Dear Reader:

Last night, I took my daughters to their very first concert.

The headliner was Forrest Frank, the Christian artist behind upbeat songs like Good Day and Lemonade. The music was fun, the crowd was energized, and the atmosphere was overwhelmingly positive. But what surprised me most wasn't the concert itself—it was how encouraged I felt afterward.

I left thinking about a simple truth: you are what you consume.

Most of us have heard the phrase, "You are what you eat." The idea is straightforward: the food you consume fuels your body, impacts your energy levels, and shapes your overall health.

The same principle applies to your mind.

Research consistently shows that the content we consume influences our mood, outlook, stress levels, and even our behavior. Spend enough time scrolling through negativity, outrage, and fear, and it's difficult not to absorb some of it. Surround yourself with encouragement, inspiration, and hope, and you'll often find your perspective begins to shift as well.

This is especially important if you're job searching.

A job search is consistently ranked among life's most stressful experiences. It can be filled with uncertainty, rejection, waiting, and self-doubt. During those seasons, it's easy to become consumed by discouraging headlines, LinkedIn comparison traps, doom-scrolling, and endless stories about layoffs and economic uncertainty.

But when you're navigating a career transition, you have to be intentional about how you're fueling both your body and your mind.

Pay attention to the voices you're listening to.

Pay attention to the content you're consuming.

Pay attention to the people you're surrounding yourself with.

Are they helping you move forward, or are they keeping you stuck in fear?

The truth is that while you can't control hiring decisions, market conditions, or how quickly opportunities emerge, you can control what you feed your mind each day.

Choose people who encourage rather than discourage.

Choose content that reminds you of your strengths rather than magnifies your insecurities.

A successful job search requires a strong resume, a smart strategy, and consistent networking. But it also requires resilience. And resilience is built by what we repeatedly consume.

So this week, take inventory. What are you feeding your mind?

Because just like your body, your mindset becomes stronger—or weaker—based on what you consume.

Rooting for you,

Table of Contents

• Dear Reader:

• The Skills New Graduates Need to Compete in an Ult …

• How to Pick a 1% Startup

• Is Your Job Search About More Than a New Job?

• Take our Reader Insights Survey

• Mid-Career Women Are Trading The Ladder For Owners …

• Stop Doomjobbing!

• Job Market Visualizer

• Before you turn in your notice….

The Skills New Graduates Need to Compete in an Ultra-Competitive Hiring Market

The average new college graduate entering the workforce today has parents who were listening to Lauryn Hill, NSYNC, and Third Eye Blind when they graduated from college. In fact, most of those parents likely launched their careers between 1997 and 1999—a time when job searching looked dramatically different than it does today.

Back then, there was no LinkedIn, no Indeed, and no AI-powered resume tools. Job seekers attended campus recruiting events, searched newspaper classifieds, mailed resumes, and relied heavily on personal connections. One executive told me she used Hoover's in the library to identify companies and mailed her resume to 50 organizations in pursuit of an internship. Another remembers carrying printed resumes on premium paper and networking her way into opportunities. And perhaps the most surprising revelation? One reader shared that her first job came through a connection who arranged an informational interview and encouraged her to mention his name to HR.

As I read these stories, I was struck by something: while the tools have changed, the fundamentals haven't. The most successful job seekers in 1998 built relationships, sought referrals, researched employers, and found ways to get noticed. The most successful job seekers in 2026 do the same. Technology has transformed the process, but human connection remains at the center of every great career. If you're helping a new graduate navigate today's job market, our latest article offers practical guidance for launching a career in a very different—but surprisingly familiar—world.

Read our latest article below.

How to Pick a 1% Startup

One trend I've noticed among my C-suite clients: many aren't looking for their next role at a household-name company.

They're looking for the next breakout company.

The challenge, of course, is figuring out how to spot the next Anthropic, Figma, or Stripe before everyone else does. That's why I enjoyed this interview from Lenny Rachitsky. He sat down with five leaders whose careers include an impressive roster of companies that went on to become category-defining success stories: Palantir, OpenAI, Facebook, Stripe, Linear, Figma, Notion, Slack, Box, Spotify, and Dropbox. Their insights offer a fascinating look at the signals they look for when evaluating early-stage companies with outsized potential.

If you're an executive who is considering a move into the startup ecosystem—or simply curious about how top operators evaluate opportunity—this article is worth your time.

Read: How to Spot a Top 1% Startup Early 👉 https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-spot-a-top-1-startup-early

Is Your Job Search About More Than a New Job?

Since the pandemic, I’ve heard people more people say, "I don't know if I need a new role or a completely new industry."

New research from Australia's HILDA panel—which tracked approximately 17,000 people over 24 years—offers an interesting perspective.

Researchers found that the mental health benefits associated with a voluntary job change were driven almost entirely by people who changed industries, not just employers. Those who made an industry pivot experienced a noticeable boost in well-being that lasted for several years after the transition.

Of course, it's important not to overstate the findings. The research doesn't prove that changing industries causes better mental health. It may be that people who felt stuck, misaligned, or burned out found greater purpose and fulfillment in a field that better matched their interests, strengths, or values.

