News from PARWCC!
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Insights from the 2025 Recruiter Nation Report
Introduction
Every year, headlines attempt to simplify the labor market into a single narrative. One month the market is booming; the next month it is collapsing. Job seekers hear contradictory advice from media, recruiters, and well-meaning colleagues.
Career services professionals know the reality is far more nuanced. Members of the Professional Association of Résumé Writers and Career Coaches (PARWCC) understand the disconnect between job seeker expectations and employer decision-making.
Our industry exists because most professionals cannot easily interpret the signals coming from the hiring market. Recruiters, hiring managers, and talent acquisition leaders operate inside systems and processes that job seekers rarely see. Without that visibility, many candidates (and even some advisors) continue to rely on outdated assumptions about how hiring works.
The 2025 Recruiter Nation Report, based on a nationwide survey of more than 1,200 U.S. recruiters and HR leaders, offers one of the most comprehensive snapshots of those internal hiring dynamics.
What emerges from the report is not a story of collapse or stagnation, but of recalibration. As the report explains:
“After years of whiplash in the hiring market, 2025 hasn’t brought stability so much as another chapter of change… hiring remains resilient… today’s shifts are less about collapse and more about recalibration.”
Recruiters themselves emphasize that hiring is still active and evolving rather than disappearing.
“The story of hiring in 2025 isn’t one of contraction—it’s one of evolution. Recruiters are adapting, recalibrating, and in many cases, leading the charge on how work gets done.”
For PARWCC members – résumé writers, career coaches, job search strategists, interview coaches, and workforce professionals – these insights are far more than academic observations. They shape the advice we give clients, the strategies we teach job seekers, and the value we provide as professionals guiding people through career transitions.
This white paper is intended to examine several key findings from the report and interpret them specifically through the lens of career services practice.
A Hiring Market Defined by Evolution, Not Collapse
One of the most important takeaways from the report is that the hiring market is far more resilient than public narratives suggest.
According to survey results, 70% of recruiters reported that hiring increased year over year, and the majority expect further growth ahead. Approximately 26% anticipate significantly more hiring in the coming year, while another 44% expect somewhat more.
From a recruiter’s perspective, hiring demand remains strong. Yet the market still feels challenging to many organizations. Nearly 47% of respondents say hiring will continue to be difficult, and recruiters consistently cite the same core pressures: competition between employers, candidate shortages, and rising expectations from job seekers.
In fact, recruiters describe their stress levels as being driven primarily by three factors: a lack of qualified candidates (47%), competition from other employers (37%), and a growing number of open roles to fill (36%).
For career services professionals, this data creates a paradox that should shape our coaching and writing strategies. On one hand, organizations need talent; on the other hand, they are struggling to identify candidates who clearly demonstrate alignment with their needs.
The gap between demand and clarity is precisely where PARWCC members create value.
The challenge for many job seekers is not simply finding opportunities. It is communicating their relevance within systems designed to filter large volumes of applicants quickly. When candidates present vague accomplishments or generic messaging, recruiters must invest additional effort to determine whether the individual is truly qualified.
Career services professionals help to close that gap by translating experience into language that aligns with employer expectations.
The Expanding Candidate Funnel
Another key insight from the report is that recruiters are actively attempting to widen their candidate pipelines. For the past two years, talent acquisition teams focused heavily on improving candidate quality. In 2025, priorities have shifted.
The report notes:
“After two straight years of prioritizing candidate quality, recruiters are now putting their energy into quantity instead. This year, simply getting more candidates for each open role jumped to the top of the priority list.”
This shift reflects a practical challenge inside recruiting departments. Even though hiring demand remains strong, recruiters often struggle to generate a sufficiently deep pool of viable candidates.
Applicant volume is improving overall, but pipelines remain relatively modest. The report indicates that most roles receive between 11 and 50 applicants, a figure that may surprise job seekers who assume every role receives hundreds or thousands of applications.
The number of applicants alone, however, does not guarantee successful hiring outcomes. As the report observes:
“More candidates doesn’t always mean better matches… recruiters are still walking the tightrope between volume and quality.”
For career coaches and résumé writers, this insight is particularly important. Many job seekers assume their primary challenge is simply competing against massive numbers of other candidates. In reality, recruiters are facing the opposite problem: a pipeline filled with applicants who do not clearly demonstrate the capabilities required for the role.
It’s a tough reality that demonstrates the value of strategic résumé writing and career coaching. When a candidate’s value proposition is clear, evidence-based, and aligned with employer priorities, that candidate immediately becomes easier for recruiters to identify and advance.
Artificial Intelligence Is Reshaping Recruiting Workflows
Artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly become one of the most transformative forces in talent acquisition. Recruiters are no longer debating whether to use AI tools – they are determining how to integrate them effectively. According to the report, 65% of organizations now use AI to augment recruiting technology, reflecting steady growth in adoption.
Importantly, AI adoption is not limited to experimental pilots. Recruiters report measurable benefits from these tools. Survey respondents identified several key advantages:
- Faster time to hire (55%)
- Improved candidate quality (53%)
- Higher recruiter productivity (49%)
- Better candidate experience (46%)
Beyond these operational improvements, AI is also changing how recruiters allocate their time.
