3 Lists A Job Search Needs

Job search trends, AI is stealing jobs, Workday accused of ageism and more!

Author

Hannah Morgan
June 01, 2025

Welcome to Career Essentials, where I share actionable insights and curated articles that will help accelerate your career and supercharge your job search.

3 Lists Every Job Seeker Needs

Job search without a plan? That's risky.

To stay focused and make real progress, you need three essential lists:

25 STAR Stories

Your STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) stories are the backbone of your resume, interviews, and networking. They showcase your strengths and the value you bring. They also help you clarify your top skills and areas of strength.

50 Target Companies

These are organizations you might want to work for. This list evolves as you research, connect with insiders, and learn more. Think of it as your opportunity pipeline.

100 Contacts You Know Well

You already know more than 100 people—start by listing the ones you know best. These are your supporters, connectors, and potential referrers.

Here’s how to use those lists:

🔹 Recalling past accomplishments helps clarify your strengths so you can target the right next role
🔹 Use the results and actions to craft strong bullets on your resume

🔹 Research your target companies on LinkedIn. Identify connections and request informational chats.
🔹 Follow companies on LinkedIn and other social media to stay in the loop.
🔹 Set job alerts on their career pages.

🔹 Watch for news updates—and engage. Leave thoughtful comments, share insights, and stay visible.
🔹 Reach out to 5 people per day. Reconnect, share your goals, and ask for insights on your target companies.
🔹 End each conversation with: "Who else would you recommend I speak with?"

This system helps you work smarter, not just harder, in your job search.

3 lists for job search

I posted a version of this on LinkedIn

Do you need help implementing these 3 lists? Set up a no-cost 15-minute consultation here. 

This in-depth report includes data from 600 Huntr users on their job search experience. That’s 636k job postings and 55k resumes.  It looks at things like which job boards are used and how long it takes to get an interview, education, top skills by job title, pay scales, and work arrangement preferences. There’s so much in here, but some of my key takeaways are:  

  • LinkedIn is the top-used job board but has only a 2.3% response rate

  • “Product intuition” commands a 163% salary premium over the market-wide median

  • Smaller firms are more likely to value experience over degrees (42% vs. 36%)

  • Overwhelmed job seekers were most likely to expect salaries between $50k-$74k

  • 21% of 18-21 year olds responded that they “haven’t used” [AI tools in their job search]

After 10+ years, Erin Kennedy and I finally had a face-to-face conversation. Weird, huh. She’s one of my long-time favorite resume writers and someone I consider a colleague. We talked about how finding a job has changed a lot lately with things like talking openly about salaries, using AI, and more remote work. And I dish out some real steps you can take to keep your job search strong, stay on track, and avoid common pitfalls. Plus, learn about the one thing that will improve your mental state during job search.

 

“In today’s uncertain job market—what some are calling a ‘white-collar recession’—is it still possible to make a career pivot?” This is a great question and the answer is one every job seeker will learn from. From assessing the job market to identifying your strengths, there are golden nuggets here. 

When job seekers react (by applying to jobs) instead of being proactive they often feel frustrated and get discouraged. This post lays out ways to regain control of your job search. 

🗨 INTERVIEWING

As Broda points out, it only took 2 days to get a  new Pope, but it’s taking job seekers months to land a job. All joking aside, see what you can expect from the interview process. It’s a good reminder of the 4 things hiring managers are looking for. 

⚙ AI

“AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs — and spike unemployment to 10-20% in the next one to five years” says Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic. Something has to be done to put guardrails in place on AI and Amodei says, but government leaders are not informed enough to know this. CEOs and even other AI company leaders are concerned too but few are speaking out. Is Amodei exaggerating, looking for positive PR, or is he trying to do the right thing?  

A Day With Claude - Anthropic

To give you a sense of how employees use AI in their work, you’ll hear how it saves time doing deep research, codes a website, and organizes a project. It’s a short video but tells a big story. This is a great companion piece to the article above.

🔮 WORKFORCE

There are many articles outlining the recent class action lawsuit against Workday which alleges the company’s artificial intelligence-based applicant recommendation system discriminated against workers age 40 and older. There are three looming implications: 

  • A legal case may establish a precedent for AI vendor accountability in discriminatory hiring.

  • Bias in AI employment decisions is a concern.

  • These concerns could impact both employers and AI developers.

💰 CAREER

If you are feeling burned out, there’s a way to reignite your work energy. Instead of quietly dialing back, this post outlines six ways to speak up and adapt a career that aligns with your life. Things as simple as using OOO messages for any time you are actually out of the office, publicly sharing school pickup or deep work on your calendar instead of just “busy”, but it all starts with redefining your personal and professional success.

5 Tiny Leadership Acts That Matter Most - Zach Mercurio, Next Big Idea Club

“[T]he best leaders have trained and practice the skill of showing people their value.” Mercurio gives five concrete examples of how powerful (and rare) it is to show people you work with that they make a difference, they have value, and that you see them. This is called mattering and it is a key leadership skill.

📶 RECRUITER PERSPECTIVE

Recruiters as Underwriters - The Random Recruiter, LevelUp Careers

This gives you a peak behind the curtain and explains how a 3rd party recruiter thinks. It starts with the initial question: Do you meet the baseline, then if you check the boxes they evaluate whether you have a track record of delivering real results, and if there’s evidence, they’ll move on to assessing who much of a risk you pose (and this is where a lot of people get knocked out). Do you look like someone who will stay, or will you get a counter offer? Having the right background and skills is just part of what recruiters are considering. Have a read.  

JOB SEARCH VISUAL

(See an example)

✈️ Headed on vacation? Don’t forget to plan your out-of-office the right way—with a professional request email!

📧 Here’s how to make sure your time-off request is clear, courteous, and approved:

✅ Know the Policy: Check your employee handbook or HR for rules around vacation time.
✅ Give Notice: Aim for at least 30 days’ notice—more is better!
✅ Choose Smart Dates: Avoid peak busy times.
✅ Write a Clear Subject Line: Example: [Your Name] Vacation Request: July 1–5
✅ Be Direct, Not Demanding: Clearly state your request in the opening.
✅ Include Dates & Hours: Be specific and double-check accuracy.
✅ Share Your Work Plan: Show how you’ll prep for your absence.
✅ Invite Questions: Be open to follow-up.
✅ Send a Reminder: Follow up before your time off begins.

🌟 Pro Tip: Showing you’ve thought ahead makes it easier for your boss to say YES.

how to write a vacation request email

DID YOU MISS THESE

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

With the news that Pocket was ending, I was forced to find a new tool to bookmark articles to read later. I do this all the time because there are great articles and I want to refer back to them (as I curate this newsletter and/or write articles and posts). It’s one way I organize my research.

Tip: Save ideas for topics to write about on LinkedIn? It’s a great way to build your thought leadership!

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