You Had One Job

I've been writing about jobs a lot lately. The highs and lows of the hunt. Reference materials. Wacky experiments at the intersection of job searches & AI.

Job writing isn't a genre. It's a vibe.

And it's a vibe that's shifting for quite a few folks these days.?

Here's a roundup, some of which you may have seen recently or quite some time ago, but as a greatest hits album, it just sounds so much better. Pretty soon, I'll need Discs I and II.* You'll get some bonus tracks with a few original observations below.?

Here they are, fully remastered;

Empathy First

The recent spate of my job posts?started with?one of my wider-reaching posts I've shared on LinkedIn , notching about 150,000 impressions. It begins:

In light of so many people posting about how layoffs are the best thing that ever happened to them, in the wake of all these tech layoffs, let me offer these words instead:

Getting laid off is the worst.

Can we acknowledge that?

So yeah, I got real. And while I'm a big fan of optimism and looking forward, let's acknowledge how it really feels for others, even for people who hated their jobs but weren't expecting to lose control over their situation.

It's not unlike the wave of empathy that hit me once my marital situation changed. The change worked out well for me, and for those around me, but I've seen so many versions of this story that played out differently. Now?when a friend tells me they're getting divorced, I ask, "Should I say I'm sorry or congratulations?"

The answer is often "both."

Quick aside: At a dinner in Cannes last year, I was sitting across from a woman I hadn't known before. As we got to talking about family, I mentioned my divorce, and then I paused a moment later and said, "You got divorced too, didn't you?" She asked how I knew, and I said, "You're the first person I mentioned it to who didn't say you're sorry."?

Ultimately, whatever the situation, it's about not imposing one's feelings on others. It's about?opening the door to let the person?share where they are. And unless they need immediate professional help, where they are (however high or low) is probably along the path of where they need to be.

?????+?

This week,?I shared a brief post ?that I'll include in full here. I'd love to hear what questions you'd prioritize in this list:

The 5 W's (and an H) for a job search:

WHO: Who is one person that I can reach out to who could be helpful in my search?

WHAT: What is one thing that I can do for someone else today to help them reach their professional goals?

WHERE: Where can I look that I haven’t looked yet?

WHEN: When can I make time for myself to breathe, learn, engage in physical fitness, seek professional counseling, laugh, meditate, cook a nourishing meal, play, get some fresh air, or relax?

WHY: Why am I the right person for the roles I’m seeking?

HOW: How can I end today a step further along than I am right now?

JobsGPT

I'm also having fun with seeing how ChatGPT can be used to market oneself.

My first, which I mentioned previously, was?AISaysHireMe.com . I entered a brief synopsis of my job history, and it spat out a bunch of reasons why someone might hire me.?

My newer one, not previously shared here, is?MyAIResume.com . For this, I asked it to describe the work experience for a given job, and I shared my job titles and companies one at a time to come up with the resume.?

The added twist there is that?Leo Morejon , who built the site, added a plug-in at the bottom where you can submit a prompt to ask ChatGPT to describe your own experience, and then you can get the bullets right there, even if you don't have your own OpenAI account.

A bonus of this one is that it might give you some ideas for your resume or LinkedIn profile. I took a few of the points and added them to my real work history where they made sense.

Christmas in January

There are a few other resources that you can keep handy.

One is my list of 100+ questions you can ask when exploring or starting a new marketing job, shared at?bit.ly/serialqs ?and updated periodically.

The other is?my master job resource update , a scrappy page posted on Notion. I'd love to hear about any other resources you think should be listed there. I prune and update that one too when I can.

And there's an even broader spreadsheet,?bit.ly/howdavidcanhelp , with a few other thoughts.

Share any of these links liberally if they'd benefit someone else.

Please also let me know if I can help you at all get any further in your own search for that next project, gig, job, Congressional seat, co-star role in a Hulu series (maybe even guest star), or whatever else you're striving for today.

David

*I'm thankful that almost all of my readership should understand what that means. If you don't, it's okay -- I'll throw in some Gas references next week.

PS: For those who missed CES and wanted to catch any of the sessions from Mediaocean's Retreat,?you can find all the sessions posted here . Just click "watch all recordings."