Administrative tasks that once consumed large portions of the recruiting workflow (such as drafting job descriptions, managing communications, and screening initial applicants) are increasingly automated. As a result, recruiters are shifting their attention toward higher-value activities, including candidate engagement, strategic analytics, and recruiter training.
In practical terms, this means that recruiters are spending less time performing manual screening and more time evaluating candidates through deeper conversations and strategic assessments.
For career coaches and résumé writers, this adjustment on the part of recruiters carries important implications.
It reinforces the importance of preparing candidates not only to pass automated screening systems but also to perform effectively in human interactions with hiring teams. As AI removes administrative friction from recruiting workflows, the human elements of hiring – storytelling, credibility, alignment, and communication – become even more important.
It’s no longer enough to write high-quality documents for clients. Career coaches owe it to clients to prepare them for the interview process. PARWCC’s Interview Institute director and leader of the Certified Interview Coach program, Lili Foggle, said:
“The résumé and LinkedIn profile might land the interview, but the interview lands the job. If we’re not preparing our clients to communicate their value and fit effectively during the interview process, we’re setting them up for failure.”
There should be a stronger emphasis on interview coaching in 2026 to position candidates as the best fit for the role.
AI Governance and the Rise of Candidate Authenticity Concerns
The expansion of AI tools has also introduced new concerns for organizations.
Nearly 49% of organizations now have formal AI governance policies, while another 38% are actively piloting governance frameworks.
These policies exist for several reasons, including concerns around data privacy, bias, and regulatory compliance. However, one emerging challenge has received increasing attention: candidate fraud. The report explains:
“Candidate fraud is becoming an increasing concern as organizations struggle to discern fact from fiction in their candidate pools.”
This concern reflects a growing reality within the hiring ecosystem. Generative AI tools have made it easier than ever for candidates to produce polished but generic application materials that lack substantive evidence or authenticity. Robin Reshwan, director of PARWCC’s Certified Digital Career Strategist program, said recently:
“AI is causing candidates to drown in a sea of sameness.”
For recruiters, this creates an additional burden: determining which candidates genuinely possess the experience described in their materials.
For career services professionals, this trend toward “sameness” reinforces the importance of authenticity in career storytelling.
PARWCC members understand that the most effective résumé and career narratives are grounded in specific examples, measurable impact, and verifiable accomplishments. As recruiters grow more skeptical of generic or overly polished content, professionals who can help clients uncover and articulate their authentic experiences will become even more valuable.
The Rise of Skills-Based Hiring
Perhaps the most significant structural shift in hiring practices is the growing emphasis on skills rather than credentials.
The report reveals that 91% of organizations now evaluate candidates primarily on skills rather than degrees or job titles.
For some organizations, this shift is already widespread. Approximately 41% report applying skills-based hiring across most roles, while another 50% apply it selectively within specific parts of the organization.
Early adopters of skills-based hiring report several meaningful benefits. Nearly 65% say the approach improves candidate quality, while 51% report faster hiring processes. Additional benefits include stronger diversity within talent pipelines and greater opportunities for internal mobility and reskilling.
A chief people officer quoted in the report summarized the strategic logic behind this shift:
“Skills-based hiring future-proofs your organization. When you hire for adaptability and resilience, you’re building teams that can evolve with the business.”
However, the transition to skills-based hiring is not without challenges. Half of HR leaders report difficulty measuring or validating skills consistently, and many hiring managers still rely on traditional indicators such as job titles or educational credentials.
For career professionals, this shift highlights an important opportunity.
Helping candidates identify, articulate, and demonstrate their skills – particularly transferable skills – has become one of the most valuable services a coach or résumé writer can provide.
What These Trends Mean for the Career Services Industry
When viewed collectively, the findings from the 2025 Recruiter Nation Report reveal a hiring ecosystem undergoing rapid transformation.
Recruiters are widening their candidate funnels, integrating AI tools into daily workflows, and experimenting with new approaches to evaluating talent. At the same time, organizations continue to struggle with candidate quality, offer acceptance, and skills validation.
For PARWCC members, these developments highlight the growing importance of professional career guidance. Diane Hudson, the creator and program director of the Certified Professional Career Coach program, consistently says:
“As a Career Coach, your clients may often think YOU will get them a new job. However, you may have to listen to some of their life activities to coach them to properly succeed and meet their career goals. Coaching crosses boundaries: Lifestyle affects career choices and decisions.”
Job seekers are navigating a hiring system that has become significantly more complex than it was even five years ago. Recruiters rely on technology platforms, data analytics, and evolving evaluation frameworks that many candidates do not fully understand.
Career services professionals serve as interpreters of this system. We translate recruiter behavior into actionable strategies for job seekers. Coaches and writers help professionals present their experience in ways that align with modern hiring expectations. And we guide clients through the emotional and strategic complexities of career transitions.
Conclusion
The hiring market of the mid-2020s is not simply faster or more digital than previous eras. It is structurally different.
