Briefcase Coach's Career Briefs: Job Search Newsletter

Dear Reader:

I am coming to you from my new newsletter hosting platform Beehiiv.co. I shared in my last issue that Revue, owned by Twitter, is rumored to be discontinued by the end of the year. I could not have made this transition so quickly and seamlessly if it weren't for my amazing business development manager, who also happens to be named Sarah & Preeya, and her team at Beehiiv.co.

This newsletter is jam-packed with career content to help you take your career to the next level. Before you head out of town to visit Aunt Sue for Thanksgiving, I hope that you enjoy some of my original and curated content, including "Hiring Predictions and Trends for 2023" and how the new salary transparency laws could impact your job search efforts.

As for me, I will be hunkering down in North Carolina for the holiday. After running the neighborhood Turkey Trot, I will be gorging myself on Paula Dean-inspired southern goodness. My favorite dish is my great-grandmother's "Savannah Red Rice" recipe. It's not traditional Thanksgiving food, but it reminds me of her. What about you? What is your favorite dish?

I hope that you enjoy this month’s newsletter.

As always, I am rooting for you,

Sarah

Job Search

What does 2023 look like for hiring and recruiting?

As the owner of one of the top executive resume and job search coaching companies, I eat, sleep and breathe employment data & career content. I often get asked to make predictions about trends I think will emerge in the career space. I’m predicting the 3F’s — fractional, flexible, and fastidious. We will see a rise in fractional leadership and side hustles, job candidates will continue to seek flexibility as a primary job perk, and companies will be fastidious about hiring only the strongest employees.

I reached out to a few of my favorite career colleagues and recruiting leaders to get their predictions and trending observations for “Recruiting & Hiring Trends to Expect in 2023”. 

TO DO: Send a thank you following an interview.

Following up on an interview with a thank you note could help land you the job. While a handwritten note sent through the mail used to be the gold standard, now an email sent immediately following the interview session is equally effective and more efficient. "If you want to create a strong professional brand and leave a lasting impression with employers, you need to master the post-interview thank you email." Ben Forstag, the former Managing Director of Mac's List, put together three customizable examples that you can use throughout your job search process.

Different is better than better.

I remind my executive clients all of the time that different is better than better. It's hard to evaluate in an interview which candidate is the best. It's much easier to assess who is doing things differently. Our minds are trained to recognize novelty. That's one of the reasons why I loved this article by Jason Feifer. In the article, he looks at Jesse Cole's decision to purchase a minor-league baseball team and create an experience for the fans. "Normal gets normal results," Jesse said. "So I thought, What would be abnormal at a baseball game? What will get people saying, "I can't believe what I saw tonight?' "

Have you heard of the Savannah Bananas? It is a bucket list item for me to get to Savannah and see the show!

Copywriting

Is using AI the right choice?

You have probably read articles over the past year that were not written by humans. AI capability is growing. I've been tracking tools like Copy.ai (which, btw, has a great team behind them. Huge fan of Chris Lu)-- and their user base is growing. They have over 5,000 paid users and just raised Series A. But this Fast Company article brings up a valid point. While AI helps churn quick copy, it skips a really important part of the writing process--- thinking. My best work results from research, analysis, and connecting dots. This article reminds us that sometimes, slowness is the point. 

What are the current trends in content?

If you are writing thought leadership content for your organization, you might find Zen Media's top 5 content trends for 2023 insightful. My biggest takeaway was that articles with videos get 84% more traffic than those without—and articles with more than three videos generated 55% more backlinks than those with none. As much as most of us dread being on camera, this sounds like more push than a nudge to start doing more video.

Networking

It's not as daunting as it seems.

"There’s no easier place to start networking than with people you already know. You might be thinking, “I already know what everyone in my circle does. How can they help me?” As much as we like to think otherwise, the world doesn’t revolve around us. People, even those closest to us, aren’t constantly thinking about us and our needs. They can’t read our minds, either." Read this article from Vox to explore more ways to perfect your networking skills and make the process less intimidating.

Economy

Can layoffs be avoided?

Layoffs. A topic no one wants to think about, but it's a reality that many are facing right now. The tech industry has been hit especially hard in recent weeks. This is an excellent and timely read from Josh Bersin. Josh gives an in-depth look at the lifecycle of a business, where many companies find themselves now, things that could have gone differently, and where to go from here. This article is filled with links to other thought-provoking articles and posts. It's a great one to dive into. - This is an excellent read with many thought-provoking links throughout.

New transparency laws - how will companies work around them?

There are new laws in several states requiring companies to include a salary range on all job postings - both on internal websites and external job boards. It's no secret that companies will play games to get around these new transparency laws. Erica Reckamp, an executive resume writer, shared on LinkedIn that you will likely see a rise in 3 "sneaky tricks" 1) Not posting roles. It is far more cost-effective to promote internally, use employee referral programs, or ask around in your network to bypass public salary ranges. 2) Listing salary ranges that are so broad they don't actually help the job seeker. 3) Using outside search firms to place candidates.

Workplace Culture

Is work evenly distributed across your team?

The 80/20 rule - 80% of the work is done by 20% of the team. I feel like this was the status quo of high school and college group projects. But for many, it is a reality in their professional career as well. Have you been on a team like this? Have you managed a team like this? In this HBR article, the importance of a manager's role in keeping a pulse on what each team member is responsible for and making sure the workload is divided fairly is discussed.

Career Briefs: Book Club Pick

I often get calls from parents hoping to help their new graduate son or daughter prepare to start a career. A job search requires focus and intention - many recent college graduates are unclear on where they want to land next or how to get there. I am excited to have a new resource to share with them. Beth Hendler-Grunt is a career coach who is leveraging her experience consulting Fortune 500 companies to help recent grads and their parents define a clear path to success and launch their careers after college.

I believe this is a must-read for parents of recent grads as well as those with children currently in college. I would love to send one of you a copy of Beth's book. Please use the button below to send me an email. I will randomly pick a winner from the submissions.

Briefcase Coach

I am honored to be recognized by Growth Hack Your Career as one of the Best Resume Writers for 2022. When I began writing resumes during my children's nap time seven years ago, I could not have envisioned where Briefcase Coach would be today. It is an honor to share a space on this list with many of my colleagues that also do excellent work for their clients. I am grateful to my small, but mighty team who support the standards of my business, my clients who trust us to help tell their unique stories and to all job seekers that trust the advice that I strive to make practical and actionable.

Can you do me a favor?

I’m on a mission to help job seekers land amazing jobs. Would you consider doing one of the following:

• Forward or use the referral link below to share this newsletter with your job-searching friends or post about it on social media. This small act really helps!

• Reach out to us about featuring your executive job posting in our newsletter. We are looking for hiring managers, founders, and search firms to talk on video about their ideal candidates.

• Consider sharing my company name with your HR leadership. We are a great “white-glove” boutique option for executive outplacement

• Recommend me as a paid speaker for your company events on networking, job searching, or leveraging LinkedIn

• Recommend my services to high performers wanting to work one-on-one with an executive resume writer / or experienced interview coach

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