Increasingly, I’m hearing from readers who prefer AI-led hiring to the traditional human-led process. In all fairness, most of my readers tend to be early adopters of technology rather than fighting the inevitable. They cite several distinct advantages: Elimination of unconscious human bias: AI evaluates your data, not your pedigree. 24/7 scheduling flexibility: You interview on your Read More…
The job market, like all business activities, operates as a transactional machine. Yet many job seekers treat it as victimhood theatre, broadcasting unsubstantiated narratives to convince the world that their lack of success isn’t their fault. It’s a classic case of confirmation bias: gravitating toward data, statistics and opinions that validate their frustration and anger Read More…
There’s a common refrain among job seekers: “I want feedback!” Whether it’s third-round ghosting, automated rejections, or total silence, job seekers wonder what they’re doing wrong and crave answers to improve their chances of getting hired. Two doses of reality: Employers don’t owe job seekers feedback. No two recruiters or hiring managers assess candidates the Read More…
It’s no secret that a large percentage of resumes and LinkedIn profiles are fiction, rife with exaggerations and outright lies. According to a 2024 ResumeLab study, 70% of employees admitted to lying on their resumes, particularly about job duties and technical skills. A further case in point: a 2025 Checkr report found that 60% of hiring managers have Read More…
Many job seekers cling to a fantasy that employers reward effort and that ‘trying your best’ will lead to being hired. If recruiters and hiring managers aren’t responding to your applications, or you’re getting interviews, but no job offers, it’s safe to say you’re not giving employers compelling reasons to hire you. Increasingly, your value Read More…
Employers don’t care about your past; they care about their future. Yet most candidates walk into an interview prepared to recite their career history (read: water under the bridge) as if it were a biopic. They then wait for questions that’ll give them a chance to explain why they’re the right candidate for the job. Read More…
If I had a nickel for every time a job seeker told me, “I’m doing everything right! Why am I not getting hired?” I’d be writing this column from a Southern California beachfront house. Most job seekers aren’t doing everything right. They’re doing what’s comfortable and easy, and what self-proclaimed career coaches tell them to Read More…
Employers don’t care about your supposed “potential.” In a tight economy, claiming to be a jack-of-all-trades doesn’t make you a “must-have” for an employer; it makes you of little value. Telling recruiters and hiring managers you can “wear many hats” signals you’re a master of nothing. Employers aren’t looking for a blank canvas to paint on. Read More…
Expectations are resentments in the making. Many job seekers today enter the job market with an inflated sense of entitlement, expecting employers to prioritize their self-interests over their own. Instead, they’re experiencing a fiercely competitive environment where emotions are decimated, and proving your value to an employer’s profitability is your only currency for getting hired. Read More…
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: job seekers are often their own worst enemies; an obvious example is how they utilize AI lazily. By mass-applying and copying-pasting AI output to their prompts without editing, job seekers hoping for shortcuts and to lessen their job search efforts are flooding employers with what amounts Read More…
Whether it’s a scuffed kitchen table, a varnish-bare desk in the corner of your bedroom or a sterile cubicle at your local library, the posture is the same: a defeated, oxygen-starved hunch while scrolling through LinkedIn and other job boards, hitting the ‘Easy Apply’ button with the persistence of a gambler on a 12-hour losing Read More…
Having a resume and LinkedIn profile that clearly showcase your qualifications and a track record of driving profitability is merely the prerequisite for securing an interview; being a ‘culture fit’ is what ultimately gets you hired. Being a culture fit isn’t just a vague platitude; it’s an employer’s safeguard. The last thing a hiring manager Read More…
Every second you spend on LinkedIn “raising awareness” about how the hiring system is supposedly broken or ranting about unicorn-hunting recruiters is a second you’re choosing to stay unemployed. Employers don’t care about your grievances; they have a business to run within the constraints of economic realities. By publicly and privately resisting the transactional realities Read More…
LinkedIn is flooded with job seekers complaining that many job ads don’t mention salary. While their frustration is valid, publicly criticizing the lack of compensation transparency wastes mental energy and doesn’t look good to recruiters and hiring managers. Do complainers genuinely believe their posts and comments will influence employers, who aren’t spending their time on Read More…
The Enchiridion of Epictetus, by Stoic philosopher Epictetus (50 – 135 CE), opens with a straightforward truth: “Some things are in our control, and others are not.” What you control are your beliefs, opinions, impulses, desires, fears, perceptions, and responses. What you don’t control are others’ beliefs, opinions, impulses, desires, fears, perceptions, and behaviours. I tend to Read More…
When it comes to my The Art of Finding Work columns, none of what I write is theoretical for me. It took me about 20 years into my career to grasp the importance employers place on value-add. Before this realization, I intellectualized my experience, which was of no value to an employer. I believe two Read More…
More than ever, the job market is noisy, and competition is, to say the least, fierce. For job seekers, the biggest challenge isn’t a lack of skills or experience; it’s a lack of visibility. Recruiters and hiring managers are inundated with applications. I receive at least 10 emails or DMs daily from job seekers, most of Read More…
Image Credit: Geralt In terms of hiring, I have this, admittedly somewhat idealistic, holistic view: STEP 1: Candidates apply to a job opening. STEP 2: Candidates who applied according to the employer’s application instructions and based on their resume, appear qualified are selected for further assessment. STEP 3: The selected candidate’s LinkedIn activity and digital Read More…
My favourite quote illustrating the futility of resisting reality is by American author Byron Katie: “When you argue with reality, you lose, but only 100% of the time.” A few years ago, I read Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret to better understand the Law of Attraction. According to Byrne, one aspect of the Law of Attraction Read More…