Technology now influences nearly every stage of the hiring process. Recruiters rely on data, analytics, and AI-enabled tools to manage increasingly complex talent pipelines. Skills-based hiring frameworks are redefining how organizations evaluate potential employees.
But one thing remains constant: hiring is ultimately a human decision.
As the report emphasizes, today’s recruiting environment combines technological efficiency with human judgment.
“AI, skills-based hiring, and smarter analytics aren’t just buzzwords anymore… these are the tools TA teams use to move faster, hire better, and prove their impact.”
For the career services profession, this moment represents both a challenge and an opportunity.
Professionals who rely on outdated assumptions about hiring will find it increasingly difficult to provide relevant guidance. But those who actively study recruiting trends and who translate those insights into practical strategies for job seekers will become indispensable advisors.
This is where organizations like PARWCC play a critical role. PARWCC provides a community where career professionals can share insights, stay informed about evolving hiring practices, and develop the expertise needed to guide clients through an increasingly sophisticated job market.
In a world where technology continues to reshape hiring processes, the need for informed, ethical, and strategic career guidance has never been greater. And that is precisely the work PARWCC members do every day.
Written by Mark Misiano
News from PARWCC!
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News from PARWCC!
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Confidence is Perception: A Women’s History Month Reality Check
It wasn’t so long ago that women were expected to list their weight on their resume and navigate intrusive interview questions like “Are you planning to get pregnant?” Not so long before that, women weren’t even allowed in the room.
Today, the barriers are less visible, but they show up clearly in how women are evaluated in interviews. I’m not just talking about illegal discrimination or unspoken quotas. I mean those pervasive, yet quiet filters that keep our clients from landing the offer. The rates of women in the workforce are dwindling. In December’s jobs report, women made up nearly all the job losses, with men joining the labor market at a rate three times greater than women. As coaches, we can’t fix the broken pipe that is draining women out of the workforce. But we can help our clients fight their way back in.
A few years ago, I gave a talk about the gender gap in perceived interview confidence. Research shows that in an interview setting, perceived confidence is a bridge to an offer. The logic follows a predictable path: Confidence → Competence → The Offer.
The problem? Evaluators interpret identical language differently depending on gender. In a 2024 study, women who used communal language in job applications were rated less likely to be hired and less likely to be good leaders, while men using the same communal wording were not penalized.
Thanks to cultural norms around modesty and a very real fear of backlash from appearing too assertive, women—especially women of color who face both gender and racial stereotypes simultaneously—have been trained to play small. Cautious self presentation is often a survival strategy, We worry about seeming “arrogant.”
So let’s be clear about the difference between arrogant and confident: Arrogant is claiming superiority over others and sweeping generalizations of greatness. Confident is claiming specific strengths with stories of success backed by credible evidence. When women don’t own their successes, interviewers rarely interpret that as modesty. More often, it registers as under-confidence.
No confidence → no competence → no offer. Game over. Not because women lack competence, but because perceived confidence is often the filter through which competence is judged. As absurd as that may be, coaches can’t afford to ignore it.
The behaviors that trigger this perception gap are often the very traits that make women incredible leaders: inclusiveness, respect for others, and humility. But in an interview, these can manifest as:
- Avoiding taking credit for personal wins and couching them as team achievements.
- Defaulting to “We” instead of “I” language.
- Focusing on the tasks completed rather than owning the decisions made.
To bridge this gap, coaches can teach the communication skills that change how our clients are heard. At the Interview Institute, we focus on three non-negotiables:
- Own the “I.” Stop saying “We.” Say what you did. Taking credit isn’t bragging. It’s an accurate report of your value. Acknowledge team efforts, yes – but highlight what you contributed to the team.
- Communicate with Executive Presence. Deliver clear, compelling, and controlled messages. Eliminate habits that signal insecurity: filler words, upspeak, over-apologizing, qualifiers (“kind of”), indirect phrases (“It allowed me to…”), and trailing off at the end of sentences.
- Move from Manager to Strategist. If you want a leadership seat, quit talking about execution. A manager gets it done. A leader decides what is worth doing. Change the story from what you did to why you decided to do it.
As interview coaches, we help our clients translate their brilliance into a language the system can’t ignore. If we let a client “play small” in our mock interviews because it feels more comfortable, we are leaving them unprotected in a market that is already looking for reasons to count them out.
So, this Women’s History Month, let’s commit to the blunt, necessary work of helping our clients reclaim their “I” and secure the seats they’ve already earned.
What to Tell Your Clients: January 2026 Job Market Report
The first jobs report of the year landed with a mix of surprise and signal: employers added 130,000 jobs in January 2026, a stronger gain than many economists anticipated. At the same time, deeper revisions to past data reveal that 2025 was one of the weakest years for labor growth outside of recessionary periods.
For career coaches interpreting this nuanced landscape — and translating it into actionable guidance for clients — the story isn’t about headlines. It’s about context, trends, and opportunity.
Here’s how to make sense of the current job market in 2026 and why this matters for your coaching conversations.
A Jobs Report Full of Signals
January’s employment numbers offer a rare juxtaposition:
- 130,000 jobs added in January — the most robust monthly gain in over a year.
- Unemployment ticked down to 4.3%, from 4.4% in December.
