#JobSearch : Why Your Old Job-Search Playbook Isn’t Working Like It Used To .A Polished Résumé Is No Longer Enough A MUst REad!

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You find a job that looks like a perfect fit. You have the experience, the qualifications and every reason to think you should at least get an initial interview. So, you apply. Then you hear crickets. Or you eventually get a rejection.


In the current market, a job search can stretch on for months. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average duration of unemployment reached 24.9 weeks in July 2026, while 25.5% of unemployed workers had been searching for 27 weeks or longer.

One problem is that the job search itself has changed. AI has made polished applications easier to produce at scale, while employers are using automated tools to screen candidates. At the same time, not every job posting represents an active opening.

The old job search playbook still includes useful tactics. But if your approach looks exactly like it did five or 10 years ago, it’s time to adjust your strategy.

Mass Applying Produces Diminishing Returns

Applying to more jobs can feel productive, especially when one-click tools make it easy to submit applications. But hiring managers are dealing with the other side of that equation. In iHire’s 2025 State of Online Recruiting report, 59.7% of employers said receiving too many unqualified applicants was one of their biggest job-board challenges. At the same time, 35.1% of job seekers said they valued the ability to apply to multiple jobs at once.

That creates a crowded funnel where volume alone does little to help you stand out. Instead of measuring progress by the number of applications you submit, focus on roles where your background closely matches the employer’s needs and where you can make a specific case for why you belong in the running.

Pro tip: Don’t let an easy application process determine whether you apply. Decide whether the role deserves your time first, then decide how much effort to invest.

 

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Article continued …

A Polished Résumé Is No Longer Enough

AI has made it easier for job seekers to create tailored application materials. iHire found that 29.3% of candidates used AI to write or customize a résumé or cover letter in 2025, up from 17.3% the year before. That raises the bar for what a résumé needs to accomplish. Your résumé needs to show what you’ve accomplished, the problems you’ve solved and the results you’ve delivered. Specific examples and measurable outcomes can help an employer understand the scope of your contribution.

Pro tip: Look for places where you can add numbers, percentages, time saved, revenue generated, costs reduced, growth achieved or another concrete measure of impact. When a metric isn’t available, explain what changed for the better because of your work.

Employers Want More Evidence Of Your Skills

Employers are putting greater emphasis on what candidates can demonstrate. According to NACE’s Job Outlook 2026 survey, 70% of employers reported using skills-based hiring, up from 65% the previous year. The practice was most common during job interviews, at 87%, followed by candidate screening, at 65%.

For job seekers, that means being ready to back up the skills listed on your résumé with specific examples. Think about the problems you’ve solved, decisions you’ve made, challenges you’ve handled and results you can point to. Depending on your field, that evidence could also include a work sample, portfolio, case study or skills assessment.

Pro tip: Build a small portfolio of examples you can draw from in interviews, including times you improved a process, solved a difficult problem, influenced a decision or delivered a measurable result.

Your Job Search Can’t Rely On Job Boards Alone

Job boards remain a major part of recruiting, but employers are looking for candidates elsewhere too. In iHire’s survey, 71.3% of employers used employee referrals, 49.5% used their company website or career page and 46.1% used professional networking sites such as LinkedIn.

That makes a search-and-apply strategy too limited. Use job boards to find openings, then widen your job search through company career sites, former colleagues, recruiters and professional contacts. The goal is to give employers another way to discover or remember you besides finding your résumé in an applicant pool.

Pro tip: For every role you seriously pursue, look for at least one route beyond the application, whether that’s a former colleague, recruiter, hiring manager or someone connected to the team.

Not Every Job Posting Represents A Real Opportunity

A job listing can look active even when the hiring process is stalled or the company has no immediate plans to fill the role. Revelio Labs found that the ratio of hires per job posting fell from 0.75 in 2018 to below 0.5 in 2023. The researchers pointed to several possible reasons, including hiring slowdowns, reposted openings and listings that remain live without a clear intention to hire.

Before spending significant time customizing an application, look for signs that the opportunity is current. Check the company’s career site, review when the role was posted and see whether the company appears to be hiring in that department. If possible, confirm the opening through a recruiter, employee or professional contact.

Pro tip: Pay attention to listings that disappear and reappear repeatedly or stay posted for months. That doesn’t automatically mean the role isn’t real, but it’s a reason to investigate before investing heavily in the application.

 

Forbes.com | August 19, 2026 | Caroline Castrillon

#Resume : The Resume Updates 2026 Hiring Managers Actually Care About. Resume Isn’t about AI Gimmicks or Buzzwords.

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Your resume is more than a listing of past jobs and duties. It’s one of the most direct ways you show decision makers what you can do, not just what you’ve done. In an evolving job market where AI tools and skills-first hiring are reshaping how candidates are evaluated, a resume that reflects strategic thinking, measurable impact and real relevance has a much higher chance of earning you interviews and opportunities.

Here are the updates hiring managers are paying attention to in 2026 and how to make each one work for you.

Highlighting Skills vs. Titles

In years past, your job title could open or close doors before a recruiter read a single line of your bullet points. Today, recruiters are increasingly starting their review with skills, not titles, because they want to know what you can actually do first. In fact, 41% of recruiters look at the skills section first, and 76% use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to filter resumes by skills before a human ever sees them. This means that what you know and can do ranks very high in a first pass.

