we all have, which sadly is panic, is fear, is worry, but we are in it.
03:05
We’re all here, we’re all going through it and there’s something there.
03:12
So if you’re not reaching out to a career coach, that’s fine, but reach out to somebody, talk to somebody, connect with people.
03:20
Connecting in person is our power.
03:22
If you have to do a Zoom, but God dammit, connecting in person, that’s everything right now.
03:29
And it doesn’t have to be around looking for work.
03:32
It’s just got to be connection.
03:35
You’ve got to feel supported and support other people and just have faith that we’re going to get each other through this.
03:43
I really believe that.
03:44
All right, take care of people.
Looking for work is an ego-destroyer.
We start to question everything: our skills, our worth.
It’s normal. But it feels like sh*t.
So, here are 3 things you can do to combat that awful feeling of loneliness when you’re looking for work.
——
I was just reminded again of how dreadful the job search is talking to a client, how lonely it can be.
00:10
And there are lots of things that you can do to kind of combat that loneliness, but it can be overwhelming, like sort of like, where do I begin?
00:19
So here are three things you can do, anyone can do, and a few might surprise you.
00:25
So the first one, and this was brought to me, suggested by a client.
00:29
And I was like, Oh my God, that’s such a good idea.
00:32
And this client actually found a job, found a job she really liked and a job where she’s not overworked and she’s happy.
00:39
So success story, folks, we need some of those.
00:44
She suggested if you’re feeling drained, if you’re feeling lonely, to go be a mentor for somebody.
00:52
And I thought about this and the reason why this is so important is cause when we’re looking for work, we feel really needy.
00:59
We feel like we’re asking for stuff all the time and we start to feel like we don’t have much to offer.
01:06
I should say we forget we have a lot to offer.
01:10
So go find an organization or just one-on-one, informal, whatever, but take your expertise and feed it to somebody.
01:21
And watch what that does to you, let alone to them.
01:25
It’s so energizing, and it’s a reminder that you do have value.
01:29
You just aren’t using it in the workplace yet.
01:34
So #2 go learn something.
01:41
We always have these things in the back of our brain.
01:45
If I had time, I would.
01:47
You know what I’d really like to do?
01:48
One thing about loneliness.
01:51
Is it means you have time.
01:53
So if you have time, go do a free course.
01:57
Do a Coursera course.
01:58
They’re they’re pretty cheap.
02:00
General Assembly, Udemy, the usual suspects.
02:04
If you want to go deeper, take a long course at a Community College or through another organization.
02:10
But go learn something.
02:12
You have the time.
02:13
Become a better candidate.
02:17
And there’s a bonus if you do, if you if you go out into the world or virtually into the world, you might meet people, you’ll be able to share your story a little bit.
02:27
You’re going to find other people out of work.
02:31
It’s all good.
02:33
So go learn something, whether online or in person.
02:36
You’re going to find a tribe, new people, new connections, and you’re going to feel good about yourself.
02:43
So #3.
02:47
Pick a brain.
02:50
So I think it is kind of strange.
02:53
We’re all sort of feeling isolated when we look for work, but we tend to not reach out except to go, do you have a job?
03:00
Do you have a job?
03:01
Can you get me a job?
03:02
Can you get me an interview?
03:03
And instead of going, and you should do some of that, but instead of only that, pick a friend or someone you know supports you, someone who’s really wants you to win.
03:16
Right.
03:18
And ask them, instead of saying, do you have a job?
03:21
Ask them, how was it when you were out of work and how did you get a job?
03:30
It’s just a interesting story to hear and one to tell.
03:34
They’re going to enjoy doing it and they’ll stop and say, Oh my God, I don’t even remember, but they’ll remember, give them, give them some time.
03:41
And I can almost guarantee it wasn’t through a job board.
03:44
I’ll bet they got the job by talking to people, but that’s beside the point.
03:48
Just listen up, let them, let them talk and hear where you know what worked for them, and maybe you’ll come up with some ideas, which is pretty cool.
03:58
They’re going to gain.
03:59
Empathy for you, because they’re going to remember, we all remember what it’s like to look for work and that feeling of loneliness and despair and sort of like, you know, what if I’m finished?
04:12
They’re going to go back and even if they don’t say it outright, they’re going to go into that space and that’s going to create some empathy where they’re going to want to help you in the future.
04:22
So you’ll have a fruitful conversation, but more than that.
04:27
You’re going to be on their mind and they’re going to care about you, and they’re going to care about you finding your way back to work.
04:35
All right, take those morsels of goodness.
04:38
Go forth.
04:40
Try to be less lonely.
04:41
Keep your chin up.
04:43
Take care.
Yikes!
Things are moving quickly with AI.
Will humans keep their edge over the bots?
Will bots be indistinguishable from humans?
Or better than?
—-
Have you guys seen lately what AI is up to?
00:05
What’s happening with aI?
00:08
Videos are insanely accurate.
00:12
Incredible.
00:13
Of course, images are beautiful.
00:15
It’s almost more real than real life.
00:18
And the writing’s getting better and better.
00:20
And while I commend the creators, the people who are accelerating this technology, I mean, Bravo, it’s extraordinary.