- Revisions show 2025 was much weaker than previously reported, with hundreds of thousands fewer jobs added than initially thought.
In other words: the surface looks stronger, but the foundation shows underlying softness.
For a coach guiding clients through a turbulent job market, that duality is important. It’s not a signal to panic — but it is a reminder that job search strategy must adapt.
What Stronger Hiring Really Means
January’s headline employment gain suggests that employers may be more willing to recruit again after a slow second half of 2025. But the reality is uneven:
Growth leaders in January included:
- Healthcare
- Construction
- Social assistance
Meanwhile, other sectors showed weak or negative hiring momentum.
This pattern reflects a broader trend: employers are increasingly selective about where they invest in talent, focusing on roles with immediate operational need rather than broad expansion.
For coaches, this means guiding clients toward strategically adjacent opportunities — roles or functions aligned with growth sectors where their core competencies can shine.
Sector Variability and What It Tells Us
Although January’s jobs number was encouraging, deeper trends suggest a labor market still finding its footing.
Separate data published in early 2026 reveals an uptick in planned layoffs among major employers — including transportation and technology firms — even as other sectors add staff.
This juxtaposition — job gains in some pockets and layoffs in others — signals that labor demand is shifting, not simply shrinking.
In coaching sessions, helping clients understand this distinction can be empowering:
“This isn’t a market where all jobs have disappeared — opportunities have moved. Let’s find where you fit within the demand that is growing.”
Using the Data to Coach With Confidence
Here are key insights career coaches can share and integrate into strategy sessions:
- Normalize Longer Job Search Timelines
Today’s job market is not defined by quick offers. With slower hiring cycles and more selective employers, clients often need more time to find a fitting opportunity.
Coach cue:
“We’re planning your job search with milestones, not speed, because this market rewards precision.”
- Focus on Growth Areas — But Without Limiting Potential
Healthcare, construction, and social services have shown gains, but that doesn’t mean all clients must pivot into those fields. Instead, help them map their transferable skills into areas of relative strength.
Coach prompt:
“Where does your expertise intersect with sectors that are willing to hire now?”
- Translate Uneven Hiring Into Opportunity
Remind clients that uneven growth can actually expand strategic avenues: gig work, contract roles, portfolio careers, and cross-functional fits often stem from transitions in how companies hire.
Coach tip:
“We’re exploring opportunity horizontals — not just verticals.”
- Position Clients As Problem Solvers, Not Applicants
January’s data underscores a key reality: many employers are hiring only for roles that solve pressing challenges. Coaches can help clients refine their value stories around impact, not experience alone.
This makes résumés, LinkedIn profiles, and interview narratives centripetal — drawing interest — rather than centrifugal — scattering applications.
Reframing Career Conversations in a 2026 Market
Ultimately, career coaching in 2026 requires clarity, context, and courage — for both coach and client.
January’s jobs report doesn’t tell a simple story of growth or contraction. It tells a story of shift, of employers reassessing talent investment and of candidates needing sharper differentiation.
When you bring these insights into sessions, you’re not just sharing information — you’re building strategic confidence.
And that’s exactly what clients need.
Affirmations Help Job Seekers Alter Their Beliefs About the Job Search
Consider the following colliding beliefs:
- Money makes the world go ‘round… but money is the root of all evil.
- Knowledge is power… but ignorance is bliss.
- It’s the thought that counts… but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
- If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again… but get it right the first time.
- Better safe than sorry…but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Can you begin to see that what we are taught oftentimes conflicts with what we are taught? Below are a few more colliding belief examples that create one of life’s most interesting mysteries – what to believe and what not to believe – and how that directly affects the quality of life – personally and professionally:
- Be yourself… but when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
- Pull yourself up by the bootstraps… but everyone needs a helping hand.
- Be realistic… but nothing happens without a dream first.
- Don’t judge a book by its cover… but you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.
- Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing… but it’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.
The study of beliefs is a fascinating study of paradoxes, contradictions, and dogmatism. From early on, we are introduced to hundreds, if not thousands, of these ‘colliding beliefs.’ We are taught not to talk to strangers, but then how do you network for a new job?
Our brain does not distinguish between what is true and what is not true. It believes and affirms whatever is emotionally conveyed to it. A belief is merely a feeling of certainty we have about things that may or may not be true. For instance, a job search must be uncomfortable (a belief, not a fact). Networking is begging for a job (a belief, not a fact). And have you noticed that there are untold beliefs about how resumes must be prepared?
A belief is a conviction we have that certain things are true – regardless of fact. There are two types of beliefs: 1) Beliefs that can be replaced with more empowering beliefs and, 2) Beliefs that cannot be changed – true or not. This article will, of course, address beliefs that can be altered to better serve job seekers, coaches, and most rapid employment activities.
Colliding beliefs
Colliding beliefs are most interesting because, in many cases, what we are taught over our lifetime conflicts (or collides) with what we are taught. And this conundrum presents very real problems for job seekers, especially when making important decisions.
We are taught that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but if we can’t be with the one we love, love the one we’re with. When diagnosed with a serious disease, we’re told that our life will never be the same again, but encouraged to live as normal a life as possible.
