🎯 The Job Market Is Brutal. Here's How to Win Anyway

Hello there 😎 

Stop me if you’ve heard this before.

That came from a product leader who used to lead growth at a b2c health and wellness company valued at $3.7B.

Another product marketer, who's helped pull in over $100M in revenue and launched an education brand, put it bluntly:

But the most telling quote is this one I mentioned last week:

It’s felt tough…

Perhaps harder than ever to land your next role.

But as far as I knew, there wasn’t data to back that up… until now.

Here's what you'll learn today:

• Why the job market has gotten so competitive (with real data)

• Four strategies that actually work when traditional methods fail

• How to use AI to level the playing field and stand out

...and more!

But first, let’s look at some open roles I’m excited about.

🚦Where Are You in Your Search Right Now?

I’ve spent two weeks testing my new resume and LinkedIn writing service, Land The Interview.

Reviewing resumes and LinkedIn profiles has become my new morning routine: I’m up at 04:30 to get cracking (I have a 2-hour window before baby Theodore 👶 joins me).

Now, here’s the truth:

I love working on these.

I love how every person has a different story, a different narrative, in their career.

They just need help making that front and center so their application stands out.

For example:

• The uber-impactful general counsel who wanted to make the jump into her dream industry

• The product leader who isn’t sure what happened to all his inbound requests

• The HR professional looking for a new direction in her career

What I love most:

Helping people discover the story that makes hiring managers think "We need to talk to this person immediately."

It's part detective work, part storytelling magic.

It’s taking scattered experiences and weaving them into something that screams "perfect fit" to both humans and ATS algorithms.

I’ll be opening more spots in the next few weeks. LMK if you want to be on the waitlist.

📊 The State of Tech Talent

Okay, back to today’s job market.

If you’ve thought “man it’s rough out there…” trust your instincts. These aren't just isolated stories. The numbers back up what you're feeling.

According to the latest SignalFire State of Talent Report (h/t Brian Balfour and Fareed Mosavat for discussing this on Unsolicited Feedback) here’s how the job market has shifted:

🚫 The "Recovery" Left New Grads Behind (Especially in Big Tech)

Don't be fooled by headlines of a rebounding tech market.

🔄 Junior Roles (1-3 Years Experience) Are Getting Squeezed Too

It's not just fresh graduates feeling the pain.

The "entry-level" squeeze is creeping up the experience ladder.

⚖️ Companies Want Proven Talent

Big Tech simultaneously increased hiring for experienced professionals:

• Mid-level (+27.2%)

• Senior (+33.9%)

• Staff+ (+27.1%) roles

It's a strategic pivot away from nurturing talent from the ground up.

💰 It’s Not Just the AI Hype

It’s easy to blame the AI media circus.

But there’s more to that story.

The real culprit? The hangover from the tech boom's wild party.

The end of the ZIRP era means companies overhired during 2020, and now face tighter budgets.

Shorter runways require leaner hiring and focusing on immediate ROI.

🎯 What’s This All Mean for You?

So what do you do when the whole game has changed, and nothing’s working?

While everyone else is still mass-applying and hoping their referrals work like it's 2019, you're going to do something different. You'll need to prove your worth to them before they even meet you.

The four strategies below aren't just theory. They're the playbook for standing out when standing out actually matters.

🔧 Strategy 1: Optimize Your Resume with AI

Your resume isn't just competing against other humans anymore. It needs to win against AI screening tools first, and then impress humans.

I’ve read hundreds of resumes and here’s the challenge everyone runs into:

But hiring managers don't care about your responsibilities. They care about what you accomplished.

Here's the AI-powered approach:

✍️ Use Teal to decode job requirements:

✍️ Use Claude to refine your bullet points with this prompt:

Here are examples of strong bullets:

• Reduced feature delivery time from 6 weeks to 3 weeks and increased team velocity by 40% by leading a cross-functional team of 8 engineers through agile sprints

• Improved new user activation rate from 23% to 31% and reduced support tickets by 200 per month by redesigning the onboarding flow using user feedback analysis

👉 Do this:

Here’s a detailed breakdown of this process.

The goal isn't perfection. Nor is it to give your complete work history.

The goal is to tell a story, make it past the ATS, and give the human on the other side a reason to call you.

🎯 Strategy 2: Show You Want THIS Job With THIS Company

Two thoughtful paragraphs about why this company, this role, right now… will beat mass applications every time.

Cookie-cutter enthusiasm no longer cuts it.

The solution isn't applying to more jobs. It's showing you've done your homework on the ones that matter most.

So use AI to research faster:

🔬 Start with this prompt in Perplexity:

✍️ Then craft your first draft in Claude:

👉 Do this:

Quality beats quantity when everyone else is playing the numbers game.

Note: Yes, this messaging should be included in your cover letter. But you can also use it in any direct outreach you do.

🚀 Strategy 3: Ship Proof of Work

An optimized resume beats the resume you slapped together.

But one scrappy AI-powered side project beats the optimized resumes.

🧾 Here's how to create proof of work that matters:

👉 Do this:

For a step-by-step on how to reach the hiring manager, see this guide.

⭐ Strategy 4: Add Real Value to Others

Everyone talks about "adding value" to your network…

But what does that actually mean?

Most people think it means liking LinkedIn posts or sending articles you found interesting.

Others try commenting "Great insight!" on every executive's post.

This basic engagement is better than nothing…

But it's not going to make you memorable.

So let’s get more specific:

What this looks like

• Share insider insight that saves them research time

• Connect them with people who can solve their problems

• Offer solutions to challenges they’re facing

This is the best way to get someone's attention because you're solving actual problems instead of just making noise.

Here are three quick examples from my career, just to give you a sense of what I mean:

Repurposing content for an MMA writer

Marketing execution for a coach

Research for a NYT bestselling author

These ideas took me days, sometimes weeks to think of.

Then weeks to execute.

But now you can do this in hours, maybe minutes, using any of the AI strategies above to scale your value creation

👉 Do this:

💫 The Bottom Line

Yes, the job market is brutal.

But it's not impossible.

Here's what we learned:

• Companies are obsessed with experience because they can't afford mistakes

• They're hiring fewer people and expecting immediate impact

• And the old playbook of mass applications and LinkedIn referral theater doesn't work when everyone's fighting for scraps.

…but that's exactly why these strategies work.

While everyone else is optimizing resumes and hoping someone clicks "refer," you're going to:

• Research like you're already on the team

• Create proof that you can solve their actual problems

• Show up with value instead of asking for favors

• Use AI to work faster and smarter than the competition

The companies worth working for want people who solve problems before being asked, use available tools effectively, and prove their value through action.

Stop playing the old game.

Start playing the new one.

I love meeting new people. Say hi on LinkedIn 👋

🤝 When you’re ready, here are 2 ways I can help you with remote work:

That’s a wrap. See you next week 👋