Underemployment is worse than unemployment for some depending on their other life choices and whether they feel trapped. Others will use it as an advantage because it gives them the space to hone their craft or sharpen their career tools. There are are a few who will position themselves as a big fish in a small pond. I didn’t consider that in recent years and having written about it before, it’s important because it’s choice. All of the above are choices. Many people choose underemployment to prepare for the future and take a job that is not stressful or demanding and for which they’re overqua ..read more

When candidates prepare for a single job interview, they must have intel about how the job and industry work and what makes the hiring manager and team tick. Control of the interview is to create a conversation to make the interviewer feel you’re easy to work with daily and exchange ideas. You’re not controlling because you’re asking the questions. You guide the conversations with the answers and responses you give, making the interviewer want to know more. 1) How does your experience resonate with what the team does regularly? Through rapport, you look for times to trade stories with the inte ..read more

I want to expand on an article on Yahoo Finance written last September, “I’m a Career Expert: 6 Things Baby Boomers Need To Understand About the Job Market Today.”  I like everything about the article, but other connections are just as essential to appealing to today’s employers.  The article lists:  The Benefits of Job Hopping The Power of Personal Branding  Understand the Applicant Tracking Systems The Decline of 9-5 Schedules Flattening Hierarchies The Rising of Diversity and Inclusion While these are important, they are a ways off from being the norm in understandi ..read more

I recently discussed on Lensa the importance of empathy and compassion in the recruiting industry. The article emphasizes how empathy lays the foundation of trust from employees and has more value than interviewing and onboarding. I also highlight how recruiters can discourage a connection with candidates by lacking communication, being insensitive, having rigid processes, and responding untimely to candidate concerns. I provide some useful tools and strategies that recruiters can incorporate into their strategies to enhance their effectiveness and create a better candidate experience. So, wha ..read more

The average person is affected by layoff announcements, whether directly affecting them or coworkers. The cubicle once occupied by a coworker had family pictures. The ones with encouraging smiles or rattling off cliche reminders to take one day at a time are all gone. You challenged yourself to remain unattached to coworkers, but it happened. You didn’t cheat on yourself. You became human.  Most careerists don’t realize sentimentality is a career killer. Yet, according to a recent survey, many give away too much to their employer. Only 45% report their employer sees them as a pe ..read more

Jack Kelly and I discuss company loyalty, AI, concerns for this year’s college graduates, and job scams in this week’s episode. Here are a few of the highlights: Jack says, “It’s so hard to find a new job, and people are worried, and they’re staying put because they’re scared.” Workers are being laid off without empathy or accountability by decision-makers. Bank CEOs can lose millions, lay off workers, and still get bonuses.   College isn’t the first option for everyone anymore.  While AI could be a tool for job seekers to leverage, it could also work against them.  Deepfa ..read more

 I explain the significance of the following events in the past two weeks, which should inform us of what is to come in job scams, job fishing, and recruiter scams. The FTC categorizes them as imposter scams (FTC, 2/9/24). “ResumeLooters” refers to scammers accessing and stealing private information from job portals in Asia. In the U.S., we need to start taking precautions to protect our information on any portals we signed up for to fill out applications and resumes posted. One action (if you haven’t already) is to use a third-party phone number like a Google number. Many people use Ze ..read more

Just because you cross the street at the corner during a green light doesn’t mean you won’t get hit. You can use this logic when implementing security measures while job searching on job sites. With the right Internet security software and cautious job-searching intelligence, you can make it much harder to get scammed. I’ve talked about this for several years on the podcast, as a Lensa contributor, and in the news. In my next article, I will discuss what you can do to minimize and own more control of navigating the Internet job sites and social platforms safely. For this article ..read more

My friend Daisy Wright invited me to her LinkedIn Live event to discuss how older workers can navigate today’s job search.  Here are a few of the highlights: Healthcare is a viable option for older workers returning to the workforce.  Many want a part-time job or a job without the 9-5 grind. What are the markets like for healthcare in Canada and the U.S.? Is consulting really an option?   We see there are more articles for older workers on how to get a job than successful announcements about getting jobs.  More about Daisy: She is the Founder and Chief Enco ..read more

I met with two of my favorites, Keirsten Greggs and Jack Kelly, to discuss job search stuff before the holidays.  Here are a few of the highlights: Pausing a job search before the holidays is wasting a potential opportunity. There are networking and informational interview opportunities; Many people shut things down because of the holiday. It also keeps your mind sharp.  Two years of being in a weird spot, no growth, cost cutting, slow hiring, lots, continued layoffs. No “September Surge” or calls for vacant positions in the retail sector.  Both Jack and Keirsten are frequent gu ..read more