Colliding beliefs are programmed into our brain at the deepest levels from birth, and conditioned throughout life. Furthermore, we’re introduced to new colliding beliefs daily. Take a stand, but don’t rock the boat. Too many cooks spoil the pot, but two heads are better than one. We’re never too old to learn, but you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
No wonder most people are terrified of making decisions. No wonder most people are stressed out just getting through the day, never mind conducting a rapid employment campaign. No wonder most people are paralyzed when facing serious workplace situations – especially a job search.
When we are continually introduced to a surplus of colliding beliefs, our brain becomes fried when trying to make decisions. Ultimately, fear wins out, success achievement is jeopardized or delayed, and deserved goals go unfulfilled.
BUT… the ability to change beliefs is a gift only humans have been given
What are the beliefs of job seekers? It’s important for resume writers and career coaches to know the beliefs of those they work with. Do their beliefs serve them or hinder them? It’s important to 1) know the beliefs that drive job seekers and 2) inspire new beliefs when necessary. For instance:
- I’m too old or too inexperienced to land a good job.
- I’ll never get a new job that pays the same as my previous job.
- Employers won’t check references.
- I can’t use color, pictures or graphics on my resume.
- I can exaggerate on my resume – everyone does it.
- Finding jobs online is the best way to land a job.
- If I negotiate salary, I will lose the job and the company will hire someone else.
What are the consequences of maintaining these beliefs? More importantly, how do you help inspire new empowering beliefs for job seekers to achieve rapid success?
Courageous affirmations recondition conditioned beliefs
A powerful way to reinforce a belief, or to establish a new one, is through the technique of courageous affirmations. Courageous affirmations is a technique I call “reinforced self-conditioning.” When we use affirmations, we are conditioning – or reconditioning – new thoughts and beliefs to trigger a more empowered mindset – and achieve the results we want. Affirmations condition new beliefs that create new feelings of confidence and invincibility – which results in rapid success achievement.
For instance, if a job seeker has the belief that if they are unemployed for more than a few weeks, no one will respect them. This is a conditioned belief. Moreover, this belief has associated emotions, which are dangerous and permanent, unless the belief is reconditioned into a new empowering one.
For example: “If I am unemployed for more than a few weeks, this means I am laying the groundwork for my better future… planting quality seeds for the ‘right’ opportunity. My next job is right around the corner. I am so thankful for my loving family and their support.”
If a job seeker repeats this affirmation over and over again with high emotion, 30 to 50 times a day for just a week, their brain will begin to believe it. And where there’s a will… the brain will find a way!
Once we have created our affirmation, we must repeat it 30 times in the morning, 30 times in the afternoon, 30 times in the evening, and 30 times before we go to sleep. Remember, the affirmation must be repeated with intense emotion and deep conviction. Almost instantly, we will begin to feel better, emotionally, even though at first, it will certainly seem a bit awkward.
Tip
Create affirmations in the PRESENT TENSE. We state the affirmation as though we have already achieved what we want to achieve.
Our brain responds best to present tense statements. They should also only include positive words that mean something to us. And when we memorize and ‘feel’ the affirmation, chances are that we will be saying it a LOT more than 120 times a day!
______________________________________________________________________
Jack was turned down for a promotion. A long tenured employee with top rated annual reviews, this was the third time Jack was overlooked. After careful consideration, Jack left the company.
He immediately began his job search. Jack was methodical in planning his departure, and how he would attract a new job. The only question was ‘how long would it take.’
Soon, Jack became restless and began doubting himself. His mind played out the worst-case scenario repeatedly. The voices in his head would not stop… ‘Did I make the right move by quitting my job?’ ‘Should I have stayed until I found a new one?’ ‘How much of my savings will I go through?’ He began to feel the fear.
With the help of his career coach, Jack wrote a courageous affirmation where, in the midst of fear and uncertainty, he began affirming that he already had what he wanted, before it happened. Below is Jack’s courageous affirmation that he repeated 30-40 times up to six times a day with deep passion and positive energy.
Thank you, God. I love my new job as Director of Security, driving my new car to my new office, where I work with great people to make significant contributions. I am learning and growing from this experience.”
Just two weeks after Jack began his courageous affirmation regimen, he received his first job interview. And three and a half weeks later, he was offered the job he had hoped for. His courageous affirmation kept him centered and on track, even when forces tried to push him off track. He had faith and a new belief… that he would indeed land the job he wanted to live the life he and his family deserved.
Finally: Beware of the fake out
We cannot affirm, “Each and every day I am on my way to the perfect job,” if our subconscious mind is laughing at us saying, “No way, Jose. Ain’t gonna happen, bro!” But when our affirmation is repeated with high emotion, passion, and in the present tense, as if we are in possession of our desire today… We will begin the magical process of achieving or creating that desire tomorrow.
Beliefs matter. Most job seekers need your help empowering many new ones.
Busywork or Network
“All know the way, few actually walk it.” – Bodhidharma
If the 5th century Buddhist monk I just quoted was alive today, I suspect he’d understand more about how to use LinkedIn than many of our clients, and if truth be told, many of us.
