But few people leverage their network well. Here’s how to fix that. Your network has always been key, and now it’s more important than ever. That’s not going to change. With the dynamics of the current job market, cold applications get lost in a sea of similar resumes. 𝗦𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁? 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂. Many people b

𝗠𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆’𝘀 𝗼𝗻 “𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲”. Because a career story that is told in a dry, abstract way, without rich and meaty details, isn’t engaging and compelling. Dare I say it sounds a bit like you invented an answer because a career coach said you should have one ready… Let’s compare. Imagine an interviewer asks “𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀”. 😩 𝗗𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁: "I’m known for being a proble

We all use jargon and abbreviations in our work. It makes life easier when talking with our peers. But unfortunately, we sometimes forget and we let that insider-speak spill over into the world of our customers. As a career coach I’ve been guilty of that.  I’ve talked about SOAR and STAR frameworks to coaching clients. I’m sure some of them had no idea what I was talking about, or why they should care. Sorry about that. So here it is. SOAR and STAR are coaching-speak for “𝗪�

And how would you know…? Well, the surest sign is you’re not getting any interviews. True, there are many reasons why you might not get called for an interview. But an underwhelming resume is definitely one of them. I see plenty of resumes that list what someone did. But those resumes don’t get you interviews. 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀. Right off the top of my head, backed up by no data whatsoever, here are 12 words that you might have on your resume t

Making a career pivot is a challenge I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. There seems to be a growing number of people who see their chosen career path as less than peachy. Or non-existent. I’ve talked before about the groundwork—nailing down your values, identifying transferable skills, and picking your new destination. But when you’re actually ready to make the jump, the rubber hits the road in two places: Your resume and the interview. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂

What’s the one thing people dread most in an interview? 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 "𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲?"  When you’ve moved on to a bigger, better role, the "Why are you leaving?" question is a breeze. But if you’ve been laid off, it’s a different story. I’ve seen it many times—otherwise confident professionals start overthinking, stumbling, and feeling like they’re being interrogated. The reality is, most interviewers just don't have the context they need to make a

I sometimes meet job seekers who are frustrated by conflicting resume advice from different career coaches. Should they stick with two pages or go longer? Exactly what should go in that executive summary? To use keywords or not, that is the question… So I’ll just say it. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁. I say that with confidence because there are tens of thousands of talent acquisition specialists and hiring managers. And they are a

I know it’s brutal out there, but 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲. Step away for an hour, bake, and enjoy. And maybe share.  Some ideas: 💡 Live alone? Bake a cake and share it with your neighbors. You can reconnect, maybe make a new friend who can support you, and grow your network. I’ve done this. 💡 Work in an office? Bake and take it to work. Leave your goodies in the break room with a note, and grow your network. I’ve done this. 💡 Volunt

In earlier posts I’ve covered surfacing your values, figuring out your key skills, and then finding your new direction through conversation with your network. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲? I’ve just explored a tool called Pigment that can help you do that. Pigment is targeted at knowledge workers with 10+ years in the workforce who are in career transition. One of the underlying p

You’ve made it this far. You’ve made all those small percentages add up. Don’t screw it up now…. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝘂𝗽 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀. I recommend four components: 1️⃣ Thank the interviewer for their time, it was great to meet them etc. 2️⃣ Restate something new you learned about the role or the business in the interview. It never hurts

. I’ve written a couple of posts on pivots already. ICYMI, I’ve already covered:  • How you can dig deep to better understand your values and what truly makes you tick  • How you can figure out the “must-haves” and “hard no’s” to help shape your job search and guide your interview conversations  • Figure out what your most important skills are So far, so good. But what’s next? Fair question, we are getting to the fun bit where you bring it all together. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀, 𝗳𝗶𝗴�

I don’t think there are any shades of grey here. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄, 𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄. There’s nothing in between. Why do I say this? Because lots of resumes I see look over-stuffed. There’s too much detail for someone on the hiring side to get a clear picture of the applican

Don’t let the interview run out of gas, dwindle away, just fade out… I wrote a few weeks ago about using a personal positioning statement to open an interview. Something concise, specific, and powerful can really set the tone for the entire conversation. But you have to close strong too. You don’t want your final words to leave the interviewer feeling kinda meh. But those last few minutes are a magnificent opportunity to put some white space between you and all the other cand

But that’s OK, you can still get hired.  Have you ever watched the interviewer when you’ve had an in-person interview? If you haven’t, you should. They don’t actually read your resume, they skim. We casually talk about “reading resumes”, but no-one ever does. Everyone skims.  The only goal of a resume is to get you an interview. It's a marketing brochure. So you need to make your resume skim-friendly. To do that, it’s helpful to think of skims happening incrementally. 1️⃣ An

It’s that top few inches. Your profile pic, your banner, and your “About” section. Because unless you hook the reader there they probably won’t read any further. Getting the profile pic right is easy. It should be reasonably recent, professional, and a good resolution. I’ve seen bad selfies, and I’ve seen portraits that look 20 years old. Both give the impression that maybe you don’t care that much about the details, or your standards are low. If budget is a concern, many tra

What can you learn from marketing to help your job search? If you try to sell to everybody, you sell to nobody. That’s marketing 101. 𝗜𝗻 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵. This is true even if you only offer a single product. I once worked for a software vendor that sold analytics. Its two main mar

Let’s pick up the career pivot thread again. Hopefully you’ve already figured out the ideal work/roles you'd like to move to. (If not, check my earlier post). But, can you make the pivot? The next step is figuring out your transferable skills.  It’s easy to look at your current job title and think that’s all you are. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀, 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 - 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. You just need

I n other words, are your tech skills getting stale. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗶𝘀𝗺? 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲... Easier said than done? Perhaps - it definitely takes time and effort. I’ve written a couple of posts already on how to craft your resume when you’re over the age of forty. One area we haven't touched on is keeping your tech skills up to date. And I don’t mean AI. Sure,

If you want to get more interviews, don’t write your resume to be read.  𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱.  Resumes don’t get read, they get skimmed. Put the information that really matters where it will be found with a quick skim. I’ve already posted about how to change your summary paragraph to be skim-friendly. So let’s talk about how you tweak the roles in your professional experience section. There are 3 key points: 💡 Showing your impact is alwa

Hopefully you’ll never need one. But if you do, I’ve had some practice… What is it? It’s what you say to explain a layoff, so it’s important to have a strong one. If you need to write one, here’s some guidance. Do this before your interview. Draft it out, revise it, and at least memorize the key themes and flow. You don’t have to learn it word for word. But you want to be confident in your delivery at what is typically one of the most stressful moments in an interview. A good