00:29
I am also and simultaneously terrified with what is to come, mostly because as a tool this powerful gets into the hands of people with the nefarious motives, we have good reason to fear the bad things are going to happen.
00:47
I mean, we’re going to see deep fakes that we don’t know are fakes right now.
00:52
You know, Gen.
00:53
Z pretty talented and spotting a fake, but even they are going to not be able to tell, period.
01:00
That is going to happen.
01:01
And what does that mean?
01:02
We’re all going to be getting duped constantly, over and over again.
01:07
Fake jobs, ads that don’t look like ads.
01:12
I I don’t know.
01:13
You name it.
01:13
What is the future?
01:14
But we’re all going to be getting tricked and tricked and tricked.
01:18
And I only see one way.
01:21
Now that the A I is out of the bag and running, running and sprinting and going faster than humans, there’s only one thing we can do and we can do it.
01:32
And unfortunately it does require making a request to our politicians.
01:39
But bear with me for a SEC.
01:41
I think if we can get in front of this and get some regulation, even just one thing that says.
01:48
When something’s generated by a I, it must be designated as being generated by a I.
01:55
That’s our only chance.
01:57
A symbol, a watermark, a few words, a sound, something.
02:03
Because we’re we’re so close to the point of a I and humans and and human created content being exactly the same that we’re going to hit a point of where no one’s going to know what anything is.
02:17
So we must.
02:19
And if we were to do something like this, there’s accountability as well.
02:23
You can sue somebody, somebody could get arrested for fraud, for a I fraud or whatever we want to call it, but we have to do it.
02:32
So I’m going to encourage you call to action on this, on this one.
02:37
And I don’t normally want to give you more stuff to do.
02:40
We’re all so bogged down with just getting our own stuff done, but make a darn call.
02:47
Call your senator.
02:48
Call people, please.
02:50
Like, get it out there that we need some regulation.
02:52
Politicians completely shit the bed on.
02:56
Can I say that on LinkedIn?
02:58
I don’t know.
02:59
But they completely messed up on the Internet, on social media.
03:04
There’s no regulation.
03:05
There’s nothing.
03:07
We have to do this for artificial intelligence.
03:09
It’s an existential crisis.
03:11
And if you think about it long enough.
03:13
You will agree 100%.
03:16
So let’s let’s get in there and you know, get get in the corner of the humans so we can have a last round knockout, please.
03:27
So, you know, we can be friends with a I, but ultimately we still have to be able to kick A I’s butt as humans.
03:34
All right, cheers, people.
It’s a word we’ve all been using.
A supposed non-partisan way to express our disgust and fear for the way things are being run in politics, in tech, in business.
But I don’t think it’s uncertainty that irks us.
What’s worse than uncertainty?
00:06
Uncertainty.
00:07
It seems to be a word we use a lot these days.
00:11
Uncertain times.
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Future is uncertain.
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Everything’s uncertain without certainty, blah blah blah.
00:20
And I agree.
00:21
I think these are uncertain times.
00:24
I think most of us have no idea what’s coming down the road.
00:31
I think we know it’s going to be pretty dramatic, it’s going to be drastic, but we’re really not sure what’s going to happen, which jobs are going to be around, which ones are going to be gone, what new jobs are going to spring up, all of that uncertainty.
00:48
And you know, it’s it’s mostly an uncomfortable feeling, uncertainty.
00:54
But I do want to point out there are some people.
00:59
Who are not uncertain.
01:01
If you look at big tech, if you look at the largest corporations in any industry, they’re doing something right now.
01:15
They’re pretty sure of what they’re doing.
01:20
And the thing that bothers me, actually what what I’m getting at is they’re figuring out a way.
01:28
To use AI, everyone’s scrambling.
01:31
Everyone is scrambling, and understandably so.
01:35
It’s an extremely powerful tool, and it should be used absolutely by everybody, and certainly by big corporations.
01:44
But the thing that freaks me out is the silence.
01:50
I’ve yet to hear anyone speak out openly.
01:56
And emphatically, and in a caring way to share what they think is going to happen with the future and what they’re doing to contribute to it.
02:08
So in other words, you got big plans, you’re you’re you’re making changes.
02:13
All most of us see are lots of layoffs, layoff after layoff, or if you’re lucky enough to keep a job.
02:22
You’re probably working three or four FT ES worth of work.
02:29
So we’re seeing all this and there’s panic and everybody’s running around.
02:33
And you know what would be helpful is if the people that are impacting so many other people in so many ways were transparent.
02:44
That’s a word companies love to use.
02:47
We’re transparent.
02:48
We’re actually sharing what they’re doing.
02:51
What are their hopes?
02:52
What are they worried about?
02:53
What are their plans?
02:58
So when I think about uncertainty, that feeling is uncomfortable.
03:04
But the thing that’s worse than uncertainty, and there’s I guess a lot of things worse, but one is feeling a sense of lack of control.
03:16
And I think that’s what a lot of us are dealing with right now.
03:19
Yeah, we’re uncertain, but we also have no control over what’s going on.
03:27
And the people that do aren’t being very generous with their ideas of what the future holds.
03:38
I don’t know.
03:38
Let me know what you think and take care of each other.
03:42
It’s rough out there.
Looking for work is hard.
