zoom zoom (out)
A couple of weeks ago, I got a note from a client with a very honest question.
She’d been using her new résumé for about two weeks and wasn’t getting any traction.
Her question was simple: What am I doing wrong?
And whew—I get it. The silence that can come with job applications is incredibly discouraging, especially when you’ve invested time, energy, and thought into putting yourself out there.
But my first instinct wasn’t to fix anything. It was to zoom out.
Because more often than not, this isn’t about you doing something wrong—or your résumé not working.
A strong résumé matters (and hers absolutely is). But applications on their own tend to have a pretty low return right now. What typically drives traction is everything happening around them:
👉🏽 how you’re targeting roles,
👉🏽 how you’re getting in front of people, and
👉🏽 how you’re approaching outreach alongside the application itself.
When those pieces aren’t in place, even really strong candidates can end up feeling stuck.
So if your search has been feeling stagnant, it may be worth looking at your approach through that lens. Not as a critique, just as useful information.
One small shift I often suggest: for any role you’re genuinely interested in, identify someone on the team (or adjacent to it) and send a short, thoughtful note. Share what caught your attention and ask a simple, relevant question.
It doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be human.
Even a small amount of direct connection can meaningfully increase your chances of gaining traction.
If this is an area you’ve been wanting to approach more intentionally, this is exactly the kind of work we do inside Own Your Search. We focus on the strategy behind the search—so you’re not just applying, you’re actually creating momentum, and doing it with intention.
Join the LinkedIn Convo
Think you need to outsmart AI to stay relevant? Nah. Being a real person still works.
Is this little interview hack clever… or controversial?
The people have spoken on who should be included in my new LinkedIn Live series (and honestly, I’m not surprised). 🤗
While you're anxious about how to answer curveballs from the team, YOU are allowed to ask real questions in an interview, too!
I dropped five questions to help you uncover real company culture, understand leadership challenges, and surface red flags before you accept an offer.
Pro tip: #4 is one I swear by and recommend to all of my interview coaching clients.
Tomorrow, we are going LIVE 11a Pacific with my most favorite recruiter, Jorge Hernández, and I am pumped!
Jorge has recruited for Meta, Lyft, Atlassian, and Kaiser, and was also an integral part of building out my own team. He knows this market from every angle.
Join 25+ others for a 20-minute conversation (plus networking!) on what recruiters are actually looking for right now—and how to position yourself to get hired.
I’m looking forward to seeing many of you there!
Beyond the Office
Welp, I spent hours this past weekend reading Buckeye, and I am captive to the hype. Suggestion? Read it immediately, preferably after checking it out from your local library. But this one, I know only a third of the way through, will earn a spot on my bookshelf.
In things you never thought you’d read in a newsletter about careers: I was Googling routes to Greenland this weekend, and it led me to finally start North of North, a series about a young Inuk woman who tries to reinvent herself in a tiny Arctic town where everyone knows her business. It’s on Netflix (& filmed in Nunavut)!
Want a meal that works just as well for a group as it does for a solo night in? This stuffed sweet potato is my go-to—and the recipe never leaves the table without being requested. Play with the veggies, keep it vegetarian, make it your own. 😋
Sometimes it’s not your résumé, it’s the strategy around it that changes everything.
If you’re tired of second-guessing your approach, come join me in the Career Alignment Intensive. We’ll get your positioning and story locked in—and build a search that actually creates momentum.
Until May 5, travel in grace, knowing you are surrounded by love.
Work with me 1:1 → Step into a focused alignment experience to clarify your direction and intentionally reposition your leadership. I’m currently scheduling for May and have 3 spots left!
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Enroll in Own Your Search → Build clarity, strengthen your positioning, and land aligned roles inside a structured digital program, all in your own time.
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