If you’ve been a faithful listener of the podcast for some time, you’ll know that I do a special episode each year during Thanksgiving week.

It started out as five unusual things to be thankful for that weren’t specific to me. Somewhere along the way, they became MY five things. The hope has always been that you will look at the circumstances of your life through a different lens after listening to my list.

I get a lot of questions about using recruiters in my clients’ job search, so I wanted to dive into this topic and my perspective on the role of recruiters in your job search. Now, let’s dive into the vocabulary you should be aware of regarding recruiters, as well as the pros and cons, in my opinion, of choosing to navigate your job search this way.

We’ve gotten very relaxed in our dress since Covid, especially those of us who have worked from home. Even many companies have relaxed their dress standards — so what does this mean for how to dress for a job interview?

Job searching with a chronic physical or mental health condition can be tricky to navigate. We will be tackling this issue on two fronts: how to take care of yourself during a job search if you have a chronic physical or mental health condition, and when/if to divulge this information to the prospective employer. My guest for this episode is Jane Springer, who’s been on the podcast several times before. Jane is a life coach specializing in health and wellness for women ages 50+. We talk about what a chronic physical or mental health condition is, how to manage your condition during the stress of a job search, and how to make sure you find a job that can accommodate your specific health needs.

Oftentimes, people who schedule a consult with me are doing so because they have been job searching with little to no success. One of the questions on the scheduling form has to do with the number of applications they have completed, the number of interviews with different companies they’ve had, and the number of job offers they’ve received. I ask for this information because it helps me begin to narrow down where their problem might be. Let’s look at each step of this process, and what to do if your problem is in that step.

I want to start by talking about an internal “red flag” – this has nothing to do with the company you are applying to and everything to do with YOU. Each time you make a job move, it is so important to evaluate your current job for your motivated skills you'd like to seek in your next job, while also being aware of your burnout skills you'd like to avoid. When you don’t do this work, you risk jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire…or, at best, not progressing in your career towards your ideal job. Now let’s talk about the possible red flags an employer could be waving right in front of your face.

I think most people have gotten the memo that you are supposed to tailor your resume, cover letter, and any other materials to the position you are applying for. This tailoring, if done correctly, will greatly increase your chances of making it through the ATS – and compelling the human on the other end to want to interview you. I DON’T think most people know what tailoring actually means, so let’s dig into this today.

There’s so much in the news about Artificial Intelligence (AI) replacing jobs. In the resume writing world, there is a widespread belief that is, unfortunately, being spread by some people who have created AI-based resume writing platforms they want you to purchase. I first want to start with how I have incorporated AI into my resume writing practice, then we will delve into ways you can DIY and outline when you should turn to a professional to write your resume.

Since Covid, the number of people working from home — or wanting to work from home — has multiplied exponentially. Today, I want to offer resources and strategies to help you land a WFH job. A note here: your desire to WFH shouldn’t be the primary consideration as to which jobs you pursue. You still have to enjoy the work and exercise your Zones of Genius. Let’s get into it!

From time to time on this podcast, I will mention a free resource available to you via my website. Today, I thought I would go over all those resources for you. As a reminder, the URL is exclusivecareercoaching.com.

According to an article from the Wall Street Journal, nearly four million workers left the labor market in the first months of the pandemic — the lowest level of employment since 1983. There were many reasons for this but now, we’re starting to see a post-pandemic resurgence of midcareer workers. There are plenty of statistics and forecasts for how this will continue to develop, but for now, let’s get more personal to job-seekers in this market and discuss what you, as a candidate, can do to make the hiring process more palatable and successful for you.

I recently read “The Gifts of Imperfection” by Brené Brown, and her section on Hope and Powerlessness really resonated with me! I wanted to translate her concepts to the job search and give my take on her concepts through outlining what helps build hopefulness, what hopeful self-talk might look like, and providing some reframing thoughts that can help manage the inevitable rejections we all receive during a job search.

My guest this week is Robert Jordan, and we’re talking about the four leadership styles his team has identified. Robert shares how to make sure you land in a “leadership match” position – and how best to leverage your leadership style once you are in your new role.

My guest this week is Tracy Hooper, and we’re talking about words to use and words to lose in your next job interview. Tracy gives us techniques for identifying the less-than-ideal words we may be using and how to replace them with better word choices.

Mac Prichard, of Mac’s List, is a third-time guest on the podcast! In this episode, we do a deep dive on how to conduct an informational interview, including the three things you MUST do during this conversation.

This week, my guest is Sonja Price. Our parents and grandparents often worked for the same company their entire career – many times, even in the same position. This model doesn’t serve most of us today, and there are financial, developmental, and other reasons to change jobs every few years. Sonja Price and I talk about how to create short- and long-term career goals that will serve as our guideposts for making decisions about career changes, when to look inside your organization and when to look outside, and the indications that it is time to leave your current job.

This week I'm excited to share a "Best of the Exclusive Career Coach podcast" episode — I speak with Mark Danaher, founder of Mark Danaher Training and Coaching. Mark and I discuss the seismic shift in people’s work because of the pandemic – especially the large number of people who are rethinking their career direction. Mark gives us the signs that you may be ready to make a career shift, as well as strategies to help you make that shift.

This week I'm excited to share a "Best of the Exclusive Career Coach podcast" episode — I speak with life coach Jane Springer on the types of mind drama I hear from clients related to the current job market, their qualifications, themselves as human beings, their job search strategy, and their career focus.

No one is expected to immediately know what they want to do in life. There are three main perspectives I want to share in this week’s podcast episode with upcoming (or recent) college graduates related to their career and what to keep in mind when thinking about their next steps.

Today, I’m presenting case studies of people who made significant career changes, and the lessons to be learned from those changes. My hope is that you might identify with one or more of these case studies and find hope and direction in the paths they took.