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Hey There!

Welcome to Issue #157 of Jobseeking is Hard!

Today's issue is brought to you by Lindy! If you're a free subscriber and value our content, give it a click and check ‘em out! Show our sponsor some love for supporting Jobseeking is Hard! Thanks!

The response to the last Q&A (Issue #155) was great! And so were the number of new questions that came in after it. So here’s round 2. Real situations, real problems you’re running into, and practical guidance you can actually use.

This week we’re talking about:

• How the right context on resumes gets people hired

• Taking time off to raise a child without hurting your chances at a full-time job later

• Leaving a toxic job without raising red flags

• How private is your job search if HR is in your LinkedIn network

• Which is worse to recruiters: a short stint or a gap

And for Premium subscribers I’m:

• Answering a Premium subscriber’s question about how closely LinkedIn should match a tailored resume. I’ll explain how they relate to each other and why.

• Answering a Premium subscriber’s question about reconnecting with recruiters after being rejected. I’ll explain if you should and why.

Let’s get to it!

SHAMELESS PLUG

If your job search needs a little more help, Karpiak Consulting offers resume and LinkedIn services, as well as job search strategy coaching.

Who knows…maybe it’ll help you land a FT permanent role like this client 🤷‍♂️

So how did I help this Comprehensive Resume Review client land a more robust, better-paying role even with recent contract jobs on their resume?

It came down to context.

A lot of resumes are just lists of duties or keywords. The problem is that duties and titles mean different things at different companies. A recruiter might see familiar words but still have no idea whether your experience lines up with what they need. If they can't figure it out, they won't assume. They'll just move on to someone who made their relevance obvious....or keep reposting. And reposting. And reposting.

In a market with 100s of applicants, you don't get the benefit of the doubt. You can't expect someone to call you to clarify what you meant. You have to show it on the resume. Applying to jobs is basically the first-round interview at this point. The days of the recruiter calling you to find out more about you are long over (unfortunately).

It's not enough to say you did things. It's not enough to list your duties. It's not enough to list your responsibilities or a bunch of skills as bullet points. You have to show how you did them so the reader can understand the level, the skill, and the value behind the work. That context is what allows them to connect your background to the role they're trying to fill.

The resume has to easily and quickly show the thinking and execution behind the responsibilities, so the hiring team can actually see relevance and value rather than focusing on the reasons to reject you, like job length or contract status.

If you’re feeling like your resume isn’t telling your story the way it should and don’t know how to frame your experience, our services can help. 

Now, onto your questions…

I'm going to be taking a few years off from my corporate job to raise my son. This is potentially the absolute worst time to leave a full-time job, given this job market and the rapid acceleration of AI, but I don't want to miss the window to spend time with my family.

That said, could you advise me on how I can keep my resume relevant and interesting to a recruiter, even with a few gap years?

I'm considering consulting, coaching, or even fractional work to stay relevant during downtime, but is there anything else I should focus on? I am trying not to shoot myself in the foot when I am ready to get back out there one day. Thank you!

I get it. The market feels like the Wild Wild West right now, and that makes any break feel risky. But hiring managers aren't surprised by family breaks. What actually hurts people is going completely dark for a few years and then showing back up like nothing happened. (NOTE: Yes, a lot happened, but remember...companies are selfish.)

To companies, gaps aren't necessarily the problem; silence is the problem. You don't need to treat this as a second full-time job while raising your son. You only need to stay lightly present so it's clear you didn't disconnect from the work entirely. Staying visible on LinkedIn matters because recruiters will still be able to find you, see your activity (and contributions), and see that you weren't gone from the industry.

Having a consulting or fractional label, even if you take on something small now and then, makes the time in your career feel "real" instead of blank. It signals that you stayed engaged at some level, and in this market, staying current is everything. That can be occasional light work, including PT or even volunteering your skills, as well as continued learning (consider all those free programs out there… skills and certificates can be resume differentiators). Doing one thing per year to show you stayed current, like a short project, a course, or a talk, is enough to signal that you remained active and current. The point is to show you didn't pause professionally. Companies don't want ramp-up time...they want you to hit the ground running.

Oh, and before you step out, update your resume while the details are still fresh, so you're not trying to rebuild it from memory years later when the context and outcomes have faded.

As long as you don't vanish, you're not shooting yourself in the foot.

I stepped away from my last role after a difficult work environment took a toll, and I used the time off to reset and recover.

If I’m asked in an interview why I left and what I did during that time, how should I answer without oversharing or sounding like a liability?

You don't owe anyone the granular details of what went wrong or how bad it got. You only need a clean, honest, measured explanation that signals you made a deliberate choice…not that you ran from a fire.

You can frame it as the role or environment being misrepresented in the interview process, or as leadership and organizational changes that materially changed the job. The point isn't to build a case...it's to show you moved with intention. What's most important is if you 1) are eligible for rehire so that you can pass a background check and 2) have any references from your time there who can attest to both your skill and the challenging environment. (Anyone who didn’t contribute to the toxic environment.)

A simple way to say it is you stepped away after realizing the environment wasn't a long-term fit, and you used the time to reset and get clarity on what you want next, because you want your next move to be a stable, long-term one. That communicates maturity and control.