00:05
It’s lonely.
00:06
It’s often fruitless.
00:08
It takes up a lot of your time.
00:10
It can get dark.
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And we all know this, and we all know somebody.
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We all know somebody who’s going through this right now.
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And whether or not they share with you that they’re in a world of suck, you can be assured that they are.
00:28
And if.
00:29
If I can go by what my clients say, it’s that they don’t want to burden people, right?
00:36
So if you’re looking for work, you just don’t want to kind of lay on all that darkness into the cocktail hour, the happy hour you’re having with your friends, which is a noble thing.
00:46
But you got to know these people, your friends, your colleagues, they’re suffering.
00:53
It’s hard.
00:55
And so that leads you to think, hopefully, like, what?
00:58
What can I do?
00:59
And it often feels like there’s nothing you can do.
01:02
I don’t have a job.
01:02
How do I help out?
01:04
But there are ways you can help.
01:06
There are ways you can help immensely that won’t take much effort on your part.
01:12
So the first thing I have three, I have three ideas.
01:15
The first thing is initiate a hangout.
01:20
And I don’t mean.
01:21
You know, it is good to call them up and say, hey, let’s go like blow off some steam.
01:25
But I’m talking about let’s focus on them.
01:28
So they should be doing this.
01:29
They should be reaching out to you and saying, hey, can we have a coffee?
01:33
I want to talk to you about my looking for work.
01:35
But a lot of people don’t do that for all kinds of reasons.
01:38
So you, the person who’s stable with the job, who feels pretty secure right now, think about the people you know that are looking for work and reach out to them.
01:51
I don’t know if you can hear my dog’s click clacky feet in the background.
01:55
Hey, what can you do?
01:55
Home, home, studio.
01:57
So reach out to your friends and and make it a point to say, hey, I know you’re looking for work and we never talk about your work.
02:06
Why don’t we set up an appointment or just, you know, get a coffee, hang out, but let’s talk about what you’re going through, what you want to do next, and see if we can come up with some ideas.
02:18
It’s like 30 minutes, maybe an hour, but you are giving them an appointment that is literally going to be the best thing in their day.
02:28
So that’s one thing you can do.
02:29
Another easy thing is just check in.
02:34
So again, they’re not going to be forthcoming, but just to say, hey, I know you’re looking for work, that’s rough.
02:41
Like what’s been going on with that?
02:43
Just check in every once in a while.
02:45
And the third thing.
02:46
And this goes for people you don’t know.
02:50
Take the call.
02:52
And what I mean by that is when somebody reaches out by LinkedIn or by e-mail or phone or drops in or whatever, and they’re looking to do an informational interview, take the time to give it to them.
03:05
I mean, when you’re looking for work, that is the greatest thing that can happen is getting somebody to speak with you, especially someone you don’t know.
03:16
So what a gift you can give, right?
03:19
20 minutes of your time.
03:22
And you get to talk about yourself.
03:23
You get to talk about your industry, your career.
03:26
It’s fun.
03:27
It’s actually a good time.
03:29
So take the call.
03:31
Take the call.
03:32
Take, I mean, LinkedIn.
03:33
Take a second.
03:34
Look and see who they are.
03:36
If you don’t like them, don’t respond, but take a few minutes.
03:39
Maybe they’re an interesting person.
03:41
Maybe at the end of the call, you have another ally.
03:47
In your in your little industry, in your little neck of the woods, right.
03:51
It’s always good to connect with people, but you’re really, really helping just by having that call.
03:57
You don’t have to promise anything.
03:59
It’s just being that bright light on the horizon.
04:03
Oh my God, this Thursday I’m talking to somebody at blah, blah, blah.
04:08
It just means the world.
04:10
So I’m trying here cause I coach people on one side looking for work.
04:15
Now I’m kind of coaching on the other side, people that have a job that are secure or maybe who are unemployed but just want to pitch in.
04:25
If we help each other, we can relieve the suffering.
04:30
All right, people.
04:32
So be well, be kind.
Wouldn’t you like to know where are the job creators at?
00:06
Where are the job creators at?
00:10
We’ve long been told that companies, large companies, are job creators.
00:17
Big executives of large organizations create jobs.
00:23
They’re the ones who create the jobs.
00:26
Can we lay that myth?
00:29
That lie to rest, please.
00:33
All I see right now is big companies eliminating jobs.
00:39
Job killers, job destroyers, not job creators.
00:45
And I say this only half facetiously.
00:48
I’m a I’m a business owner.
00:51
I wouldn’t call myself a job creator.
00:54
I have people that I work with, but I admit.
00:58
I’m not looking to hire 10 people when I can hire one.
01:04
My job as a as a business owner is to make sure the business keeps running.
01:08
And yeah, you can get sort of carried away with that and and try to cut corners every which way.
01:15
But the bottom line is a business is not a job creator.
01:19
A business is trying to create as few jobs as possible.
01:23
They should not get credit for creating the jobs.
01:29
So who or what should get credit?
01:34
You can make an argument for marketing.
01:37
They do their job, marketing and sales, right?
01:40
They’re bringing in the business.
01:43
But I think you got to go even farther.
01:45
You got to get to the root and the root, the job creators, the real job creators, drum roll, are consumers.
