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Hey There!
Welcome to Issue #165 of Jobseeking is Hard!
Today's issue is brought to you by Fisher Investments! If you're a free subscriber and value our content, it costs $0 to support us by clicking the ad and checking out the service. Show our sponsor some love for supporting Jobseeking is Hard! Thanks!
Since it’s Christmas Eve, this issue’s going to be a short one.
As a special thank-you for taking the time to read during a hectic time, I’m opening up the Premium section to everyone in this issue!
One of the perks of a Premium subscription is the ability to email me questions about your job search that I answer in future issues. This week, everyone gets access to that content. If you’ve ever thought, “Who can I ask?”…that’s exactly what the Premium section is for.
If you’re a free subscriber with questions, Premium subscriptions are 50% off for the next week. There’s also a gift option if you know someone who could use a little extra support right now.
If you want to sign up or gift a subscription, head to: www.jobseekingishard.com/upgrade
See you next week!
Oh, and if you need a last-minute gift idea…Karpiak Consulting gift cards are digital, include a personal message, can be emailed instantly (or scheduled), and don’t require a last-minute trip to Target. They’re a great way to support the jobseeker in your life who could use a little help 💚
They can be purchased in any amount here: https://www.karpiakconsulting.com/gift-card
This week I’m:
Debunking the myth that layoffs are a red flag
Answering a Premium subscriber’s question about why “perfect-fit” roles keep getting reposted after rejection. I’ll explain what’s actually happening on the hiring side and when re-tailoring and reapplying makes sense.
Let’s get to it!
DEBUNKING CAREER CLICKBAIT
Someone claimed that saying “I was laid off as part of company-wide layoffs” is a red flag in interviews and that candidates should reframe it into something more palatable.
That’s not how the real world works.
Being laid off in a mass layoff is generally not viewed as a red flag, especially in the last few years. Recruiters and hiring managers know what’s been happening in the market. Pretending otherwise makes you look evasive.
You don’t need to dramatize it, over-explain it, or spin yourself into a “resilience narrative.” A simple, factual explanation is enough. “I was part of an org-wide layoff. If it were up to me, I would still be here, and it was out of my control. It wasn’t performance-related, and I'm happy to provide references that can attest to this.”
Easy peasy.
Lying is never the answer.
Good hiring teams care far more about what you can do now than a perfectly normal layoff story.
Watch or read a questionable piece of career content? Send it along and I’d love to debunk it! [email protected]
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“Hey Adam!
I've seen this scenario many times: A role is posted by a great company, and the job description is a perfect match to my resume. It's a perfect fit, I and the role check all of each other's boxes. I tailor my resume, write a cover letter positioning myself as the answer to their prayers, and reach out to someone on the hiring team after submitting the application. A few weeks later, I got the dreaded ‘we're moving forward with other candidates’ email.
But then, a few weeks later, I get notifications of job matches from LinkedIn and other job boards, or as I'm searching for newly listed roles, there's the same role, and it's just been relisted. But I've already been rejected, so I pass it by. And then a few weeks later, it happens again. This role keeps getting recommended to me as a 90+% match, a perfect fit, a shoo-in. But it also keeps getting relisted and relisted.
What happened to those superior ‘other candidates?’ Did they really not find anyone worthy after months of relisting the role? Is it a ghost job? Maybe. But I've been seeing the ‘I'm excited to announce’ posts on LinkedIn by people who the same company just hired for different roles. Are they just talent farming for later? Also maybe. But now I'm tempted to re-tailor my resume, write a new cover letter, and reapply, or reach out to someone else on the TA team and plead my case to be reconsidered.
If this were one or two roles, I'd write it up to one of the above scenarios. But it's not; I have a list of at least 10 ‘perfect roles’ on my application tracker that this is happening with. Is there anything I should do, or are these roles best ignored because I got my answer from them already, or because this is possibly a red flag?”
You’re not imagining this, and you’re not doing anything “wrong.”
This pattern shows up constantly...especially for strong candidates applying to roles that look like obvious fits. You’re not stupid...you’re not randomly applying to jobs you can’t do. You’re applying because, based on your experience, the requirements, and how the role is written, you can absolutely handle the work.
So what gives?
When a role gets reposted after you’ve already been rejected, it usually means the hiring team wasn’t satisfied with the small pool of candidates they advanced. In an ideal world, recruiters would pause, go back into the existing applicant pool, and do a deeper review to see what they may have missed. In practice, due diligence often looks different. Instead of re-evaluating the same group, teams reopen the role to see what else comes in. They’re not saying no qualified candidates existed. They’re saying they want to be confident they’ve seen the full market before making a decision.
This is especially common when a company believes the role should be straightforward to fill. If interviews don’t inspire confidence or alignment internally breaks down, the assumption becomes that the right person simply hasn’t applied yet. Reposting buys time, widens the funnel, and allows the team to say they explored every option. That’s frustrating from the outside, but it’s a hiring behavior problem, not a reflection of your competence.
At the same time, roles quietly evolve mid-search. Even when the posting looks the same, the internal definition of “ideal” often changes. A skill that was once flexible becomes essential. A stakeholder weighs in late. The team learns something from early interviews and recalibrates what they’re actually prioritizing. So while the job title hasn’t changed, the lens being used to evaluate candidates often has.
This is also why seeing “I’m excited to announce” posts for other roles at the same company doesn’t automatically mean these postings are ghost jobs. Different teams move at different speeds. Some have urgent headcount. Others are cautious, exploratory, or stuck in alignment loops. Most of the time, these reposted roles are real...they’re just being handled conservatively.
Where candidates tend to go wrong is assuming a rejection means the door is permanently closed. The instinct to say “they already passed, so I should move on” makes sense, but it’s incomplete. What doesn’t work is reapplying with the same resume, lightly tweaking a cover letter, or reaching out to someone new on the TA team to plead for reconsideration. That simply recreates the same evaluation that already didn’t click.
Reapplying only makes sense if you’re willing to change how you’re positioning yourself. A role that keeps getting reposted is a signal that the company still hasn’t found what it wants. That creates an opportunity only if you show up differently. This is where re-tailoring actually matters. Not cosmetic edits, not swapping a few bullets, but reframing your experience around how that specific role is being evaluated now.
Most candidates assume their fit is obvious. Recruiters don’t assume anything. They scan. If your summary reads like a general overview instead of a clear statement of why you make sense for this job, the relevance gets lost. If your experience leads with what mattered most to your last employer instead of what matters most to this role, the resume won’t land the way you expect, even when the background is strong.
A high “match” on LinkedIn only reflects keyword overlap. It doesn’t mean your resume made the connection clear in a 6-to-10 second scan. That gap between being qualified and being understood is where most “perfect fit” applications fall apart.
If this is happening across a list of roles, that’s not bad luck and it’s not a sign these companies should all be written off. It’s feedback. It usually means your experience is solid, but your resumes are framed too broadly.
I wouldn’t reapply to all of them, but I also wouldn’t ignore them entirely. Pick the few where the reposting is most persistent and rebuild your resume specifically for how those roles are likely being evaluated today. Treat it as a fresh application with sharper positioning, not a second attempt to say the same thing.
The key takeaway is that a repost doesn’t invalidate your candidacy, and a rejection doesn’t automatically mean never. But reapplying without meaningful re-tailoring almost always produces the same result.
I hope that helps! Good luck!
If you’re a Premium subscriber and have a question about your job search, email us at [email protected] and I’ll answer it in a future issue!
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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