#6: Podcasts, Projections, and Productivity

Boo! Welcome back and welcome, October! 👻

It’s hard to believe we’re kicking off Q4 and wrapping up the last chunk of 2024. Are we excited to be nearing the end? Will 2024 be missed? What’s the vibe?

We’re diving into all the goodies today—podcast favorites, job market talk (it’s not all bad, promise!), and of course, we’ve sprinkled in some mental health tips to support you showing up as your best self this fall.

If you have any particular topics of interest or questions about the job search that you’d like us to cover in future issues, we want to hear from you! Simply reply to this newsletter or shoot us your thoughts at [email protected].

Now, let’s jump in!

Sage Wisdom: Daily Actions → Massive Results

Need a new podcast rec for your next car ride or evening walk?

Listen to our top pick for the month: Rob Dial (The Mindset Mentor) discussing the science of habit-building and the power of small daily actions.

While you’re at it, you might as well peek through his archive of episodes, designed for anyone seeking motivation, direction, and focus in life (sooo pretty much everyone 🤪).

Job Market Trends: Things are Kinda, Maybe, Sorta Looking Up?

Okay, we hesitate to say that the job market is on the mend, as historically, Q4 can be a bit slow heading into the holiday season, with the focus often on closing out final deals rather than onboarding new team members. However…things are happening.

1. The first positive sign is more postings for recruiter roles. This is a really good sign as it points to more hiring on the horizon. Employers lock in full-time recruiters when they’re ready to make bigger hiring moves in the near future.

2. We’re also noticing more past clients in our inbox. These are employers who anticipated the downturn, conducted early layoffs, and have kept a low profile ever since. It’s good to see them back and making plans for hiring in 2025.

Before we start too far down this road and assume the job market is healing, it’s important to note that everything remains a bit of a dumpster fire.🔥 It’s still hard to get an interview, to receive feedback or even a response to your follow ups. That’s not likely to change very soon.

Only time will tell if these positive signs continue, resulting in not only enough jobs for everyone unemployed, but enough for everyone to choose roles they’re excited about. In the meantime, continue to make sure you’re preparing for a long-term job search. You won’t ever regret a few extra pennies saved in the bank.

Insight Hub: You Asked, We Answered

“Are all the jobs posted to job board sites actually real?”

The short answer is: maybe.

The long answer is complicated, unfortunately.

There’s a myriad of reasons why a job might be posted. The ideal reason is that the company is actually hiring for a real position. BUT there are other reasons jobs get posted as well:

• If it’s a role posted by a recruiting agency? There’s a chance it’s not an active role but is simply posted as a way to collect resumes and get more candidate pipeline for the recruiters who work there.

• If it’s a company posting, it could be to provide market research around compensation, skills or other data sets for a given location. They may also use postings to gather resumes and increase their brand recognition in the market for when they actually do hire.

• Scammers also find creative ways to post jobs, although many job boards try to mitigate this. Regardless, never hand out your personal information (address, unique ways of identifying you or anything to do with banking), to someone you don’t know and do your research before handing over any money for a course or certification.

If you see the same role posted over and over again, there’s a strong likelihood it’s not real. Actively hiring companies will reach out to you or at least send you a rejection email. It’s inevitable that you might apply to a few roles that aren’t “real” per se, but if you stay vigilant you can make sure that ratio stays low.

Spicing Up your Fall Routine

Searching for a new job can be both exciting and overwhelming. To navigate this challenging period effectively while maintaining your well-being, sticking to a schedule that interests you is crucial. It helps create a sense of stability during an unpredictable time, prevents overwhelm, and encourages a self-care routine you’ll actually follow (a must!).

We’ve crafted a little choose-your-own-adventure to help you plan your day as a full-time job seeker that balances both meaningful work with physical and mental wellness!

The choice is yours! Play around to find what works best for your life. The important part is remembering that a successful job search includes a generous serving of self-care to keep things in balance.

And that concludes our October issue!

We hope you took some tricks and treats (sorry we had to 🤭) from this one as you continue your job search trek.

Don’t forget to submit any burning questions you have or topics you’d like to see covered to [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!

Catch you in November!