01:58
Our buyers are people that get the product.
02:02
They create the demand and that’s what makes a company hire, grow and build.
02:12
So the real credit, the real job creator for the most part is us.
02:20
And you know, most consumers are also workers.
02:22
They’re also labor all the way up the ladder, right?
02:26
We all buy stuff, but the power is really in the people in this case, in the people that buy stuff.
02:38
Can we please give credit where credit is due?
02:42
You know what I’m saying?
02:44
All right, take care, everybody.
I know what’s on your mind…
I think the same question is lingering in everybody’s head right now.
00:06
A lot of people’s heads.
00:07
Are things really as bad as they seem?
00:11
I’m talking about looking for work in particular.
00:14
There’s a lot of things going on, but I’m talking about looking for work.
00:20
And looking for work, I think we can all agree, is one of the least attractive activities that we ever do in life.
00:29
I wrote a book about just how awful the job search is and how can you make it like a teensy bit better.
00:36
So you’re looking for work and it sucks nowadays.
00:43
It’s taking three months, four months, five months, six months to look for work, and it sucks.
00:52
And it’s lonely and you second-guess yourself.
00:56
A lot.
00:57
That’s kind of a huge part of the job search.
01:01
Am I doing something wrong?
01:03
Is it me?
01:04
Have I lost my juice?
01:05
Am I not good enough anymore?
01:07
Have things changed and passed me by and I missed the boat?
01:12
There’s just all of us.
01:13
I don’t care who you are.
01:15
There’s a tape that just starts running.
01:17
The more silence you have, the more that tape starts running.
01:23
It’s not you.
01:25
It’s the job search.
01:28
But is it extraordinarily bad now?
01:31
Is it really bad right now?
01:33
Well, I could say that as somebody who talks to people looking for work day in and day out, that these stories are piling up of despair.
01:44
And I mean despair from all sides.
01:46
So I talk with the people who get laid off and the people doing the layoffs who maybe then get laid off after that.
01:54
I talk with the people building the A I and the people getting laid off by the A I, and sometimes those people are one in the same.
02:04
It seems like more than ever I’m getting stories of people losing jobs, things going wrong, companies disappearing, consolidation and blah blah blah blah blah.
02:18
So I’m gathering all these stories and I’m realizing.
02:25
I think, like I said at the beginning, we’re all kind of wondering like, is something coming?
02:29
Is there something out there?
02:31
And you know what?
02:32
I think that anxiety of that is individualized right now.
02:39
I think it’s just in each of us.
02:41
I think we’re all feeling it, but I don’t know that we’re.
02:46
Acknowledging it that much or talking about it.
02:49
Nobody wants to kind of show up at the party and be doom and gloom.
02:53
Certainly not the bright side guy, but that seems to be what I’m dishing out these days, the reality of the doom and the gloom.
03:03
And I think one reason why we’re still questioning it is because we’re not voicing it.
03:08
That anxiety is deep in each of us.
03:10
It’s not sort of laid out across platforms.
03:14
It’s not really being talked about at all by politicians, not nearly enough in the media, every side of the media.
03:24
You might have podcasters here and there, but again, that’s kind of fractured.
03:28
So I really just want to acknowledge this.
03:31
I think we all need to start doing that.
03:34
I have this kind of bird’s eye view and I’ve been feeling it from people, people.
03:41
There’s something happening here.
03:44
Something big is going on and a lot, a lot of us are getting impacted by this.
03:51
And I’m talking mostly about artificial intelligence.
03:55
We’ve never seen anything like it, but there’s so much, there’s so much more.
04:00
So just for one thing, the tech industry, I’ve never seen an out-of-work engineer that’s sort of panicking.
04:13
And that’s happening right now.
04:14
That’s just one example, but there are so many.
04:17
So don’t hold this in anymore.
04:20
Don’t hold it to yourself.
04:23
Put this in the conversation.
04:24
Let’s get it out there in the dialogue.
04:27
There is a major problem with looking for work and being employed right now, and it really does center around A I and there’s a lot of uncertainty.
04:39
But there’s also just a huge amount of anxiety, and that anxiety is completely warranted.
04:47
All right, so, so cough it up, throw it up, get it out.
04:51
Share your story.
04:52
Let’s be real about this.
04:54
Something’s coming.
04:55
We got to stick together.
04:57
All right, take care, people.
A new cottage industry has arisen: pay-to-play referrals.
Employees are hip to the idea that employers want referred candidates over unsolicited ones, so these entrepreneurial employees have monetized their own referral databases by charging job-seekers for the right to mention them in their applications.
This both underscores the imperative of networking into companies AND gums up the hiring process with less qualified candidates.
What’s that mean for you?
TRANSCRIPT:
OO:01
OK, there’s a new cottage industry that stemmed out of the job search process and out of this like extremely difficult job search market.
00:12
And what’s happening is employees of sought-after companies are now charging job seekers to be their referrer, so to vouch for them as somebody they know when they apply.
00:29
So I have a couple of thoughts on this.
00:30
The 1st is this really does under score the importance or rather imperative of having somebody on the inside when you apply for a job.
00:41
So if there is a job opening, you really have to be able to reference somebody and that is sort of made clear.
