Watching this video now was enlightening.  I see such a different version of myself. I see someone who gave one of the greatest performances of her life. Also, I see someone who hadn’t washed her hair in way too many days, thinking no one would notice. I see someone who had witnessed so many of her own LinkedIn colleagues go through layoffs, secretly wishing she had been one of them.

Of course, during that time I was grateful to have a job. But I was burnt out and exhausted. I was in my office 10-12 hours a day, doing the best I could to support others during those dark pandemic times. I’ve said it many times, but it’s worth reminding that while my employer created the conditions for burnout, I am equally to blame for not setting boundaries and not taking care of myself. 

Outside of those reflections, I also am happy to be leaning on some of the wisdom from that video now with an evolved perspective, as I find myself a job seeker. I’m pleased to see that I said some good shit and feel it is important for job seekers to consider the following…

Accept the Uncertainty:

Things suck right now. With each visit to LinkedIn, I see posts from good, talented people in my network who have been at the job search for months and feeling the desperation. I help when and where I can, but I’ve also learned the lesson of giving too much and know it’s important to protect my energy.

Don’t be a Machine:

It’s so tempting to just sit at the screen and apply for 100 jobs a day, in hopes of getting noticed.  While it is a bit of a numbers game, generally I don’t find that turning myself into a robot is all that helpful. Taking time to digitally detox and allow time for reflection is an important part of the process. 

All the cool kids are using AI:

Let me start by saying, I am very conflicted about AI. But it’s here to stay and to bury my head in the sand would be doing myself a disservice. And truthfully, there are only so many cover letters that I can write. So yes, I do ask for a little help from my friend Chat GPT. I’ll ask it to write me a cover letter based on a job description and then tailor it based on my resume. This gives me a great starting point to then make edits for accuracy and to add my own voice. Because it;s important to remember that today’s gatekeepers is the almighty ATS. If you don’t get past it, you’ll never even get to the real human who desires to hire you.

What has been your experience with job seeking? And how can I best support you?

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