The key is to talk about it in the past tense and put a period at the end. No apologies, no heavy emotion, no storytelling. You recognized the situation wasn't sustainable, you reset, and now you're ready to return with a clear head. That's only a red flag to a company with the same kind of environment, and it's better to know that upfront than walk back into the same thing.

If someone in HR at my current company is in my LinkedIn network, can they see the jobs I've applied for or how active I am in my search? And if I block them, does that stop them from seeing anything?

No, people in your network on LinkedIn can't see what jobs you apply to. The only time someone at your company sees an application is when you apply to a job within the same company, and they're tied to that req.

What they can see are your networking actions…connections, reactions, comments. Why does that matter? Your applications are private. Your patterns are not. The danger isn't LinkedIn exposing your search. It's you exposing your search with your own activity.

If you suddenly connect with a wave of recruiters, that can read like a job search. If you start liking posts about job hunting, recruiters/hiring managers posting open roles, or content about bad employers/workplaces, that can be enough to trigger a "check-in" meeting from HR or your boss. Employers usually pick up on vibe changes. And blocking a co-worker, especially one in HR or your boss, would be a huge red flag.

There's another LinkedIn danger that people don't think about. External recruiters are often connected to people inside your company, including HR and sometimes even your boss. And yes, recruiters will sometimes spot someone who looks like they're jobseeking and tip off the employer, hoping to get the exclusive chance to replace them. It's not common, but it's real, so avoid any mutual connections between your current employer and recruiters.

This is why I usually tell people not to connect with anyone at their current company and to be cautious around anyone who used to work there and may still be loyal to the leadership they report to. And to avoid public interactions with posts related to jobseeking. Keep everything in the DMs, not the public feed.

Paranoid? Maybe. But protecting your paycheck is what's important.

What’s the better move on a resume: leaving a short job off completely and creating a gap, or leaving it on and risking the short tenure being a red flag?

If you're choosing between a short stint and a manufactured gap, I'd keep the short stint.

(To be clear, I'm talking about a gap in years on the resume, not months. On a resume, recruiters don't care much about monthly gaps in your employment history. If removing a short stint still has that year covered with other jobs, feel free to remove it from the resume, but do NOT exclude it from a formal application.)

A short stint at least proves you were hirable. Someone vetted you, selected you, and put you on payroll. That matters. A gap tells the opposite story...no one hired you. When a recruiter has to choose between "this person was hired but left fast for some reason" and "this person wasn't hired by anyone," the first one always wins.

A short run is not unusual. People get brought in for a project, a contract ends, funding dries up, a reorg kills the role, or the job is nothing like what was sold. Recruiters see that every day. A blank space forces them to imagine something worse than the truth.

If the short stint was contract or project-based, say so clearly on the resume. Label it. That instantly changes how it's read. "Six months — end of contract" is not the same as "six months — did they get fired?" Don't let the reader guess. Remove the mystery so it doesn't look like you're bouncing or getting pushed out every time.

If you have to pick a poison, keep the one that still proves someone wanted you.

Hope this round of advice was useful! If there’s interest in another Q&A issue, let me know and send your questions. You can reply to this email or send them to [email protected] and I’ll add them to the queue. Good luck out there!

Now, onto the Premium Subscriber question...

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PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER QUESTION

“Previously, you addressed whether to follow up with HR, the hiring manager, or both after interviews. As a follow-up to that, would you recommend reconnecting with recruiters at companies you’ve interviewed with as well?”

Check out the Premium Section below for my answer! Not a Premium Subscriber? Upgrade here: www.JobseekingIsHard.com/upgrade

Why upgrade? For less than $0.63/day, you get:

• Subscriber-Only Discounts: Get exclusive promo codes for Karpiak Consulting services, available only to Premium subscribers. Whether you're updating your resume, need a LinkedIn profile review, or want expert help tailoring your applications, these occasional discounts make expert support more accessible.

• Extra Tips & Advice: Gain exclusive insights, strategies, and advice from a recruiter with over 20 years of experience in the field. Discover what hiring managers truly value and how to stand out at every step of your job search.

• Access to Previous Issues: Explore a library of knowledge with all 100+ past issues of the newsletter. Each edition is packed with proven strategies, practical advice, and real-world jobseeking stories to give you an edge in today’s competitive job market. From resume tips to handling tough interview questions, you’ll find answers to every challenge.

• Exclusive Q&A: Have questions about your job search? Premium subscribers can ask Adam directly! Questions will be featured in upcoming issues, with detailed answers tailored to real-world scenarios, ensuring you get the guidance you need.

• Bonus Content: As part of your Premium subscription, you’ll receive 20 additional job search tips delivered to your inbox over the next 20 days. This includes advice on avoiding common mistakes and maximizing your job search strategy to land interviews faster.

Jobseekers, have a great rest of your week, and good luck with those applications!

-Adam

PS!! If you're enjoying the newsletter, let people know! Forward it, post it on social, tag me, whatever...the bigger the discussion, the better! The idea is to help as many people as possible!

About Adam- Recognized as a leading voice on hiring and workplace trends, Adam has been recruiting and providing career advice since 2003, developing high-trust relationships based on honesty with companies and jobseekers. A highly sought-after speaker, he has appeared in numerous outlets, including Bloomberg News, Business Insider, LinkedIn, and CNNMoney. You can find out more about Adam's resume and coaching services here.

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