00:49
The value of that’s made clear in this new markets that that’s emerged where people are making money for offering that to job seekers.
01:00
The other thought I had is this is further breaking down the system.
01:05
So what’s happening?
01:06
You have these somewhat mercenary employees that are don’t really care who you are as a job seeker.
01:14
You’re a complete stranger, but they’re taking your money.
01:18
Or whatever other favor they’re getting and then dropping your name into a database.
01:24
So you might not be qualified, or this person candidate might not be qualified, but they’re making it into the funnel to get to that hiring manager who will eventually realize, oh, this person’s not qualified.
01:37
Hopefully that happens early in the screening process, but probably not.
01:41
They might get through to interviewing.
01:43
They are a referral after all.
01:46
So that’s going to be a problem because there’s so many factors that are contributing to all of these candidates coming into even small companies, but certainly big ones.
01:56
And now this is one more factor, the fact that employee referrals are getting saturated with spam.
02:07
So what does this mean for you?
02:09
I think it comes back to the same thing and that is.
02:14
Networking in genuinely finding people you know who you trust, who trust you, who will vouch for you.
02:24
High quality referral, super important.
02:30
And if you can, you want to try to find your way into a company before they’re even posting for a job.
02:36
But certainly if there is a job, see if you can find something, some way to get in there.
02:41
It it makes all the difference.
02:44
In the world, All right.
02:45
I’m curious to hear your thoughts on on these ideas and also just hear how the job search is going.
02:53
Good luck out there.
I’m trying to hold up a candle in this time of darkness. You can, indeed, find work, even when there are no jobs in sight, even when no one is hiring, even when you haven’t gotten a response in months…
TRANSCRIPT
All right.
00:02
This is a bit of a follow-up to a post I did, I think last week.
00:06
I was saying how things are really rough.
00:09
In fact, a lot of my posts have been saying that and that is true.
00:12
I’m going to go with a yes and on this one. Continue reading this entry »
Students are doing something, perhaps inadvertently, to thwart the uncertainty that awaits them in the job market. Unfortunately, or perhaps ironically, it’s creating challenges later on down the line in looking for work.
TRANSCRIPT:
Noticing another trend in working with students and recent graduates, I’m seeing that their majors are multifaceted, that they’re double majoring, triple majoring, multiple minors, taking a ton of courses outside the major.
00:49
And at first blush, this is just pretty cool, right?
00:52
Lots of lots of interests that people are following through on, but I think there’s more going on.
00:59
I think people that are studying right now recognize the uncertainty of the future and are hedging their bets as best they can.
01:09
They’re throwing everything they can at the wall cause they don’t know what’s going to stick.
01:15
So I’ll see a chemical engineer that is also taking data science and those two things can go together certainly, but I’m even seeing far reaching things like.
01:27
An economics major coming with like plant science or something.
01:32
So you know, the the students are recognizing we’ve got a I, we don’t know where that’s going.
01:40
We’ve got a political future that regardless of what team you’re on, you can agree we have no idea really what’s going to go on there.
01:51
And then with the job market, it’s very difficult, competitive.
01:55
They know this, there’s climate change and the the younger you are, the more you’re going to care about that, the more that’s going to be looming on the horizon.
02:05
So I just think this, this idea of following multiple interests is pretty strategic, if unconscious, still very strategic, but there is a problem with it.
02:16
That I’m seeing come to fruition, and that’s when it comes time to look for work.
02:23
And this is on the resume.
02:24
This multifaceted aspect doesn’t necessarily work for everyone.
02:29
You can make it work, but for the most part, if somebody realizes I want to go into software engineering, but I have a chemical engineering degree with a minor in software engineering, you become you, you can look scattered.
02:45
And that can be difficult.
02:46
And with a resume, nobody wants to try to figure you out.
02:49
They want you to tell them, you know, who you are and what you can do for them.
02:54
So there’s this schism between like getting all this stuff to try to protect yourself, but then when you look at work, it’s getting in the way.
03:05
So my thought there is certainly I can help with something like that.
03:09
That’s a fun challenge is figuring out how do you steer the resume in One Direction, maybe have a couple of resumes, but I’m just pointing it out.
03:18
It’s I think we’re going to see more of it and I’m glad that this new generation has a lot of things they’re interested in.
03:26
But there is, there is a drawback when it comes to.
03:30
Looking for work, unless you kind of have the touch to figure out how to show a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
03:37
But it’s not easy.
03:39
So anyway, I give a nod to the younger generations.
03:44
Keep your head up.
03:45
Keep working.
03:46
Let me know if you need some help.
03:49
Cheerios.
More bad news: things aren’t looking good. No one’s hiring, no ones getting promotions. And the people who are lucky enough to have jobs right now, are doing the work of 2-3 people. There’s a lot of uncertainty in the air.
Hang in there people.
TRANSCRIPT:
It’s rough out there and that’s an understatement.
00:06
I’m seeing software engineers scramble for the first time ever.
00:13
There’s just not that many jobs out there.
00:16
I mean, it’s not just in tech and engineering, it’s it’s everywhere.
00:21
So if you’re applying to 100 jobs and getting no response.
00:27
That’s kind of how it is right now.
