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Hey There!

Welcome to Issue #194 of Jobseeking is Hard!

Today’s issue is brought to you by SureThing! If your content strategy currently consists of remembering on Thursday that you meant to post on Tuesday, this might help. SureThing learns your voice and creates native posts for LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and TikTok, which means you can maintain a social presence without suddenly deciding you’re a content creator. If you’re a free subscriber and enjoy Jobseeking is Hard, it costs $0 to support the newsletter by clicking the ad and checking them out. Thanks!

Happy Wednesday!

A resume can open a door, but it also creates a set of expectations before you ever speak to anyone. That’s becoming more important as AI makes it easier to overstate experience without fully realizing how the language will be interpreted.

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

I’ll also share how a Zoom Coaching client used one conversation to get clearer on what mattered most in the interview process and land a job.

One quick note before we get into it: the Basic Resume Review Flash Sale is winding down, and there are only a few discounted spots left. I’m scaling back availability for the summer, so once those are gone, they’re gone. The review is normally $119 and is currently $99. It gives you an honest assessment of the five biggest issues that may be holding your resume back, explains why they matter from a recruiter’s perspective, and gives you practical recommendations you can use yourself.

This week we’re talking about:

• Why an AI-written resume can attract the wrong interviews and cost you the right ones

• Figuring out which story to tell in an interview and turn it into an offer

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

• The meme of the week

And for Premium subscribers I’m:

• Debunking the claim that your LinkedIn activity and “personal brand” have replaced your resume.

• Answering a Premium subscriber’s question about what it means when a job gets reposted after they apply. I’ll explain when to follow up, when to reapply, and how a more focused resume can give the recruiter a clearer reason to reconsider you.

Let’s get to it!

WHEN YOUR RESUME SOUNDS BETTER THAN YOU DO

AI can make a resume sound more impressive than the experience behind it, whether you mean to or not. That may help generate interviews, but then what? The goal is to get a job, not spend time interviewing for the wrong roles.

If the language makes you look qualified for roles that don’t actually match your experience, you’re creating the wrong kind of interest. Getting more interviews isn’t useful when they’re based on an exaggerated version of your background that falls apart as soon as someone starts asking questions.

This happens because AI tends to make everything sound more senior, more strategic, and more important than it was. Someone who participated in a project becomes the person who “spearheaded” it. Helping with a process change becomes “driving enterprise transformation.” The phrases may not be completely false, but they often imply a level of ownership or authority the candidate didn’t actually have.

That matters because every claim on the page creates an expectation. If your resume says you drove organizational change, someone may ask what changed, who resisted, what decisions you made, and what you personally owned. If it says you led cross-functional strategy, they’ll want to know which teams were involved, where priorities conflicted, and how you moved the work forward. A phrase that looked strong while editing can become uncomfortable very quickly when a hiring manager asks for specifics.

Recruiters notice this disconnect faster than jobseekers expect. The resume describes ownership, but every answer starts with “we.” The bullets suggest major business impact, but the candidate can’t explain what changed or how the result was measured. The document presents someone as a strategic leader, but the examples stay vague and operational. Sometimes the person did strong work and simply isn’t used to talking about it. In other cases, the resume has exaggerated the experience so much that the interview becomes an attempt to figure out what actually happened.

There’s another problem with letting AI overstate your background…it can push you toward the wrong roles. A resume that makes you sound like you’ve already operated at a higher level may attract jobs you aren’t prepared to do, while making the roles that actually fit seem too junior. Candidates then start interpreting the additional interviews as proof that the resume is working, even though they keep stalling once the conversation gets more detailed. The issue isn’t always interview performance. Sometimes the resume created the wrong match in the first place.

A stronger resume shouldn’t just replace plain language with bigger language. Resume writing isn’t about using a thesaurus. It should make real experience easier to understand by clarifying what you owned, how you worked, what decisions you made, and why the outcome mattered. Inflated wording usually weakens that clarity because it pushes the reader toward an interpretation the details can’t support.

The problem can also show up before anyone schedules an interview. Experienced recruiters have seen enough exaggerated resumes to recognize claims that feel detached from the evidence around them. A bullet about major transformation with no context, scope, authority, or clear action doesn’t become more convincing because it uses a stronger verb. It usually creates more doubt because the language is doing all the work.

AI can still be useful for organizing rough notes, but someone still has to decide what belongs on the resume, which examples are credible, where ownership needs to be clarified, and whether the language matches the candidate’s actual level. That judgment is what makes the resume useful. The wording comes afterward.

A good resume process should also make interviews easier because the document is built from real examples. You should know why each bullet matters, what the situation was, what you did, and what changed afterward. You shouldn’t need to study your own resume the night before an interview and guess what “optimized cross-functional operational alignment” was supposed to mean.

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 go from 2 months without traction to landing the job like this client 🤷‍♂️

So how did I help this Zoom Coaching client rethink their positioning and prepare for the interview that led to an offer?

Focus.

This client came into the call with a lot of understandable concerns. The search had been difficult, the market felt completely different from the last time they’d looked, and they were spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to make their experience translate across different roles and industries. They were also considering whether more projects, recommendations, portfolio content, and profile work would help create traction.

Most of that work wasn’t irrelevant, but it also wasn’t the priority. There was already an interview on the calendar, so the immediate need was to prepare for the opportunity in front of them. We focused on the strengths already reflected in the resume, how to discuss transferable experience without sounding defensive, and how to use specific examples to show that their success could be repeated in a different environment.

We also talked about where jobseekers tend to lose time. Building out every possible project, rewriting materials for hours, and trying to create a personal brand can feel productive because there’s always something else to work on. But when a real opportunity is already moving, the more useful work is understanding the role, identifying what the company actually needs, and preparing examples that make the fit easier to understand.

The call gave the client a clearer sense of what mattered, what didn’t, and how to prepare for the process ahead.

If you’re not getting the traction you expected and want help figuring out where your search is breaking down, 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!

job hopping is a disqualified?? in this economy???

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 Kalshi! C’mon, give it a click. It costs $0 and helps support your favorite job search newsletter. Last week, someone emailed me, “Due to your Kalshi partnership I’m unsubscribing. How’s that for a gamble?” Honestly, the real gamble was sending that joke and assuming it was clever. If you enjoy the free version, click the ad and help support us. Thanks!

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PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER QUESTION

“What does it mean when a job gets reposted after I apply?”

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

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• 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.

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• 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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