Career Briefs: Changing Dynamics of The Workplace

I want to flag a trend I’m seeing everywhere. It’s not a new service, but demand has spiked recently as market conditions have become more challenging: resume distribution.

Resume websites like TopResume, Storylines Resumes and Klaxos offer resume distribution services.

These can range in "value." For example, Klaxos offers to have your "resume emailed to ~40,000 U.S. executive job recruiters". In contrast, TopResume offers to "send your first 50 resume for free" while giving you access to " our network of 100,000+ recruiters and hiring managers in the US."

Resume distribution services are complete hocus-pocusery.

Kristen Fife, a senior recruiter, warns: “Resume blast services like this actually decrease your chances of landing a phone screen—the very purpose of your resume. Most applications aren’t targeted, so your resume often isn’t reaching the right roles. Where I used to get 40–50 applications with ~20% even minimally qualified, I now see hundreds or thousands, with less than 5% qualified on a good week. That also creates more top-of-funnel friction with knockout questions.”

Professional resume writer Kerry Gustafson commented on my LinkedIn post, “I researched this over a decade ago and revisited recently. I’ve yet to find a service I’d feel comfortable tying my brand to. In my view, it’s just a revenue grab that delivers little to no results.”

Stay vigilant, job seekers.

P.S. Almost 50% of you read this newsletter on your iPhone, which means you might be missing out! Because my newsletters are content-rich, some email providers only show a partial view. Make sure you open it on a desktop as well to get the full experience.

Longer is now better.

Bold statement: One-page resumes are out. Longer resumes are in.

Read my latest article to understand WHY and how you can keep your audience's attention with more words.

Article: The Dense Text Problem: The Guide to Lightening Up Your Resume.

New H-1B Costs Threaten Innovation in Silicon Valley

A new visa policy is reshaping the competitive landscape in the tech industry. After President Trump approved a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications, the reaction in Silicon Valley was divided, with some start-ups and major corporations.

The policy is designed to limit visas to high-value positions, but its cost hits unevenly. Smaller companies such as Delve, which rely on international talent and operate with limited budgets, now face fees that could slow hiring and growth. Larger firms like Netflix can pay without difficulty, giving them an even greater advantage in attracting skilled workers.

If the costs remain, the gap between established companies and emerging firms will widen, concentrating hiring power among tech giants and weakening the pace of innovation from younger businesses that have long fueled the industry’s creativity.

NEWS: As of two days ago, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services clarified that existing HB-1 visa holders residing within the U.S. will not have to pay the newly announced $100,000 petition fee, including student visa holders, Bloomberg Law reports. The fee will also be waived for current visa holders when renewing their H-1B status.

Read more here: A $100,000 Per Worker Visa Fee Tips the Balance to Big Tech.

“We know you won’t stay. Hell, we hope you don’t”

Pedro Franceschi, the founder and CEO of Brex (financial services), made a splash on LinkedIn this week when he posted a video with the comment, “Brex is the only company proud of how many people leave. Over 100 alumni became founders (4x the industry average), raising more than $800M along the way, with $1B+ in exits, and even 1 IPO.”

What made this radical post so powerful is that dozens of former employees commented that they wouldn’t be where they are professionally if it weren’t for the lessons they learned at Brex.

His video ignited a conversation about valuing experience over tenure, challenging the traditional idea that loyalty is measured by years served. Many viewed it as a bold reminder that a company’s success isn’t just profits—it’s also the careers it helps shape.

See his video here: Brex is happy to see you go.

2025 GenAI Resume Feedback Report

Erica Reckamp, owner of the Captivators, a resume writing firm, recently released a white paper on how job seekers leverage GenAI tooks for resume guidance. They compared and quantified the results after asking 8 of the most common Generative AI platforms, “𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲.”

Her report is excellent and worth reading. It finds that resumes of average quality or better often receive misleading—and sometimes harmful—feedback from Generative AI. Platforms frequently disagree on basic quality criteria, contradict their own advice, or reference content that isn’t even in the submission. The most useful guidance tends to be predictable: formatting, keywords, and quantifying accomplishments. When AI feedback goes wrong, it goes really wrong.

Read the white paper: 2025 GenAI Resume Review Report

Want a job in AI? Be prepared for 72-hour weeks.

Have you heard of '996'? It's a grind culture that AI startups are now advertising in their job postings. (9 a.m. to 9 p.m., 6 days a week)

Article without a paywall: Why these companies insist on a 72-hour workweek

What’s Driving the Weakening Labor Market

It’s no secret that the U.S. job market is running out of steam. Across most industries, hiring has slowed or stopped altogether, leaving healthcare and hospitality to carry what little growth remains.

Behind the cooling trend are three main factors reshapin

g the economy. Rising tariffs have made it more expensive for businesses to expand, slowing production and job creation in manufacturing and trade-heavy sectors. Stricter immigration policies have removed an estimated 1.5 million foreign-born workers from the labor force, leaving many employers struggling to fill essential roles. And even as job openings linger, fewer Americans are stepping forward to claim them, with participation rates slipping below pre-pandemic levels.

If these trends persist, the next phase of the job market may depend less on new hiring and more on how effectively companies can retrain, retain, and redeploy the workers they already have.

Read more here: These charts show why the US job market is struggling in the 2nd half of the year.

Hiring Gen Z: Flexibility, Purpose and Trust Drive Retention

In a competitive job market, 58% of recent graduates are still seeking employment, giving companies a chance to differentiate through culture. Gen Z places high value on flexibility, purpose and genuine connection, and often disengages in rigid hierarchies even when compensation is strong.

Organizations that provide hybrid arrangements, transparent values and collaborative structures that allow real ownership of outcomes are better positioned to attract and retain this group. Balancing automated screening with structured interviews and practical assessments helps reveal potential that technology alone may overlook.

Companies that combine clarity, growth opportunities and trust are most likely to convert a large candidate pool into enduring, motivated teams.

Read more here: 58% of College Grads Are Still Job Hunting — Here’s How to Attract & Retain Young Job Seekers.

Let Your LinkedIn Profile Do the Talking

You don’t need to slide into anyone’s DMs to land a job on LinkedIn. The platform works best when you let your profile and activity do the talking.  

Experts say success comes from visibility, engagement and consistency.

• Hanna Koval, a Senior Talent Acquisition Consultant at Haldren, says switching on the “Open to Work” feature for recruiters quietly boosts visibility without alerting your boss.

• Executive Career Coach and Owner of Career Thinker Inc., Thomas Powner suggests following companies you admire, commenting on their posts and joining conversations to show genuine interest.

• Amanda Fischer of AMF Coaching adds that timing matters and recommends applying within a day of a job posting to stay on a recruiter’s radar.

• Ana Colak-Fustin, Founder of ByRecruiters, advises joining active LinkedIn groups and participating regularly to build recognition.

• Dr. Kyle Elliott, Founder of CaffeinatedKyle.com, highlights the importance of using the right keywords throughout your profile so recruiters can find you.

• Jason Barnard of Kalicube says aligning your profile with your target role helps LinkedIn’s algorithm understand your expertise.

• Alina Moskalova of LinkedHelper encourages sharing honest posts about your career journey to attract authentic connections.

Posting your own insights, joining active industry groups and staying visible can all make a difference. The goal is to be part of the conversation so opportunities come to you.

Read more here: How to use LinkedIn to land a job—without sending a single DM.

Control What You Can Control

Executive coach John Sanchez recently published an article about the biggest mistakes that executives make when job searching: they focus too much on things out of their control and too little on things that they can.

You own your narrative. Your outreach. Your network activation.

Read John’s article: What Can You Actually Control After Losing Your Executive Role?