Your job search needs a better strategy

Just more of the actionable career info you want!

Author

Hannah Morgan
January 26, 2025

Welcome To Career Essentials!

This newsletter is your source of actionable advice for job seekers PLUS offers those thinking about their career progression a place to get useful news.

Every Sunday, I digest and curate trends in recruitment, the job market, job search, and careers to keep you up to date.

Career Essentials

Strategy Beats Struggle Every Time

What did your year look like on LinkedIn?

For me, a quick assessment of 2024 will help build a better 2025.

Here's my 2024 LinkedIn Rewind, by Coauthor:

Coauthor rewind 2024

“In 2024, job search success came down to one truth: strategy beats struggle every time.”

Numbers tell a story. This is my unique story and as I look at these numbers, I know I can (and have) done better. 

Now, let me ask you about some of the numbers in your job search. Do you know exactly:

  • How many jobs have you applied for

  • How many screening calls have you had

  • How many conversations have you had (coffee chats/networking)

  • How many final interviews have you had

If not, how do you truly know what’s happening in your search? What is working and what needs adjusting? 

I will recommend you begin tracking and analyzing your job search activities to adjust your strategy. 

Here are some of the most important things you’ll want to keep track of: 

  • Jobs you are interested in 

  • Jobs you have applied for

  • Resumes you used to apply to different jobs

  • Executive recruiters/3rd party recruiters you have spoken to about jobs

  • People you have reached out to 

  • People you plan to reach out to

  • Networking conversations you had

  • Followup conversations with people you’ve networked with

  • Email communication to new people

  • LinkedIn or other social networking communication

  • Social media posts and comments

  • Company research

  • Salary research

  • Industry trends research

  • Skills update/training

  • Professional association/networking events

  • Interview preparation and practice

  • Interviews (screening, first interview and next interviews)

I’ve got a simple spreadsheet to help you track activities. Interested? 

And if you like the idea of structure and accountability to drive your search forward, check out my Motivation Monday job Search Accountability program that runs for 6 weeks starting February 10, 2025. Spots are filling up. So if you're interested, sign up soon. 

When you think about your challenges with job search, think about what your strategy has been. Is there one? Or what can you do to improve it?   

SUMMARY SUNDAY

💡 96% of candidates who used AI in application materials landed interviews

💡 94% of hiring managers like when candidates have a social media presence related to their career

💡 88% of job seekers believe a strong digital professional brand will improve their odds

💡 65% of hiring managers now prefer resumes with interactive features

This data and summary comes from Canva who partnered with Sago to survey 4,200 hiring managers and 6,000 job seekers across 10 countries – including the US, UK, Australia, India, Japan, Germany, France, Spain, Mexico and Brazil. 

While the findings are interesting, they are global. The US HR community is conservative and at this time prefers text-based resumes. 

However, using visual resumes, online portfolios, and social media for self-marketing has a role in your job search. These do not replace the traditional text resume, but act as supplemental material. 

I’ve written a book about visual resumes (The Infographic Resume), and here’s an overview of how to Create and Use Your Infographic Resume The Right Way.

If you think starting your job search with updating your resume is the best thing to do, think again and watch this video! It outlines the steps you need to take and why each is so important. Follow these steps to truly define what a good job looks like to you at this point in your career. 

💻 LINKEDIN

LinkedIn makes changes so often, you may have missed these. Learn what each does in the post. 

  • Secret #1: The I'm Interested Feature

  • Secret #2: The Meet/Message the Hiring Team Feature

  • Secret #3: The "People You Can Reach Out To" Feature

  • Secret #4: The Active Talent Spotlight

  • Secret #5: The Top Choice Badge

This is a how-to video showing you have to use free functions of LinkedIn to create a list of target companies. Here’s why according to Kelli:

➡️ Discover companies unknown to you (or your competition)

➡️ Identify companies where you can leverage your expertise. This can be industry, service/product, or skill-set. 

➡️ Intentionally start to target individuals within the org to network with. (Not generic, hit-it and quit-it outreach. This is a long-game strategy).