00:29
Take some solace in knowing that’s what’s happening to everybody.
00:34
Everybody I talk to is running into this.
00:37
I’m having interns, excuse me, not interns.
00:41
Students come back to me and tell me they can’t get an internship.
00:47
So it’s hard to get a job working for free right now.
00:52
And that might seem ridiculous, but you have the people who are employed probably doing the work of an intern in addition to their other job and maybe even managing in some regards as well.
01:08
You know, and hiring an intern does take effort and companies don’t feel like they have the bandwidth to manage an internship to manage an intern right now.
01:20
So it is really hard and if you’re looking for work and you can, you might want to take the rest of the year off.
01:29
I don’t think it’s going to speed up.
01:31
I think it’s going to stay this slow, slow as molasses.
01:37
I don’t see much hiring happening at all.
01:39
So if you can take a breather, be with family, get some training.
01:44
If you can’t, the age-old adage.
01:48
Network, network, network.
01:50
That’s the way you’re going to do it.
01:53
And I don’t just mean with the jobs that are posted.
01:56
I mean going after the companies directly, respectfully, but but to go after people in the company, start talking with them, work your network, but reach out and do some cold calls too.
02:09
Applying for listings.
02:12
It’s just not working.
02:14
All right, so people, keep your chin up.
02:17
And also, if you want an ally in this, we certainly can help you figure out a good strategy, get kind of more focused on what you need.
02:28
And of course, we can build a resume that’ll get some attention.
02:32
So think about that.
02:33
All right.
02:34
I wish you all well.
02:36
This is rough.
02:37
Let’s hope next year is better.
Today, at my daughter’s college, the President ordered everyone to stop studying, cut classes, and have a collective day of rest.
We work hard in the US (as students AND professionals), and I think we forget the importance of taking breaks and messing around. It’s not only good for mental health, it’s good for the bottom line, if that’s your priority…
TRANSCRIPT:
Yay, it’s Mountain Day today at Smith College, which means the president calls all classes off.
00:10
This is spur of the moment.
00:12
No classes.
00:14
Everybody out on the quad, get on a blanket, throw a Frisbee, eat some quiche.
00:20
It’s just time to relax and unwind and take a break.
00:25
And sometimes you need somebody to really.
00:28
Force you into that for you to realize how important it was and how much you needed a break.
00:32
So hats off to the president of Smith College and any other leadership that realizes the importance of play.
00:41
This kind of was a personal experience for me yesterday.
00:45
So I’m I’m coaching my daughter’s soccer team and we had practice, but it was super hot.
00:52
So I said, you know what?
00:54
No practice.
00:55
You’re all coming over my house.
00:57
And we’re going on a giant water slide.
01:00
And we did.
01:01
And the bonding was through the roof.
01:04
It was really cute.
01:04
They were like chanting for each other.
01:07
Give me an A, give me an L, you know, all that stuff.
01:11
So it ended up being super productive.
01:14
And I bring this up because we work a lot.
01:16
We’re a working society and there’s a lot of benefits with that.
01:22
But I think we forget the importance of stopping.
01:25
And taking a break.
01:27
And that’s not just for mental health.
01:29
It actually helps the work.
01:32
You become more creative, you become more relaxed, you become more collaborative.
01:36
Happenstance can happen.
01:39
There’s a lot of good things that happen outside of the traditional idea of what we call work that influences our work.
01:47
So remember, take a break.
LinkedIn is going crazy with their whole AI game. I think their intentions are good, but I’m not sure they’ve thought through the end-game: how it impacts the hiring process and hiring managers.
What happens when everyone has the same resume? What happens when everyone is the perfect candidate (at least on paper)?
—
00:01
I’ve been mucking about in LinkedIn, playing with all the A I tools they have.
00:06
That little star seems to show up just about everywhere, and so I’m playing around with the resume stuff and it seems like pretty cool ideas at first, right?
00:18
You can figure out how good of a match you are for a job, for example.
00:25
I feel like there is a shadow lurking here though, and I’m curious if people have thought about it.
00:31
Maybe I’m thinking about it wrong, but it seems like so you you put up your resume and it will tell you where the gaps are and then it will give suggestions if not actually do the writing for you, but to change like what you need to change, what you need to add.
00:47
And so I worry that people cause everybody wants the interview.
00:53
People want to have the best candidacy possible.
00:56
So what are they going to do?
00:57
They’re going to find a way to put things in their resume that may or may not be true, right?
01:04
Who’s going to really, when they get advice that they have gaps and they need to fill them, who’s going to walk away from that?
01:13
So I’m just sort of worrying that this is becoming a matchy, matchy game.
01:20
And not so much.
01:21
Hey, this is who I am.
01:24
Why don’t you look at that and figure out if I’d be a good fit?
01:28
It’s kind of more about did I check every box?
01:32
Do I have every keyword?
01:35
And I’m really curious to hear from people who have been hiring, from recruiters, from the people with the jobs.
01:41
Are you seeing a disconnect between what you get on a LinkedIn profile or a resume and what happens?
01:49
In the interview, cause I feel like that area is widening a bit.
01:55
And again, I don’t know, I’m not hiring on mass, so perhaps it’s not an issue.
