April has been a rough month for many people. Every time you open LinkedIn there’s more tough news about layoffs. As a career coach, I feel these struggles through my clients and know how challenging the job market feels right now so I wrote a short article with 5 actionable pieces of advice if you have recently been laid off. Or feel free to share this with anyone you care about if they have been affected by a layoff. 5 Things You Can Do if You or Someone You Care About Has Been Affected by a Layoff: 1.     Make smart updates to your resume and your LinkedIn profile: Every ..read more

Getting laid off really hurts. It makes you doubt yourself and makes you question why you were so committed to a company that cut ties with you seemingly so easily. And getting laid off leaves most people feeling a little (if not very) lost. If you feel like this now, please read this post as there are three things I’ve found are consistent misconceptions of people who are where you are at right now: 1.     You think you’ll never get into a company again that’s as ‘great’ as the one that just laid you off. 2.     You think your financial future is in ser ..read more

Looking for a new job can be frustrating. It can feel like a lot of effort for very little return. One of the first questions I ask people when they reach out to me is how many jobs they have applied for online. The second question is usually to ask them what else they did other than just apply online. Job seekers tend to focus more on how many applications they submit each day or week rather than on other things that could be more fruitful. Here are 3 things I recommend all job seekers consider doing: Reach out to the 5 people in your network who you think are the mostly likely to lead to y ..read more

If that’s you, you need to listen to this podcast. I was fortunate to guest on former-NFL player, Alex Molden’s podcast, The Shark Effect. His podcast is all about helping former elite athletes and top performers create impact in their lives beyond just the field or the court or wherever they are used to winning. We had a very candid conversation about success, failure, and how you can make changes in your life to succeed. It involves getting uncomfortable, getting real, and doing the work. Check out my episode with Alex and tune in to The Shark Effect for other episodes to help you live the l ..read more

One of the biggest misconceptions in the job search game is that a short-term or temporary or contract position will hurt your career. I couldn’t disagree more.  It’s tough out there. It feels more competitive than ever. And it is as the average corporate job receives 250 applications.   One of the things I wish job seekers would consider is that there is more than one route to land your dream job. Yes, you can absolutely do the work to stand out and land your dream, full-time, permanent job but I want to encourage you to consider that there is another path to that dream job. That pa ..read more

If you have a resume that’s longer than 1-page, you need to read this. A multi-page resume says: You don’t know how to edit your information to amplify what’s important. You think every job you’ve ever had is relevant to every position you’re applying for. You think a recruiter will read more than 1-page. You think a recruiter will read the 8 bullet points you wrote under a job. Under every job. You are probably way too wordy in how you communicate in general. Your resume will be looked at for about 6 seconds if it makes it to human eyes. How much can you read in 6 seconds?! Yes, m ..read more

The simple answer is YES, it very well might be. And it’s an issue on both ends of the spectrum – if you’re viewed as being “too young” or “too old”, you may be subject to ageism. In this post, I’m going to focus on ageism against older applicants as this has been a topic many of my career coaching clients have asked about lately.   First off, what is it really? Ageism is prejudice or discrimination against people based on their age. For example, has someone made you feel like you’re out of touch because of your age? Or that you’re slower or less productive because of your age? Or have yo ..read more

Nobody said it would be easy to land your dream job. Think for a minute about how many roles you’ve applied for and not heard back on. Argh. That feeling sucks, but it hasn't doesn't have to be nearly as difficult as you're making it. Here are 3 things you can do today on LinkedIn to help yourself get closer to a job you’ll love: Spend an hour giving your LinkedIn profile a mini-makeovert. You probably spend well over an hour aimlessly scrolling social media each day. Why not put an hour into helping move yourself forward? These are the most important things to spend time on with your profil ..read more

Have an interview coming up? Want to move to the next round? And ultimately get closer to the offer? Here are the 3 big things that most directly lead to a successful interview: You need to know how to tell your own story really well. You will definitely be asked to tell the interviewer about yourself. The goal here is to share the parts of your story that are most important and that make sense with the position. The first few minutes of the interview is when the interviewer decides if you’re moving on to the next round. The rest of the interview is a validation of that initial feeling. Fi ..read more

You’ve gone through the application and interview process and you’re the chosen ONE. Finally!!! The company has decided that of all the applicants, they want YOU. So now is the time to leverage that, not give away all your power. On your way into a company is your best time to negotiate. Raises are typically small (~3% annually) so it’s important to maximize your total compensation when you enter the company. So let’s get specific on things you should DO and should AVOID DOING when negotiating a job offer. It’s time to sweeten the pot. What to do when negotiating a job offer: When they ..read more