Troubleshooting and Fixing an Extended Job Search

PLUS: Skills on the rise, practice interview tools and AI tips for job seekers!

Author

Hannah Morgan
April 13, 2025

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

Troubleshooting and Fixing an Extended Job Search

A long job search can be frustrating and exhausting, but you’re not alone. Job seekers at all levels face extended searches, and while the media highlights the struggle, practical solutions are often missing. Here are steps to help you regain momentum and move forward with confidence.

1. Know Your Strengths and Communicate Them Clearly

Employers don’t just want to know what you’ve done—they want to understand how you’ve made an impact. Instead of listing tools and technologies, explain how you’ve solved problems and driven results.

Confidence matters, too. Whether in your resume, LinkedIn profile, or interviews, let your personality shine through. You’re more than a list of qualifications—you’re a problem-solver with unique value to offer.

2. Identify Where You're Needed

Not every company will be the right fit, and that’s okay. Your job is to find the ones that need your expertise or that you are truly interested in. Job postings rarely tell the whole story, so talk to people in your target roles and industries. Ask about their biggest challenges and successes—this will help you position yourself effectively.

And yes, people are busy. But if you’ve done your research and clearly express your request, many will be willing to help—especially if you have a mutual connection.

3. Target the Right Companies

Make a list of 50 companies that align with your skills values, and/or experience. These don’t have to be places with open job postings—they just need to be organizations that could hire someone with your expertise. This targeted approach will drive who you decide to network with.

4. Network with Purpose

The more clarity you have about what you’re looking for, the more meaningful your networking will be. Instead of sending generic messages, tell people exactly what you are looking for and where you want to work.

5. Have a Backup Plan

If you need income now, think creatively. What skills or services can you offer? Maybe a small business needs marketing help, bookkeeping, or deliveries. Maybe a friend’s company has a short-term role you can step into.

With the right mindset, you might even find enough work to surpass what unemployment provides. Think of yourself as a business—what solution can you offer that someone would pay for? Present it clearly and confidently.

THE BOTTOM LINE

A long job search can feel overwhelming, but small, intentional steps can lead to breakthroughs. Stay persistent, be open to new strategies, and most importantly—don’t lose sight of your worth. The right opportunity is out there. Keep going.

Extended Job Search Checklist

I posted a version of this on LinkedIn this week. 

🤝 NETWORKING

Do you ever struggle with what to write in a LinkedIn connection note, how to ask someone for a coffee chat or informational meeting, what to say in a followup message after meeting, or even who to network with in the first place? This post has you covered with six AI prompts you can immediately customize for your own use!  

💻 LINKEDIN

There have been a lot of changes to LinkedIn so far this year. This summary highlights some of the job seeker features and functions (as well as others). Definitely worth making sure you are up on all the capabilities.

🗨 INTERVIEWING

Keep these tips in mind when negotiating your job offer: 

  1. Hide your desperation

  2. Know your worth and back it up with data

  3. Quantify your value

  4. Bet on yourself and plan for the future

  5. Be willing to walk away (if you truly are)

  6. Consider negotiating benefits, not just salary

⚙ AI

OpenAI just rolled out an update to ChatGPT’s memory, enabling the AI assistant to automatically remember and reference information across all user conversations, delivering more personalized and relevant responses.

🔮 WORKFORCE

What happens when Adecco and Salesforce join forces? This announcement is about a new offering that will identify how to build the workforce necessary- whether human or AI. This new offering acts as a consultant. Based on the company’s situation it may recommend where and how to deploy digital and human workers, create similations based on the employers plans, or make recommendations for greater efficiencies. This is an interesting development and proof that AI is taking hold.     

1 out of 6 blue collar workers are not satisfied with their work according to a recent Pew Research study. Workers say lack of flexibility and dissatisfaction with pay and benefits are the prime reasons. This LinkedIn News post shares a post by Ives Tay who makes this call to action: 

Enough is enough. Blue-collar jobs aren’t “less than”. They are essential. Instead of pushing trade workers to get more degrees, how about we:

✅ Start paying them what they deserve
✅ Recognize skilled trades as valuable, not "fallback" options
✅ Show the same respect to the person fixing our aircon as we do to an office exec

💰 CAREER

Many young people, especially men, are choosing alternatives to college such as apprenticeships, entrepreneurship, and microcredentialing. 2024 Gallop data found that public confidence in higher education has dropped significantly (from 57% in 2015 to 36% recently). And cost is just one factor. Both colleges and employers are being encouraged to adapt: colleges by creating "micropathways" with faster tracks to employment and employers by offering more apprenticeships and certifications across different fields.

LinkedIn data reveals that by 2030, 70% of the skills used in most jobs will change. The moral of the story is: continue to develop skills! Guess which skills top the list?
1. AI Literacy
2. Conflict Mitigation
3. Adaptability

Each skill listed includes: most common job title, most common industries and has a LInkedIn course (free until April 18) 

This is a good starting point for recent graduates looking for a company to help them grow their early career. Topping the list are: 

  • Alphabet (Google)

  • Amazon 

  • Wells Fargo

 (NOTE, these companies likely receive thousands of applications, so diversify and also target small to medium companies). 

And if you like the idea of this list, companies that target career growth, check out The American Opportunity Index. This list ranks companies based on five metrics: Hiring, Pay, Promotion, Parity and Culture.

📶 RECRUITER PERSPECTIVE

This is a good overview of why companies want workers on-site. And if you work in tech, the warning is, “you might need to consider a hybrid or even fully on-site setup.” Here is the mix of reasons:

  • They want more innovation, collaboration, and culture

  • They feel they’ve lost visibility into performance

  • They need to justify expensive real estate

  • They believe in-person work strengthens onboarding and team cohesion

EVENTS

LinkedIn Power Moves For Job Seekers

Wednesday, April 23, 2025
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST
Limited spots – Ensure your spot in this exclusive session

Grab your spot here (and get more info)

JOB SEARCH VISUAL

If you’ve been out of work for months, rejection and silence can wear you down. But here’s the truth: any job can give you purpose, income, and a renewed sense of momentum.

That’s what Plan B is all about—getting you unstuck. 🚀

Plan B for job search

To get more job search tips, follow me on Instagram

DID YOU MISS THESE

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

LinkedIn Interview Prep

LinkedIn’s Interview Prep tool helps you feel more confident before a job interview by giving you:

Expert advice through helpful videos, tips, and written guidance on how to answer common interview questions.

A place to practice your answers—you can record a video or write them out. Your responses are private and saved so you can review them anytime.

Two ways to get feedback on your practice answers:

  1. Ask someone in your network (a 1st-degree connection) to review your response.

  2. Or, get instant feedback using LinkedIn’s AI tool after you record a video.

You can find this feature in the Jobs Tracker after you apply for a job.

It’s available to everyone, but Premium members also get access to expert-approved sample answers.

PS: You can select the category or job type you want questions for by clicking on the Categories button. 

Looking for other Practice Interview Tools?

I recommend these, though they are not free! 

Yoodli Interview Prep (5 free sessions, then you’ll need to pay $8/month for 10 sessions) 

Teal AI Interview Practice (1 free session, then $9/month for unlimited sessions plus access to Teal+ tools)