If your job search feels disorienting right now, you are not imagining it.

Hi Emily,

I haven’t written a newsletter in a while, but I’m bringing it back because this job market is bananas.

I’ve been deep in client work, teaching students, LinkedIn connections, and recruiter conversations, and I have one conclusion: 

This market is weird. 

And the toughest I’ve seen in my 10 years of coaching. 

It’s competitive, yes, but there is something else going on. 

Yesterday on LinkedIn, I asked job seekers what feels broken, confusing, or wildly unnecessary about the job market right now.

And the comments were … a lot.

People talked about fake jobs, scam jobs, AI interviews, resume harvesting, recruiter silence, jobs getting reposted after they were rejected, rejection emails showing up 10 months later, and tailoring resumes for every single position, only to hear absolutely nothing.

It’s not just that job searching is hard. Hard is expected. Hard is updating your resume, cleaning up LinkedIn, preparing for interviews, and making yourself available even when you would rather crawl under a blanket.

But this market feels different because people are doing all the things they were told to do, and still struggle landing roles: 

• They are applying early to jobs they are qualified for.
• They are tailoring their resumes for each role.
• They are updating LinkedIn profiles and staying active on LinkedIn.
• They are working their network for referrals and informational interviews.
• They are sending messages to recruiters and hiring managers.
• They are preparing for interviews, even AI interviews.
• They are doing the assignments and free consulting. 
• They are following up with thank you notes and check-in messages.

And still, too often, they are getting silence.

Or a rejection with no explanation.

Or a job reposted three days later.

Or a recruiter who vanishes into the mist.

That’s why I’m bringing this newsletter back. Not to yell “optimize your resume!” into the void for the 900th time. I want to talk about what is actually happening, what is actually helping, and how to stop wasting energy on job search tasks that make you busy but not better positioned.

This Thursday, I’m going live on LinkedIn with Deb Haas to talk about what is happening in the job market right now:

Em & Deb Shoot the Sh!t: Navigating this Clusterf*ck of a Job Market

Thursday, 7/16 at 12:00 pm EST. Register here. 

If you’ve attended one of my sessions with Deb before, you know that we cut through the bull and have lots of fun, too. 

You can join us here.

And whether you join us live or not, I want to hear from you. Hit reply and tell me:

What feels most broken, confusing, or wildly unnecessary about the job market right now? Let me know so that I can write future posts about it. 

You can send a paragraph, one sentence, or just an emoji. 

I’ll understand.

I’m rooting for you,

Emily

Emily Worden