02:03
I’m seeing like it might be.
02:05
Let me know what you’re thinking.
How good is an AI-produced resume?
HR and Hiring Managers already know the answer but it seems that jobseekers are still figuring it out.
A lot of folks are grabbing a template from Canva or going “high-end” with Etsy and then asking the robots to do the rest.
How effective are they?
Are AI-generated resumes good enough?
—–
00:01
It’s happening more and more.
00:03
I had yet another client show up and they had an A I generated resume.
00:10
This time it was a guy who was in the analytics industry, so I guess that’s not too surprising.
00:16
He had a resume that he created through an A I program.
00:21
And it wasn’t working.
00:23
He’d been using it for about 3 months and this seems to be a trend I’m seeing now.
00:27
People using a tool, there’s a lot out there building something, putting it to work and getting Zippo response, not including automated messages.
00:40
Of course A I can do a lot of things and perhaps one day it will be able to create.
00:47
A pretty good resume.
00:49
But even then, even when it can gather the most information from the Internet possible, which is already a heck of a lot, and even though it can compose some really good senses, it’s actually quite good at writing, at creating nice long 3-4 line statements.
01:08
But there is one place that a I cannot scavenge for information, and that is.
01:17
Your head A I can’t reach in and pull out what you don’t know, what you’ve overlooked, what you haven’t thought about.
01:26
So unless you’ve been journaling your life for the last 15 years and your career and writing down all your achievements and putting them up on a website, A I can help you with that.
01:39
So just remember, you don’t know what you don’t know.
01:43
And what you’re working with, what you’re giving A I may not be enough to impress people, to really get them to see who you are.
01:51
And that, my friends, is why people show up to me with these beautifully written A I generated resumes.
02:00
Looking for some actual results.
02:03
So we redo the resume and of course that involves talking with them in depth for an hour, even longer, to really help them figure out what they’re all about and what they’ve forgotten.
02:14
Then we build the resume off of that, and that is what makes the difference.
Dear Hiring Managers and HR Teams:
Can we get together on something?
We need to rein in the interview process. It’s gotten out of control.
I know you want to keep your beloved culture intact, but sheesh…
It’s not uncommon for candidates to go through an initial phone/video screening, pass several rounds of interviews, take psychology assessments, be instructed to put together an engaging 20-page pitch deck and present it to a panel with a Q&A, meet the senior leadership team, take a tour, problem-solve real-world issues on the spot, and… since interviews now take 8 hours instead of one these days, have the nerve-racking, forced smile experience of eating lunch with their evaluators.
Did I leave anything out?
This process can take up to 3 months (several weeks minimum), peppered with last-minute requests, changing job requirements, cryptic instructions, unexpected disappearing acts from HR, and straight-up ghosting.
And then, after all of this — after weekends spent away from family building a PowerPoint presentation, after rehearsing answers to ridiculous but pervasive questions like “tell me 3 of your weaknesses,” after sleepless nights from fearing the tech interview, after scrubbing the web for “out of the box” exercises, like “tell me how many marbles it would take to fill a school bus,” after 20+ firm handshakes with eye contact, after setting up a professional-grade Zoom studio, after all the followup notes, the tracking in Excel, the time off work, the money for parking, the dry cleaning, the power breakfasts, the mental health debriefings with friends…
After all that…there is no job offer.
For 3 months, this candidate has made your company their life.
They’ve given you their best ideas, their best performance, their best times slots, not to mention serious professional, financial, and emotional expense.
And then its, “Sorry, you’re just not the right fit.”
And you know what’s coming next, you know the question they have for you, their last hope at taking something from this whole disappointing experience: the humble request to know why.
You will inevitably give them one of two canned responses:
“We found someone with more experience.”
OR
“You don’t have enough _____________.” (Something that’s usually obvious from looking at the resume.)
Yeah, I know you’re playing your cards close to your chest to avoid a discrimination lawsuit, but seriously, c’mon.
At the very least, after taking so much of someone’s time and ideas, can’t you at least guide them a bit, as you boot them out the door?
Nope.
It’s “Buh-Bye,” and sometimes not even that.
If you’re a candidate reading this you’re nodding your head. If you’re a hiring manager, you’re shaking it.
An uneven equation, to say the least.
You, the employer, leave with more knowledge of who you need for the position, strategic plans for where to take your business, inside info on other companies, a broader understanding of the talent pool that’s out there, and sometimes free labor!
And the job candidate? They leave with the false hope that “maybe another position will open up and we’ll call you.”
Yeah right.
You hold all the cards. How about a little compassion?
How about paying these folks if you’re going to have them work for you?
How about a probationary period instead of a 3-month interview?
How about looking at their past presentations instead of asking them to create a brand-new one for you?
How about letting them eat lunch alone?
How about treating them like a fellow member of your industry who has value separate of working for your company?
How about taking a little risk and making a better educated guess.
If you must see a benefit, think of this as a business opportunity.
People talk, especially people who don’t get the job.
Why not have them walk away loving the company instead of resenting it?
Why not have them wishing they could have gotten in vs rationalizing why you suck?
I’ll tell you this: the company that designs the first-ever respectful, energizing interview process is going to have an influx of applications and a massively robust referral network amongst people inside and outside their walls. And your new hires are going to love you all the more.
