Just a few quick things I’ve learned while job hunting and waiting for a baby.

First things first. Just like everyone else, it sucks getting laid off right before the holidays and right before having a baby. It adds stress. A lot of it. It’s unfortunate, but layoffs happen. There’s no real wisdom there, just reality.

Now that that’s out of the way, I wanted to talk about what the job search actually looks like right now. Resumes. Cover letters. Interviews. And LinkedIn.

Because it’s… different.

Resumes, Experimentation, and What’s Actually Working

I’ve been doing a lot of experimentation with resumes.

So far, what I’ve found is that my more polished resume, not old school, but clean and colorful, was getting me more interviews. This was mostly in the October and November timeframe before the holidays.

Then December hit.

And pretty much all of December, I wasn’t getting any looks at all.

So that’s one thing I’m actively debating right now. Do I go back to the older version? Do I tweak this one again? Right now, it’s looking like I probably should go back and test again. The point is, don’t assume one version is “done.” Test it.

Everyone Thinks They Can Spot AI

Everyone says they can spot AI. Keep that in mind when you’re reviewing your resume.

A resume is one or two pages. Read it. Out loud if you have to. Make sure it actually sounds like you.

That’s not to say AI can’t be useful. It absolutely can. I use it to clean up voice recordings all the time. If you dictate first and then have AI clean it up, a lot of your voice and tone stays intact. That’s how you keep it sounding authentic.

The irony is, a lot of these places will run your resume through an “AI detector” like it’s a sobriety test, and then they’ll turn around and send you an AI driven rejection email that looks exactly like every other one.

Just don’t blindly paste something in and hope it works. Make sure it still sounds like you.

LinkedIn Easy Apply Is Mostly Trash

LinkedIn Easy Apply is kind of trash.

If I see something I like on LinkedIn, I go find the company’s website and apply there. The reason is simple. I went through the companies I was following on LinkedIn recently and realized that about 95% of them were companies I wouldn’t follow for any reason other than wanting a job.

Most of them got there because of that little checkbox during Easy Apply that says, “Do you want to keep up with our company updates?” And it’s already pre checked.

That’s an old school email marketing tactic, and it still works, especially when people are desperate for a job.

I’ve also never clicked the “I want to be one of your top three candidates” button. I’ve never felt the need to broadcast that level of desperation. And yeah, when you’re unemployed and have a baby on the way, there is desperation. But you still need to know what you can take and what you won’t take.

Be honest about the kind of job you want and the kind you don’t.

About Rejection Emails

Just know this. Most places are not going to send you a rejection letter.

I’d say 80 to 90% won’t respond at all.

The 10 to 20% that do send rejection emails? I have empirical evidence that proves they’re all exactly the same. Same wording. Same length. Same tone. Three lines. Occasionally there’s an exception, maybe 1%, and when I see those, I actually write back. Those are worth engaging with.

If you’re feeling bad about not getting rejection emails, don’t. You’re not missing anything.

Interviews, Tools, and Being Prepared

Leverage your tools. Be prepared.

If you’re using ChatGPT, make sure you actually know the company. Don’t wing it. Write yourself a practice script. Run answers out loud.

I like to check Glassdoor to see what interview questions have been asked in the past, but I’ll be honest, the success rate of those exact questions showing up is incredibly low. Almost laughably low.

Sometimes I’ll see questions from a couple months ago and none of them come up.

That said, the core questions never change.

Why did you leave your last job?
How do you handle pressure?
Tell me about yourself.

And when they ask “tell me about yourself,” they don’t care about your hobbies. They’re asking about your career.

If you’re in marketing, expect AI questions. How you use it. How you leverage it. APIs. Workflow. All of that is coming up more and more.

Record Your Interviews If You Can

This is a big one.

Record your interviews if you’re able to. Take the transcript. Drop it into ChatGPT. Ask for feedback.

Why? Because once a company sends a rejection email, they’re almost never going to talk to you again. Even if you ask directly what you could’ve done better.

I’ve asked that question every time. Most companies don’t respond.

That tells me a lot about churn and burn culture.

One Last Perspective Shift

Don’t feel bad.

It’s easy to spiral when rejection emails come in. And here’s something I noticed. A lot of my rejection emails show up late Saturday night, on weekends, or at midnight.

When you get one of those, just pause for a second and remember someone was working at that time to send it.

That tells you something about the company.

Hard work isn’t bad. Grinding isn’t bad. But constantly working after hours might not be the environment you actually want to step into.

Just keep that in mind.