When it comes to that gold standard for professional networking, many think they know the way; few find the best path. To them, it’s a numbers game. The more people they have in their network, the “better” it is. I believe it’s value, not quantity, that counts.
The “more-is-better” ideas may stem from the old “conventional” definition of networking: a mutually mortifying ritual wherein people impose on every friend, relative, and total stranger to ask them for something they cannot give – a job. People’s natural aversion to rejection causes them to shrink from the very idea. No wonder they “build” their networks by reaching out almost exclusively to friends and colleagues.
Let’s replace that model with something more satisfying and genuinely useful. Networking should be the natural preference to extend value to others without any expectation of an immediate return. This definition implies durable, mutually satisfying relationships – and is incompatible with seeking large numbers or having our network primarily composed of peers.
Please don’t misunderstand. I’d be lost without the wisdom and support I get from my colleagues. But that help comes not from LinkedIn in-mails, but from PARW/CC’s regular bulletins and professional journals.
An ideal network should include individuals with information we need and people we might help in return. We can apply that definition to consider who might be a member of a career coach’s or resume writer’s network. Our goal is to have sources for information useful to us and our clients.
Consider the following examples. An attorney specializing in employment law, a marketing professional, a life coach, an author who publishes in our field, top performers in the careers to which our clients are drawn, educators, Congressional aides who work on legislation that affects jobs, an economist, a public relations leader, a member of the media, a website designer, a financial planner, an IT expert…all these are people we might need to consult. All these have careers we might help them manage in return for their help.
Where do we find such people? Look to your clients first. You know their capabilities firsthand and so can pick the best from every career field you support. Reaching out to satisfied clients lowers the chance of rejection as well.
But LinkedIn offers yet another great source: LinkedIn groups. Groups are communities that share your interest.
Since “groups” is one of the choices on LinkedIn’s main menu, they are easy to find. In fact, LinkedIn will even suggest groups you might like. You might also want to search the Groups Directory. There you can use key words and categories to zero in on the best choices.
Can’t find a group that works exactly right? Start one yourself! That menu choice will help you broadcast brief and more detailed descriptions of the group. Describe the group by the value it offers members. You can arrange to take in only people you approve (a good idea). Finally, you can choose to have your group shown in the Group Directory.
Use your membership in existing groups to recruit members into your group. Be sure to show them how joining your group complements (but never replaces) groups to which they already belong.
All this helps build a powerful, really useful, network for you. But there are even more advantages. Members of groups communicate with each other through LinkedIn without using the expensive in-mail system.
Think of these groups as mini blogs. Often your posting will appear when you Google yourself. The more relevant, powerful “hits” people get on your name, the stronger your brand. But remember, groups are not a way to actively promote your business. LinkedIn and its members have a low tolerance for direct selling or, as they call it, spam.
As you build your network, strive to be the first one to offer value. Would one member benefit from an introduction to another? Did you come across an idea, a website, or an article that might interest members of groups to which you belong? Your network will be much more supportive if you demonstrate your value before asking for help.
LinkedIn wants you to invite only those you “know and trust” into your network. To help you, when someone sends a request to join your network through LinkedIn, you’ll have three choices. “Accept,” speaks for itself.
“Archive” means you know the person who has asked to join your network, but don’t want to connect with him or her. “I don’t know [this person]” is pejorative. People who collect too many “I don’t know” responses have their LinkedIn accounts restricted. It’s possible to get “unrestricted,” but as LinkedIn experts point out, “that will require some groveling.”
To be safe, make the first contact outside LinkedIn, usually via email. It’s here where you offer value to the person with whom you want to connect. Once you have their permission to link up with them, then use the “canned” in mail within LinkedIn to make the actual connection. The connections are mutual. If I accept your invitation to join your network, you become a member of my network at the same time.
Offer value to new members of your network by suggesting which LinkedIn group might serve them well. You might even recommend your new contacts’ group moderators.
I’ve used LinkedIn as a model to illustrate the value in building a useful network, not just large numbers of people you probably won’t be able to help. My goal was to place you in the center of a truly rewarding community.
That’s a powerful tool to help your clients not only know the way but actually walk it.
It’s All Greek to Me
The Greek concept of “Meraki” is about putting your soul into the work, doing something with love, creativity, and deep personal investment. And it shows up in good résumé work in various ways:
- It is Thoughtful Translation, Not Just Formatting
Meraki-driven résumé writing is interpreting lived experience, not just rearranging bullets. You decide what mattered, what changed, and what traveled well across roles. Every bullet, verb, and metric is chosen deliberately so the document feels cohesive, not generic. You fuss over structure, white space, and phrasing because the quality of the work says something about your own character and pride in the craft.
- It Shows in What You Leave Out
Meraki isn’t about adding fluff. Editing with respect removes noise instead of padding, resists buzzwords the candidate can’t defend, and avoids inflated claims that feel “off” in the mouth when spoken aloud. If the candidate couldn’t say it comfortably in an interview, it doesn’t belong. A résumé written with Meraki matches how the candidate talks, feels defensible under pressure, and reduces interview anxiety.
