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- #190 - Why "We" Is Costing You Interviews
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Hey There!
Welcome to Issue #190 of Jobseeking is Hard!
Today's issue is brought to you by HubSpot! 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!
One of the most frustrating parts of a job search is that experience and value aren't always the same thing. You can be highly capable, produce great work, and make meaningful contributions throughout your career, but if hiring teams can't quickly understand where that value came from, it becomes much harder for them to advocate for you.
That's true during interviews. It's true on resumes. And it's true in the stories candidates tell about themselves throughout the hiring process.
That's what I want to talk about this week.
I'll also share how a Basic Resume Review client discovered that the issue wasn't a lack of experience. It was that several common resume problems were making it harder for recruiters to understand and evaluate the value they already had.
And because staring at job descriptions, rejection emails, and LinkedIn advice all week can get a little exhausting, I'm introducing a new section: Meme of the Week. If we don't laugh, we cry.
This week we’re talking about:
Using "we" is hiding your actual value from hiring teams
Why being too close to your own experience can make resume problems harder to spot
The best (worst?) job posting of the week
The meme of the week
And for Premium subscribers I’m:
Debunking viral interview advice that is actually pretty horrible
Answering a Premium subscriber’s question about sharing team accomplishments during interviews. I’ll explain how to communicate your role without minimizing your impact.
Let’s get to it!
OWNERSHIP VS. PARTICIPATION
One of the stranger things about hiring is that some of the people who are most responsible for success often have the hardest time talking about it.
During coaching calls, I'll sometimes ask a client about an accomplishment they're proud of. Maybe they improved retention, launched a new process, turned around an underperforming team, or led a major initiative. They'll start walking me through what happened, and within a few sentences the story starts drifting away from them.
The language usually sounds something like this:
"We decided..."
"We implemented..."
"We rolled out..."
"We improved..."
The accomplishment is real. The impact is real. The challenge is that by the end of the explanation, I'm often left wondering what they actually did.
Most people don't realize they're doing it. They're trying to share credit. They know other people were involved. They don't want to sound like the entire success rested on their shoulders. In many cases, they're being thoughtful leaders. The best leaders usually do recognize the contributions of the people around them.
The problem is that hiring managers are listening for something different.
When a company hires someone, they're trying to understand if and how that person influences outcomes. They're looking for signs of judgment, decision-making, leadership, and accountability. They want to understand where someone stepped in, what they changed, how they navigated obstacles, and why the result might have been different if that person hadn't been involved.
That's where excessive use of "we" starts creating problems.
Hiring teams understand that business results are usually collaborative. Nobody believes a major initiative was completed by one person working alone. What they don't know is how much of that success belonged to you.
Did you identify the problem?
Did you build support for the solution?
Did you make the decision?
Did you lead the implementation?
Did you inherit the project after someone else had already done most of the work?
Those are very different stories, even if they all end with the same business outcome.
As careers progress, hiring teams become increasingly interested in ownership. Early in a career, participation is often enough. Companies want to know you can contribute. At more senior levels, they want to understand what happens when responsibility sits on your desk. That's what they're actually hiring for.
The irony is that some of the strongest candidates struggle with this the most. They're careful about giving credit to their teams. They understand how many people contribute to successful outcomes. They're trying to be fair.
Unfortunately, hiring decisions aren't made about individuals, not whole teams. And if someone can't tell where your contribution begins and ends, it becomes much harder for them to understand the value you bring.
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 you'll finally understand what's holding your resume back like this client 🤷♂️
So how did I help this Basic Resume Review client get clarity on what was holding their resume back?
Perspective.
One of the biggest challenges in a job search is that you're too close to your own experience. You know why projects mattered. You know which accomplishments were the hardest to achieve. You know how one role prepared you for the next one. You know the context behind every decision, promotion, challenge, and success.
Recruiters don't.
This client reached out because they weren't seeing the results they expected and wanted an honest assessment of what might be getting in the way.
The experience itself wasn't the problem. What I found were several issues that made the resume harder to evaluate than it needed to be. The positioning wasn't as focused as it could have been, some strong accomplishments weren't getting enough visibility, and there were places where activities were being described without clearly showing why the work mattered to the business.
Those aren't unusual problems. In fact, they're some of the most common issues I see. Candidates often assume recruiters will connect the dots because the connections feel obvious to them. Unfortunately, recruiters are reviewing resumes quickly and making decisions based on what's immediately visible. If important context, impact, or positioning requires interpretation, it often gets missed.
That's exactly why the Basic Resume Review exists. It's to identify the 5 biggest issues that may be preventing it from generating interviews and provide guidance on how to fix them.
A few days after receiving the review, the client sent me a note thanking me for the feedback and said they were excited to have actionable improvements they could make to help the resume better catch recruiters' attention.
Honestly, that's exactly what I hope every Basic Resume Review client walks away with. Sometimes you don't need a complete rewrite. Sometimes you just need an experienced recruiter to tell you what hiring teams are likely seeing that you aren't.
And If you're looking for deeper feedback, consider our Comprehensive Resume Review. It provides several pages of detailed recommendations and explanations designed to help you strengthen the entire document, not just the 5 biggest issues.
If you're not getting the response you expected from your resume and want an honest assessment of why, our services can help.
Curious what the process has been like for other clients? Check out our testimonials here!
BEST (WORST?) JOB POST
OF THE WEEK
Here’s the job post that got the most people talking on my Instagram this week!
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!
MEME OF THE WEEK
This meme got more reactions on my Threads than anything else I posted this week.
Today's issue is also brought to you by I Hate It Here! C’mon give it a click…it costs $0 and helps support your favorite job search newsletter 🙂
The best HR advice comes from those in the trenches. That’s what this is: real-world HR insights delivered in a newsletter from Hebba Youssef, a Chief People Officer who’s been there. Practical, real strategies with a dash of humor. Because HR shouldn’t be thankless—and you shouldn’t be alone in it.
"How do I talk about team accomplishments without sounding like I'm taking credit for everyone else's work?"
Check out the Premium Section below for my answer! Not a Premium Subscriber? Upgrade here: www.JobseekingIsHard.com/upgrade
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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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- • 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.
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