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Hey There!

Welcome to Issue #183 of Jobseeking is Hard!

Today's issue is brought to you by Wispr Flow! 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!

Happy Wednesday!

There’s a lot of noise around what you should be doing in your job search right now. New strategies, new tactics, new advice showing up every day. Most of it makes it feel like you need to be doing more.

In reality, most people don’t need more. They need to be more intentional with what they’re already doing.

That’s what I want to talk about this week.

I’m breaking down what I’d focus on if I were in a job search right now. Because this isn’t about doing everything. It’s about doing the right things, the right way. No hacks, just the fundamentals.

I’ll also walk through how a Comprehensive Resume Review client changed how their experience was presented and started getting significantly more traction, even in this market.

And a quick note for anyone earlier in their career! With May and June graduation around the corner, we put together a limited-time New Grad Bundle!

It includes a resume built from the ground up, a tailored cover letter, and a LinkedIn profile rewrite so everything is aligned. You can also add a 30-minute Zoom session to talk through strategy, interview prep, or anything you’re unsure about before you start applying.

A lot of new grads & entry-level folks struggle because they’re not sure how to frame their skills, education, and experience in an impactful way.

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This week we’re talking about:

• How intention can fix your job search

• Explaining how changing your resume's narrative can make a difference, even in this market

• The best (worst?) job posting of the week

And for Premium subscribers I’m:

• Debunking a career coach’s “surefire” interview closer, and what to do instead

• Answering a Premium subscriber’s question about how long to spend on job applications. I’ll explain why myths like “application sprayers” aren’t real and how to approach applying more effectively.

Let’s get to it!

APPLYING WITH INTENTION

Earlier this week, I posted something on LinkedIn that got a lot of traction. It was a simple breakdown of what to focus on if you’re in a job search right now. No hacks..just the fundamentals. And that’s really what it comes down to in this market: execution. So I wanted to take that framework and expand on it a bit here, because each of these points sounds straightforward on the surface, but where people struggle is how they actually apply them.

The first is your resume. This is still the starting point. In this market, your resume has to make your relevance obvious immediately. If someone has to stop and figure out what you do or how you fit, you’ve already made it harder for them to move you forward. A lot of people think their resume is “good enough” because people they trust have looked at it, or because it sounds impressive when they read it. That’s not the same thing as it being effective in a hiring process. The reality is that resumes are being scanned quickly and compared against other candidates who may already look like a clearer fit. If your experience isn’t easy to connect to the role, you don’t get the interview. That’s why small edits don’t usually fix the problem. It’s not about sounding better, it’s about being understood faster.

Next is your LinkedIn profile. This gets misunderstood a lot because people treat it like a personal page instead of a positioning tool. Your profile isn’t there to tell your entire story or showcase every aspect of your personality. It’s there to make it easy for someone to understand what roles you’re aligned to and why they should reach out. Recruiters aren’t scrolling through profiles looking for personality, they’re scanning for relevance. If your headline, summary, and experience don’t clearly point to a specific type of role or skill set, you get skipped. The best profiles don’t try to say everything. They make a clear case for one direction.

Then there’s networking. Most advice here is too vague to be useful. “Connect with people” or “let me know if you hear of anything” doesn’t give someone a reason to engage with you. If there’s no context, no shared goal, and no clear connection to something real like a role, a team, or a company, it’s easy to ignore. The people who get results with networking are the ones who are specific. They know why they’re reaching out, what they’re targeting, and how to make that relevant to the person they’re contacting. It’s not about volume. It’s about clarity and intent. Network with intention.

Job boards are another area where people overcomplicate things. You don’t need more of them. You need to be looking in the right place at the right time. Most jobs live in the same ecosystem and get distributed across platforms. The difference is timing and action. If you’re seeing roles late, after they’ve already been sitting for a while, you’re competing against a much larger pool. If you’re not following up or taking an extra step, you’re blending in with everyone else who clicked apply. The platform matters less than how you’re using it.