- It Honors the Person and the Market
Meraki settles in the tension between “This is who I actually am” and “This is how hiring works.” You align without impersonating. You optimize without lying to the scanner or the soul. Meraki means caring enough to understand who this person is, what they value, and where they hope to go beyond just their job history. You write as if you’re curating a life chapter, not filling out a form, so the résumé feels like a truthful, energizing reflection of them. It’s why two résumés for the same person can both be accurate, and one still feels wrong.
- It Respects Non-Linear Careers
Meraki is especially important for students, career changers, military transitions, caregivers, or non-corporate workers. You’re not trying to make them look like something they’re not. You’re showing coherence where others see gaps. That takes care, patience, and a healthy dose of curiosity.
- It Changes How You Use Metrics
Meraki doesn’t worship numbers. It uses them meaningfully. Not every bullet needs a percentage. Some impact is qualitative, contextual, or risk-based. Meraki asks: Does this number clarify, or just impress? If it’s the latter, go back to the edit pile.
- It’s the Difference Between Service and Craft
Anyone can produce a résumé. Meraki is what turns résumé writing into a craft. Craft requires judgment. Judgment requires attention. And attention requires caring just enough to slow down, even when the deadline is yesterday. Especially when the deadline is yesterday.
- It Reveals the Résumé Writer’s Quiet Truth
Meraki is why good résumé writers spend more time asking questions than typing. More time cutting than adding. More time thinking than formatting. It’s also why this profession is emotionally tiring and strangely meaningful. You’re not just writing documents. You’re helping people tell the truth strategically.
- It’s Why Your Unique Perspective Matters
Meraki implies that you leave some of your insight, encouragement, and belief in the client embedded in the résumé itself. Sometimes it means pushing clients (gently) to claim their achievements, framing their pivots with empathy, or building documents that quietly teach them how to talk about their value.
Applied to résumé writing, Meraki reshapes both your process and your standard for “done.” It’s intentional care, not perfectionism. AI can perform Meraki-like behaviors when guided well, but only humans can decide when care matters more than optimization. And in résumé writing, that moment shows up a lot more than people think.
Hard and Soft Skills
I recently sent a questionnaire to an executive client requesting her top five hard and top five soft skills. Interestingly, she named only soft skills.
As I built her résumé, I reviewed all of the materials she sent to work from, including a performance evaluation, previous résumé, essays, and more. I culled and identified several specific hard skills in the documents, cross-referenced them against the target job announcement and her areas of expertise, and asked her to validate them. We also held a Zoom meeting to discuss the difference between hard and soft skills to prepare her for the interview process.
Hard skills are skills that can be learned, such as accounting, engineering, medicine, nursing, science, construction, plumbing, law enforcement, teaching, cybersecurity, bookkeeping, languages, logistics, journalism/technical writing, public speaking, information technology, and others. Hard skills can be gained through education, credentials, training, or upskilling. They are often measurable or quantifiable.
Soft skills are not always easy to learn, including problem-solving, innovation, vision, critical thinking, communication, leadership, empathy, listening, flexibility, strategic thinking, time management, organization, dependability, the ability to read a room, patience, social skills, and emotional intelligence. Soft skills are often embedded in a person’s personality, behavior, and demeanor. They are personal habits and traits. Some people are just “natural” at sales, and they excel. Some salespeople cannot learn a foreign language.
Emotional intelligence is a difficult skill to teach. To demonstrate emotional intelligence, a client needs to regulate their own behavior, empathize with others, and develop self-awareness. Emotional intelligence also reflects a strong work ethic. Emotional intelligence is a sought-after soft skill for leaders and anyone working with the public or customers/clients.
Employers often select applicants for interviews based on their hard skills, knowledge, training, and expertise in a discipline; however, hiring officials also seek applicants who demonstrate soft skills that align with an organization, team, or project.
Case Study
I was hired to train job seekers at the USDA and coach them on writing résumés that aligned with target job announcements. Because the résumés submitted to Human Resources were extremely basic, they hired me to deliver résumé-writing training and interview coaching to help the hiring officials make a hiring decision.
Most candidates were well-versed in their roles. They had completed the required training for their positions, and they had several years of experience. Their hard skills were solid. So, this made résumé development much easier. We were not focused on transferable skills; rather, we were focused on building a strong résumé tied to the hard skill competencies in the target job announcements.
Next, I focused on the soft skill competencies: Attention to Detail, Decision-Making, Dependability, Flexibility, Interpersonal Skills, and Self-Management. I met with hiring officials to determine their pain points and ask why these specific soft skills were added to the job announcement. The hiring officials informed me that certain candidates were habitually late or called in sick and would not be hired, regardless of how well their résumés were developed/written. Poor attendance was costly, affected performance, and lowered morale.
I developed training on soft skills and explained the importance of demonstrating them on résumés and during interviews. To validate the soft skills, I asked the candidates to explain or describe scenarios where they provided Attention to Detail (perhaps referencing a specific report, or identifying and solving a problem), Decision Making (deciding to call management to the floor to discuss a specific issue or change the line speed), Dependability (list an award for no absences, arriving to work in a snow storm, always turning reports in on time), Flexibility (volunteering to work in a different plant for six months), Interpersonal Skills (volunteering to train a new employee or resolve a conflict between team members), and Self-Management (ensuring all reports were submitted timely or ahead of time each week). These examples on the résumé and in the interview demonstrated the soft skills the managers were seeking.