Still, the study raises an interesting question: If you've been unhappy at work for years, is it possible that you're solving for the wrong problem?

Further Reading: Tim Ballard, PHD Blog How Do Different Types of Job Changes Affect Mental Health?

Take our Reader Insights Survey

Please consider taking our reader insights survey. We will read every single comment and piece of feedback that you share.

Mid-Career Women Are Trading The Ladder For Ownership

A recent article by Caroline Faircloth in Forbes put words to a trend I've been noticing for years—in my local peer groups, among my clients, and in the private Facebook groups and Slack channels where women talk candidly about work.

Millennial women don't necessarily want the corner office anymore. Increasingly, they want to own the office.

The numbers support it. Women started 44% of new businesses in 2025, up from 29% in 2019. Among Gen Z entrepreneurs, women's share of new businesses jumped from 38% to 47% in just one year.

Why the shift? For many women, the traditional corporate equation no longer feels balanced. The expectations continue to rise: longer hours, greater visibility, more emotional labor, and higher performance standards. Yet the rewards—whether financial, personal, or lifestyle-related—don't always keep pace. At some point, the math stops mathing. When you're asked to give more and more without a clear promise of return, entrepreneurship begins to look less like a risk and more like a rational alternative.

Read Caroline’s Article in Forbes

Stop Doomjobbing!

A new study found that 42% of job seekers apply to four or more jobs per search session, and nearly half admit they don't even read the full job description before clicking "Apply."

Some spend less than 30 seconds reviewing a role.

I understand why. When you've been searching for months, hearing nothing back, and wondering what recruiters actually want, it's tempting to treat job search like a numbers game.

But here's the problem: the best opportunities rarely go to the person who applied to the most jobs. They go to the person who made the strongest case for why they're the right fit AND who made a connection with the decision maker.

I see this every day with executives. They spend hours firing off applications and minutes thinking about positioning.

My advice? Apply to fewer roles and invest more time in each one.

Before you click submit, ask yourself:

• Do I understand what problem this employer is trying to solve?
• Can I clearly connect my experience to that problem?
• Have I tailored my resume to reflect the priorities in the posting?
• Have I identified a hiring manager, leader, employee, or mutual connection who can help me get beyond the applicant tracking system?

The most successful job seekers aren't just applying. They're creating opportunities for meaningful conversations with decision-makers. One thoughtful introduction, referral, or networking conversation can be worth more than dozens of online applications.

A thoughtful application may take longer, but one targeted application is often worth more than ten rushed ones.

Further Reading:

How to Find & Connect with Recruiters

Monster.com’s: Doomjobbing Report: 48% of Job Seekers Apply Without Reading the Full Job Description

Job Market Visualizer

A tool I’ve been using with clients lately is a simple but powerful job market visualizer built on Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

It maps 342 occupations (covering ~143M U.S. jobs) and lets you explore the labor market visually.

Each tile shows:

• Size = total employment

• Color toggle = growth outlook, median pay, education requirements, or AI exposure

• Click-through = full BLS role breakdown

Most job seekers think in titles and openings. This helps you think in systems: where jobs are growing, where pay and education align (or don’t), and where roles may be more resilient in an AI-driven economy. For executives especially, it’s a useful reset from “what’s available?” to “where is opportunity actually expanding?”

Worth exploring here: https://github.com

Before you turn in your notice….

When you finally receive the phone call you've been eagerly anticipating, it may be tempting to immediately celebrate, share the news on social media, and celebrate with a victory dance. However, I must caution you by saying, "It's not over until it's over," or in this case, until your start date is confirmed. Before taking any action, make sure to obtain written confirmation. Push the recruiter or hiring manager to provide you with an official offer letter that includes all the details.

I've been around long enough to see heartbreak. I've seen candidates put in their notice without an official letter documenting the offer. It is important to note that many job offers are conditional. If you have any concerns about passing a background check, refrain from resigning from your current job until you have received official confirmation. I have seen offers being withdrawn because the candidate had a DUI on their record or failed to disclose a previous bankruptcy in their application. It is crucial to understand that an offer letter is typically not a contract, especially in "right to work" or "at-will" states.

Take the time to review the benefits package before starting your new job. Ensure that there are no surprises when it comes to your employment benefits. Some employees may not be eligible for insurance immediately, so make sure you know when your coverage will begin and what your monthly out-of-pocket expenses will be. I have seen benefits become a deal-breaker for candidates. You may be offered a higher salary, but if the employer-sponsored health plan requires pre-authorization, has a high deductible, or requires a significant percentage of the health plan's costs, you could actually end up taking a pay cut by making a career move.

Consider waiting a few weeks before updating your LinkedIn profile after changing jobs. While this is subjective, I believe you have a grace period of one to two months. It is important to note that no job is perfect. Based on my conversations with transitioning employees, the majority of them realized within the first month that they were in a bad job or that it was not aligned with their skill set. Companies can deceive you, and what may initially seem like a "dream job" could turn out to be a sinking ship.