Your application process matters too. Applying and hoping isn’t a strategy. Most candidates apply and disappear, assuming their resume will do all the work. The ones who get interviews are the ones who stay visible. They follow up when it makes sense. They add context that wasn’t obvious in their resume. They make it easier for someone to understand why they applied and why they’re relevant. That doesn’t mean spamming recruiters or forcing messages, but it does mean being intentional about not letting your application sit in a pile without context.

If you’re getting interviews but not offers, the issue is usually in how you’re performing in those conversations. That’s where doing a post-mortem matters. After each interview, you should be thinking about what actually happened. Where did you feel strong? Where did things feel off? Were there questions you struggled to answer clearly? Were there moments where you could tell the interviewer wasn’t fully convinced? If you don’t identify those patterns, you carry the same issues into every interview. Improvement doesn’t happen automatically just because you’re getting more reps. That ties directly into how you tell your story. You don’t need perfect answers, but you do need clear and complete ones. A lot of candidates talk around their experience instead of walking through it in a way that’s easy to follow. They leave out context, skip over decisions, or assume the interviewer will connect the dots. That creates uncertainty. When your answers are structured, direct, and tied back to outcomes, it becomes much easier for someone to picture you doing the job.

And then there’s the part most people don’t like. Doing the things other candidates won’t. It’s more effort. It’s not always fair. But you’re not competing against the system, you’re competing against other candidates. Most people will take the easiest path. They’ll skip the extra step, avoid the longer application, or move on without following up. They'll leave the Workday job posting or end the application instead of recording a video intro. Those small decisions add up. The candidates who consistently do a little more, in the right places, give themselves more chances to be seen.

The point of all of this isn’t to overwhelm you. It’s to show that results usually come from tightening execution, not chasing new strategies.

People are getting jobs. The question is whether how you’re showing up is making that easier or harder.

Have a topic you want me to cover in an upcoming issue? Reply or email [email protected] and tell me what you want to know!

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 get so much more interest in your applications like this client 🤷‍♂️

So how did I help this Comprehensive Resume Review client land an offer, a potential offer, a 2nd interview, and a 1st interview?

Narrative.

In this economy?? How???

Just by good ol’ applying. You know, the method that supposedly doesn’t work anymore. No hidden job market. No magic referral strategy. No secret backdoor. Their experience didn’t change. All they changed was how that experience was being presented.

They didn’t need more experience. They didn’t need to apply to more jobs. They needed their experience to make sense to someone else.
When they first reached out, they were coming out of a federal role, underemployed, and not getting traction. They had strong experience, but like a lot of people, it wasn’t being presented in a way that made their relevance obvious for the roles they were targeting.

If your experience feels strong but your search isn’t reflecting that, it’s usually a narrative problem.

If you know you can do the job, but you’re not getting interviews, look at your resume from someone else’s POV and ask: “If they don’t speak to me, is it clear I can do the job I’m applying for, and do it well?”

That’s where the review comes in. A breakdown of how the resume is actually being read, what’s not landing, and how to fix it. After the review, they said they expected helpful insight, but not that level of detail. More importantly, they said it gave them something they hadn’t had in a while: confidence in how they were positioning themselves. That part matters more than people think, because once you understand how your experience should be framed, you’re not guessing anymore.

After incorporating the feedback, the results followed. More interest in applications. Multiple interviews. An offer. Final rounds with other companies. More opportunities than they could realistically take.

Relevance + value = interviews.

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. 

BEST (WORST?) JOB POST

OF THE WEEK

Here’s the job post that got the most people talking on my Instagram this week!

61 years ago. That’s what they mean by “careful consideration.”

If you come across an irritating job posting, email it to the newsletter or DM me on Instagram and I’ll add it to the list to post!

Today's issue is also brought to you by Wharton Online! C’mon give it a click…it costs $0 and helps support your favorite job search newsletter 🙂

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PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER QUESTION

“How long should we spend applying for a single job? I read from another career coach that you have to spend at least 5 minutes on each job application, or the ATS will label you as an application sprayer. She also said you shouldn't spend over 30 minutes on an application.”

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.

AFFILIATES

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