People Skills
Research conducted with Fortune 500 CEOs by the Stanford Research Institute International and the Carnegie Mellon Foundation found that 75% of long-term job success depends on people skills, while only 25% on technical knowledge.
For example, if a candidate has the technical hard skills to manage accounting and payroll, the question is: Does the applicant have the soft skills of conflict resolution and gentle interpersonal communications to be able to speak to customers who may be upset over payroll issues? If not, the candidate may be better-suited to a behind-the-scenes role that does not involve direct customer contact.
If a hiring official is seeking a strong leader with expertise in a specific discipline, such as criminal intelligence, they may also be seeking soft skills, including vision, conflict management, and innovation. These soft skills will help the criminal intelligence expert form and lead a large team, energize the team to design new processes and procedures to improve performance, and effectively resolve conflicts and problems within the team, between the team and senior leaders, and with other stakeholders.
Human Resources and hiring managers receive hundreds, if not thousands, of résumés, which often readily validate hard skills, such as a degree in criminal intelligence, 15+ years of experience in the field, development of new investigative processes and systems, and measurable accomplishments. The interview will allow the hiring official to assess soft skills and determine the right fit for the team and organization.
It is important for our clients to understand the difference between hard and soft skills to build talking points for each skill set/competency for the résumé and interview process. In particular, senior leaders should clearly distinguish between hard and soft skills in interviews and describe their leadership, communication, and management skills.
More junior employees should be able to articulate their soft skills for the target role; for example, a CNA or caretaker should demonstrate time management and dependability.
As a career coach, my job is to ensure my clients’ résumés align with the skills and competencies outlined in a job announcement, and to ensure they are aware of and well-versed in the distinctions between hard and soft skills.
Scenario-based coaching can enhance a client’s skills in areas like customer service, conflict resolution, listening, vision, innovation, and other soft skills.
News from PARWCC!
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It’s Not the Plan: It’s the Pivot
You’ve almost certainly heard the saying, “Man plans, and God laughs.” True as that may be, I’m still someone who appreciates a plan. I like my time organized, and if something happens during the day that I didn’t account for, I’ll go back and update my calendar to document the change in my schedule for my records. In other words, I have a lot of confidence that God finds me hilarious.
Over the past year, I’ve been working a lot on being more flexible. As I wrote in a blog a number of months ago, I’ve made a lot of efforts to get better at same-day rescheduling to address priorities. It has mostly been going well. These changes have given me the flexibility to be more respectful of people’s time and make last-minute alterations to my schedule that are often better-suited to my long-term goals than what I initially planned.
Which brings me to the crux of today’s gospel: the pivot. Plans are wonderful and necessary, but the pivot is what allows you to respond to ever-changing circumstances. I got this piece of wisdom from my training partner, who is always preaching the value of the pivot. She consistently and feverishly beats her drum about identifying a problem, getting in front of it, and pivoting in a way that allows you to control your circumstances and massage them into something more beneficial.
While I’ve made a lot of strides in coming around to her way of thinking, I can’t deny that I still enjoy having a well-organized schedule. A couple of weeks ago, I managed to craft the “perfect day” for myself: I would work on my own in the morning, pull in one team for a mid-morning work session, get together with another team in the afternoon, and then cap off my day with a desired volunteer opportunity in the evening. Both meetings were milestone sessions on two big projects I’d been mentoring.
Which is to say, I had a really good setup for the joke I was about to tell God. At 7:00 that morning, I had all my prep work laid out and I was feeling ready for the day—right when I got a text that my afternoon plans had been canceled.
I took a deep breath and chose to be okay with the alteration. I could always lean into another project in the afternoon and lean on my morning and evening plans to get me through the day. Not an hour later, I was notified that my morning meeting was also a no-go.
Suddenly, my day had two giant holes in it. I was still reckoning with what to do when I heard from the volunteer organizer that my plans for that evening were also null and void. At which point I stepped outside my home to look up for the asteroid that was surely coming my way, because even with a fairly rigorous yoga schedule, I’m simply not built for this much flexibility.
There was, much to my chagrin, no asteroid. So I went back inside to try and reconstruct something out of my day, and not too much later I got a text from a friend who was having a big personal issue and could use some help. I am, historically, never in a position to help people at the last minute because my schedule is so tightly booked. At most, you can get a five-minute phone call out of me, and that may or may not require a gun to my head.
But because of my various calamities, I could be there for him. I got to be a good friend that day, and the experience was as meaningful and useful as anything else I might have done instead. Everything else in my day? Punted to the next week or two.
My takeaway? You never know when you need the pivot. Because I chose not to lose it over canceled plans and took a couple of deep breaths to acknowledge we could still get done what I needed done—just later than I hoped—I was able to be there for a friend in need.
A pivot is not about avoiding all problems. It is about taking advantage of something you didn’t want or expect and making the best possible outcome.