👥 INTERVIEWING

Company culture is a tricky thing to explain. Instead, use some of these questions to get useful information about communication, professional development, and leadership.

⚙ AI

Use your collection of company research and get a summary with insights you can use in your networking conversations, cover letter and even job interviews. 

This is a step-by-step 30-minute tutorial on how to build your NotebookLM research center to save time during your job search. (Thank you to Marti Konstant for mentioning this video during her presentation this week.)

There’s a lot NotebookLM can do. Stay tuned because I’m learning more how to use it from a job seeker who uses it all the time.

🔮 WORKFORCE

Top 7 professions most likely to look for work in 2025 - LinkedIn’s Workforce Confidence survey

Almost 50% of the workers surveyed said they would be looking for a new job this year. This article shows the 7 top occupations. It also says that real estate and legal professionals are least likely to want to leave their jobs. 

  • Arts & Design

  • Military and Protective services

  • Marketing 

  • Media & communications

  • Administrative services

  • Human resources

  • Product management

As you look at each slide, pay attention to the list Top Hiring Companies.

💰 CAREER

This is a great self-discovery exercise to start your year off with. Should you pursue that promotion? Retire? Look for a new job? It all starts with knowing your values and purpose.

🚀 PRODUCTIVITY

You know those things you hate to do (both at work and at home)? On my to-do list is: calling my bank to resolve a billing issue, cleaning the oven, and putting together my tax information. Well, it turns out, there’s a proven hack to make these things less scary. 

Spoiler: Set aside 30-60 minutes during your day when you have the most mental energy. Tackle that one item on your to-do list you’ve been procrastinating. Heck, maybe you can check off two items. Once it’s done, reward yourself!  

💗 WELL-BEING

When you are feeling run down, sad or as Scott writes, “in a low mood” you have the power to shift your mood. One way Scott does this is to turn to a whiteboard with his rules to live by. He lists 3 quotes about being feeling wonder plus includes 9 wonders of everyday life we can choose to look for and experience from the book Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder, Dacher Keltner. 

If you are feeling in a low mood, check out this deeply thoughtful article and see if you can increase your happiness by just a bit!  

TRENDING CAREER NEWS

COACHES CORNER

This is a dedicated spot just for career practitioners (resume writers, career coaches, etc). 

Are your clients active where employers are looking? It’s not just LinkedIn. Here is where recruiters go to look for talent according to Employ’s 2024 Recruiter Nation Report.

  • LinkedIn - 71%

  • Facebook - 65%

  • Instagram - 43%

  • X/Twitter - 38%

  • Youtube - 36%

  • Tiktok - 23%

  • Snapchat - 16%

  • Dating apps - 3%

Help your clients (and yourself) by being active on social and get noticed.

Social Media Strategies for Career Practitioners It starts February 8, 2025 and runs for 5 weeks. Learn morehere. 

JOB SEARCH VISUAL

9 Ideas for writing engaging comments:

Using social media to meet new people is a great idea! Here are ways to begin engagement through writing an engaging comment. Which will you try this week?

[image or embed]

— Hannah Morgan (@careersherpa.bsky.social) January 22, 2025 at 9:59 AM

DID YOU MISS THESE

EVENTS

Motivation Monday Banner

Begins February 10, 2025
6 weeks of weekly meetings to drive your job search forward. 
Details and registration here. 

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

NotebookLM

NotebookLM is a research and note-taking online tool developed by Google Labs that uses artificial intelligence (AI), specifically Google Gemini, to assist users in interacting with their documents. It can generate summaries, explanations, and answers based on content uploaded by users. It also includes "Audio Overviews," which summarize documents in a conversational, podcast-like format.

NotebookLM transforms job search research by enabling users to upload multiple documents and generate strategic insights. The AI analyzes interconnections between job descriptions, company information, and personal materials to identify nuanced opportunities and skill alignments. Users gain comprehensive research summaries that synthesize complex information into actionable job search intelligence, revealing connections that might otherwise be overlooked.

SHARING IS CARING

If you know others who would benefit from this, please share it!