By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
I created JobSearch.Community to supplement my job search coaching work by giving you video courses, books and guides to help you with your search, as well as the ability to schedule coaching sessions with me.
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Have you started to notice that people are posting on LinkedIn that they are starting new jobs? I have. It still is very rough in the job market and the most recent report was closed to new data on February 12th before federal government layoffs began. That’s the mistake I made a few weeks ago when I warned that the jobs report was going to be bad.
If you missed the ADP report, layoffs were up dramatically and would have been up, even without federal government job cuts.
You Need Allies
Professor Emerita Patricia O’Hara of Notre Dame spoke to the Senate confirmation hearings for Judge Coney Barrett. As you would expect, she was eloquent in her praise of the judge and shared stories of meeting her when she was being recruited for the faculty, her professional successes with students and law publications alike.
Then, she said something that got my attention. She said this was the second time she had the opportunity to communicate with the Committee about a nominee to the SCOTUS. The first time when she advocated for a nominee and now Supreme Court Justice, Elena Kagan, who, she again described powerfully and with enormous amounts of praise for many of the same qualities as Judge Coney Barrett.
Her testimony reminded me of how powerful an impression an advocate can make, particularly one who presents a non-partisan case for advocacy. I was also reminded that advocates are only a part of the tools a person should have in their professional toolbelt.
There comes a point fairly early in most people’s careers where you stop hearing the truth. Rise to a level of a manager, and your staff is trying to persuade you to notice them and advance them to the next level. Your boss may give you advice but is often too removed from your case to provide you with impactful suggestions.
If you’re honest with yourself, you don’t write or present as well as you could if you believed that it was critically important to write and present. You have no one to talk to professionally who has your interests at heart. You need to build a reputation for yourself or remain invisible to the universe at large, and always need to apply for jobs instead of having them seek you out. I don’t mean cold calls to you. I mean worthwhile professional recommendations that allow you to cut the line and get to the front.
I am skeptical of many mentors because too many are focused on your success with your current firm, and not your success. Sometimes that overlaps. Usually, it doesn’t because the mentor chooses not to advocate.
My wife and I adopted our son in Almaty, Kazakhstan a few months after 9/11. When we flew back to the US, we needed to stop in Moscow to have our son receive papers to allow us to bring him home with us. After a long flight to Moscow made longer by an emergency landing somewhere in Siberia, we landed and approached a customs line that looked a quarter of a mile long.
But something happened that we were told about, but as Americans, found it hard to imagine. People we did not know, whom we could not understand, started to wave the three of us to the front of the line. No waiting for us! We cut the line . . . with permission!
Often, there are back doors and side doors that allow you to cut lines and advance faster than others. Employing allies, advocates, and ideas that made clients come to me, instead of me always pursuing them, helped me to a successful multiyear career in search and now in coaching where I leverage my experience from many, many years in recruiting to help people re-position into new roles and new careers.
It has helped me cut the line in front of many other coaches who push resume writing services that have a modest benefit to a person. I accept no corporate money except for sponsorships to my podcast, “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” which is #1 in Apple Podcasts for job search. In July, 2024, we celebrated our 3000th episode. No podcast is even close in the job search category.
I work as an ally to people in the workplace to help you advance your career through a job change, hiring more effectively, managing and leading more effectively, and being your confidential ally in your job search and career.
Find allies to help you and guide you. Learn from others, rather than figuring it out by trial and lots of errors.
If you would like to learn more about my work and how I can help, schedule a free discovery sessionat TheBigGameHunter.us.
Ⓒ The Big Game Hunter, Inc., Asheville, NC 2020 , 2025
Last week, I released a lot of advice in my blog at www.TheBigGameHunter.us including:
Designing Career Experiments https://wp.me/p4aIk1-8bO
No BS Career Advice: March 2, 2025 https://wp.me/p4aIk1-mC3
How to Have Jobs Come to You https://wp.me/p4aIk1-2cJ
Rejection is Part of the Job Search Process https://wp.me/p4aIk1-mBZ
Generative AI: The American Worker and the Future of Work https://wp.me/p4aIk1-mAZ
Corporate Ghosting https://wp.me/p4aIk1-8Bl
Mojo. Swagger. Attitude. Whatever You Call It, Show It! https://youtu.be/vkMVY2-U9tI
Differentiating Yourself https://wp.me/p4aIk1-2s4
The Future of Jobs in 2025 https://wp.me/p4aIk1-mCN
What’s the Difference Between You and A Coal Miner? https://wp.me/p4aIk1-9nY
Your Resume Isn’t Always The First Impression https://wp.me/p4aIk1-mCQ
What’s The Point? | No BS Career Advice https://wp.me/p4aIk1-iKx
What’s So Good About Hiring Team Players Any Way? https://wp.me/p4aIk1-hm
The Easiest Stupid Résumé Mistake to Fix https://youtu.be/0jhjIibM5dk
Which Looks Better on a Resume? https://wp.me/p4aIk1-mCy
Neurodiversity and Coaching https://wp.me/p4aIk1-mD5
Passing The Water Test on an Interview https://wp.me/p4aIk1-mD8
Stepping Down from Leadership | No BS Career Advice https://wp.me/p4aIk1-hOE
What’s Your Real Problem With Networking? https://wp.me/p4aIk1-1x
3 Questions to Ask at the End of a Job Interview https://youtu.be/V7QTruyAS4Q
Advantage You https://wp.me/p4aIk1-28R
What Are You Selling? https://wp.me/p4aIk1-1Td
Applying for a Job Through an ATS? Omit These from Your Resume https://wp.me/p4aIk1-mDe
Whining? Blaming? STOP IT! https://wp.me/p4aIk1-mCJ
Who Can Help With a Job Search? https://wp.me/p4aIk1-3E7
Interview Mistakes: Monologuing https://youtu.be/ECnZaFKQ1OM
Again, share this. Subscribe if you don’t already. Click the like button. Comment. Do things to help others in need of finding work.
I created JobSearch.Community to supplement my coaching work by giving you video courses, books and guides to help you with your search, as well as the ability to schedule coaching sessions with me.
See you soon!
Jeff Altman,
The Big Game Hunter
JobSearch.Community
