Touch of grey

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I've given this week's newsletter 10 different subject lines before finally sticking with this one. If you are a frequent reader, you know that I sometimes use 1980s or 1990s song titles as subject lines to liven things up. As I finish this up, it's a dark and snowy morning here, so "Touch of Grey" by the Grateful Dead felt like an appropriate choice.

I'm not a Deadhead, but for some reason, the song's lyrics are talking to me today:

We will get by

We will get by

We will get by

We will survive

Many people that I've been talking with recently are just getting by in their jobs. Last week, we talked about the "Great Stay": basically, many people would like to leave their jobs, but are staying because there really is no place to go. Gallup is calling this the "Great Detachment" with job satisfaction is at record lows with 18% of workers who are extremely satisfied.

I'm running another poll this week around your biggest career concerns going into 2025. It shouldn't be surprising that layoffs/finding a new job is the number one concern of the majority of respondents, with career advancement coming in a distance 2nd and salary/bonus in 3rd.

It's interesting to me that money isn't the biggest concern for many people. In other years, salary would have been close to the top. And it isn't because raises are huge - the average raise in 2025 is forecasted to be around 3.5% which won't even come out to a percentage point after inflation (which was 2.7% in 2024 and is forecasted to be above 2.5% in 2025).

As part of the poll, I asked others to give their thoughts on what 2025 will look like and the consensus is that many of us are "cautiously optimistic." Some are concerned about RTO and others are concerned about tech layoffs (with the belief that companies will continue to improve RTO as an indirect layoff method). There is only so much that we can control and the job market isn't one of those things, unfortunately.

What can you control?

Probably the biggest thing, though, is protecting your mindset. It's way too easy to lose your confidence after an extended job market. You can run through all sorts of scenarios in your head and question whether you'll anyone will ever want to hire you again. That's why notes like those below make my day!

Even though this market is challenging, my message to close the year out is that we will get by. We've navigated challenging markets before and we can do this - together! Best wishes for a happy and healthy new year.

Office hours

This is my last newsletter of 2024 and I just want to thank you for being part of my community. I'm opening up my calendar to talk with previous and potential clients about how to succeed in the 2025 market. Want to set up some time to talk through things? Here is a link to my calendar.

Question of the week

Is it worth it to apply for jobs online? I've seen folks say that networking is more effective and I just want to know where to best use my time.

I worked for a large outplacement company for a time and they used the statistic that 80% of your job search time should be used in networking because that was the most effective way to find a job.

I've done polls on LinkedIn (and I've worked with others who have run similar polls) that find networking and applying for jobs to have the same results - about 37% of people find jobs through networking and 36% find jobs through applying for jobs online. 15% of respondents were recruited on LinkedIn (that's why you need that strong profile), and 13% landed roles through a combination of factors.

Some of my clients have had success securing jobs through online applications (I recently had a client land a job through an online application process competing against 1500+ applicants). Many of my clients have been recruited on LinkedIn while networking has been the key for others. In the end, I recommend trying all of these approaches - if you have a strong resume, there is no reason not to apply online for roles that you are qualified for.

This week's LinkedIn posts:

I generated 12 million impressions on LinkedIn in 2024.

Poll: Your #1 career concern for 2025 is .... (1450+ responding)

I ran 48 polls on LinkedIn in 2024.

"I can afford to retire - I just don't want to."

Linked Out of Office Message

I'm committed to delivering cost-effective job search help and am keeping the Ageless Careers Toolkit price at $49 until the end of 2024.

The Ageless Careers Toolkit is a self-paced job search program with 5 modules:

• Build Your Ageless Career: I answer your biggest job search questions and troubleshoot common issues for Gen X and Baby Boomer job seekers
• Write Your Ageless Resume: I've written 1000s of resumes - this is my 43-page guide for writing a winning resume
• Craft Your Ageless Cover Letter: My tips for writing a cover letter in 10 minutes or less
• The Art of Ageless Interviewing: Boost your confidence through my biggest interview tips
• Create Your Ageless LinkedIn Presence: We are going to optimize your LinkedIn profile so that opportunities find you

The toolkit includes both written guides and video presentations with 10 sample resumes across various functions (marketing, finance, engineering, manufacturing, sales, etc) and roles (Project Manager, Director, VP, C-Suite).

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Other ways that I can help:

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Sponsorships: Reach Gen X and Baby Boomer executives by sponsoring this newsletter (we're currently at 4000 subscribers for the newsletter and 66,000+ followers on LinkedIn, so you can easily reach a wide base of readers).

Question of the Week: Do you have a question that you would to have answered in the Question of the Week? Reply to this email and let me know.

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Take care of yourself and have a wonderful weekend!

Colleen