You’re not just filling a job requisition, you’re spreading the word. Whether you want it to be or not, your story is seasoned by the whispers of your detractors. You’re not privy to these conversations.
And you don’t know what you’re missing.
Twitter, Meta, Amazon, Salesforce… titans of Tech, supposedly too big to fail.
But we’re seeing some wavering. And employees are certainly feeling the quake.
Inflation is taking its toll, the global supply chain is still screwy, and consumers are pinching their pennies. As a result, profits are down, even for the big guys, and the #1 strategy of public companies to keep dishing out shareholder dividends is to cut the workforce. And fast.
Tens of thousands of workers are being laid off, in some cases 10%-50% of the workforce.
If you’re not lucky enough to be above the fold, you may find yourself dumping your desk tchotchkes into a cardboard box with an unrequested escort to the front door.
It’s not enough to work hard and be loyal.
When the chips are down, your salary can always be rescinded.
===
Part of protecting yourself is knowing this to be true and taking precautions to be ready for when it occurs.
Life is uncertain. Companies have plenty of failsafes in place to protect them from sudden catastrophes.
Do you?
Everything’s automated now. So why not automate the process of building a new resume?
The benefits are obvious: a resume. And fast. You enter a few action verbs and phrases, pick a template, and presto, the resume gods spit out a brand-new resume for you. As a resume writer, I thought about building something like this. I still might but I always come back to the same reasons why I don’t think it’s a good idea.
They can hurt more than help.
If you’ve got a linear career path with no job gaps or short-term jobs, and your most recent position and company are directly relevant to the job you are targeting, then a resume builder should be fine for you. You should catch the attention of recruiters and HR folks easily. Well done toeing the line.
Another scenario where resume builders work well is if you’re applying internally. That is, a job opened up at your company, and you need a resume to apply for it. As long as the people doing the hiring know exactly who you are, then it’s not such an imperative that you wow them with words on your resume. A slight caveat, though: you may be surprised how little people know about what you do, including the colleagues you talk to every day.
Resume builders don’t allow you to pick and choose where to put content, such as titles, company names, dates, education, certifications, and skills. You’re stuck with a template. The template decides which foot you put forward first, and that can mean a dangerous step in the wrong direction.
For example, if you have a job gap or a short-term gap, having prominent dates could be a problem. If your job titles don’t match up with the industry, showcasing titles might trip you up. If you just got a groovy new certification, but the template forces you to put it at the bottom of the resume, under your education, then you’re shooting yourself in the foot.
Resume-builders don’t allow you to have subheadings, sidebars, case studies, and other callouts in your Experience section. It’s tricks like these that help to tell an accurate story, visually and literally.
Another big gripe about resume builders: they rarely offer the option of creating a summary section. You’ll usually be allowed to create a massive keyword list, which is critical, but you won’t have a nice juicy intro on your resume saying who you are and what you’re about.
This leads me to the biggest issue with Resume Builders…
The content comes from you.
You’re already struggling with what to say. It’s hard to know what to include and what to leave out, what to infer and what to explicitly state.
No resume builder is going to help you with this.
There are a few paths you can take to free yourself of the burden of building your own resume (or outsourcing to a bot).
Sometimes a robot can’t do a human’s job. When it comes to mapping out your career and telling your life’s story on 1 or 2 pages, resume builders are usually going to come up short. It’s tempting to want to believe you can magically create a winning resume with the click of a button, but…
If your career runs a path that is anything but straight and narrow, think twice before you push that button.
Getting let go from work is like getting hit by a bus.
And like getting hit by a bus, people who get fired, laid off, or asked to leave often experience PTSD (post-traumatic-stress-syndrome). I see it more often than you might think.
The symptoms show up in one’s work history:
–extended time off
–private consulting
–gig work
–sudden or serial entrepreneurism
–underemployment
A common behavior amongst people with Job-related PTSD is complete and total avoidance of an intentional job search — like a batter avoiding the batter’s box or a veteran avoiding loud noises or a driver circumnavigating busy intersections.
It’s understandable. It’s a smart reaction to a bad experience: the brain saying “hey that sucked. Let’s not go through that again.”
But it abbreviates your life. It makes you take U-turns that keep you from certain roads.
To break free of job PTSD, you have to confront it. (Ghosts hate it when you give ’em a name.) Talk about it, replay the crap-ending to someone who loves you and supports you. No need to deconstruct it or overanalyze things, just pull it into the light and let your emotions go where they go; you’ll probably cycle through quite a few of them.
Then go back before that ending and remember the good stuff too. And if it was always bad at that job, go to the one before it.
You’ve got victories; you’ve just forgotten about them. They’re obstructed. The ghosts are in the way.
Once you get them to move, you’ll see all the roads again. And the intersections will be clear.
Sometimes, we get ourselves talking and we forget where we’re going. Or we don’t know what direction to talk in or how deep to dive.
You’re not alone.
It’s difficult to figure out how much you should say at any given time in a job interview. And with the prevalence of video interviewing it’s become ever harder to judge how people are receiving what you’re dishing out while you’re dishing it.
So how do you know what to say, how much to offer, and when to say it? Continue reading this entry »