Start by listing 6 to 8 core skills that match the job you want, and split them between technical abilities (like software tools, analytics or industry-specific expertise) and soft skills (like communication, leadership or problem solving). Place this skills section near the top of your resume so ATS and recruiters see it quickly.

Use the same words you see in job descriptions so your resume is more likely to be picked up by keyword filters. Avoid generic terms like “good communicator” without context. Instead, show how those skills delivered results in your work sample bullets.

 

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Article continued …

Showing Impact With Analytics and Outcomes

Hiring managers don’t just want to know what you were responsible for. They want to know what changed because of your work. Every bullet point should answer a simple question: What happened? This is what separates average resumes from ones that get interviews.

Even simple additions like numbers, percentages or time saved can make a huge difference. For example, instead of saying “Managed social media accounts,” try “Grew social media engagement by 40% in 6 months, increasing lead generation by 12%.”

If you don’t have numbers immediately at hand, spend a little time estimating reasonably. Most hiring managers understand that not every result is perfectly tidy, as long as your impact is clear. This level of detail signals that you think in terms of results and business value, not just activity, and that is what distinguishes strong candidates today.

Removing Old Bullet Dust From Your Career

Many professionals let outdated duties linger at the top of their experience sections simply because those lines are familiar. But if it has been years since you did something worth highlighting, it probably has outlived its usefulness on your resume.

A good rule of thumb is to prioritize the last 7 to 10 years of your career. Older experience can be summarized in a line or two at the bottom if it is still relevant to the story you want to tell. Remove tasks you no longer do or that anyone in the role would be expected to do automatically.

Focus instead on achievements that show growth, leadership or contributions that directly connect to the kind of roles you are applying for. This keeps your resume lean, readable and relevant.

Tailoring for Roles You Actually Want

Generic resumes get generic responses. When you tailor your resume for the specific role you want, you dramatically improve your chances of landing an interview. Two actions help you tailor effectively: aligning your bullet points with the job description and customizing your professional summary for the audience.

Start by taking the job description you’re targeting and circling or noting the skills and outcomes mentioned most often. Then weave those into your resume where you have relevant experience. If the job emphasizes project leadership and you have that experience, make sure it appears in both your summary and the most recent bullet points of your experience section.

Another element hiring managers crave is a professional summary that quickly explains who you are and what you bring. Make this specific to the job you’re targeting rather than a generic career narrative. Tailoring takes a bit more work, but it shows you are intentional and attentive to detail, which are traits every manager values.

Leveraging Keywords Without Sounding Robotic

Including keywords from the job description is essential today because so many companies use ATS before a human even sees your resume. But keyword stuffing can make a resume feel robotic and unnatural if done poorly. Instead, integrate keywords organically into your bullet points and context.

For example, if a job calls for “data analysis,” don’t just list that term in the skills section. Instead, write a bullet like this: “Used data analysis techniques to identify trends in customer behavior that reduced churn by 15%.” This satisfies the keyword filter while still telling a meaningful story.

Also consider the modern shift toward skills-first hiring. Recruiters increasingly use platforms and tools that analyze skills more than titles, and both hard and soft skills now appear in descriptions of what candidates must bring. By thoughtfully incorporating these words in natural, outcome-focused sentences, you increase both ATS success and human engagement.

Updating your resume for 2026 isn’t about gimmicks or buzzwords. It’s about telling a clear, compelling story of what you can do and what value you deliver. By highlighting the right skills, showing measurable impact, keeping content current, tailoring for specific roles and using keywords in context, you make it easy for hiring managers to see why you’re a strong fit.

Your resume is your first impression, so make it a strong one. With intentional structure and thoughtful language, you can open more doors and get the interviews you deserve. Keep refining, keep measuring impact and keep your story aligned with the opportunities you want. You’ve got this!

 

Forbes.com | March 7, 2026 | Sho Dewan

#JobSearch : Why Mass Applying Isn’t Working For Job Seekers In 2026. How to Focus More on a More Targeted Job Search. Great Read.

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The tougher the job market gets, the more tempting it is to send out hundreds of resumes. When job interviews are scarce, it’s easy to assume that increasing your application volume will improve your odds. But in 2026, job seekers are competing in a hiring funnel already overwhelmed by applications.

Ashby’s 2026 Talent Trends Report analyzed more than 109 million applications across 247,000 jobs and found that applications per hire tripled from 2021 to 2024, remaining above 300 throughout 2025. At the same time, candidates are now roughly 50% less likely to receive an interview than they were five years ago. In 2021, about 7% to 8% of applications led to a job interview; by 2026, that figure had fallen to between 3.6% and 4.7%, depending on the type of role.

Applying to more jobs can still create more opportunities. But when recruiters are sorting through hundreds of applications for every hire, mass applying is a poor substitute for a well-targeted job search.

Why Mass Applying Has Become So Common

Mass applying is partly a response to the market itself. Ashby found that recruiters were processing about 291 applications per hire in early 2026 compared with roughly 100 in early 2021. Technology has also made high-volume applying easier. Employers are seeing more AI-generated applications submitted through automated tools, adding even more volume to already crowded pipelines.

That creates a cycle. Job seekers see fewer responses and apply more broadly. Employers receive more applications and become more selective at the top of the funnel. Candidates then respond by submitting even more applications.

 

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We here at FSC want to thank each of our corporate partners for the opportunity to serve & moving each of their transitioning employee(s) rapidly toward employment!

Article continued …

Why More Applications Aren’t Solving The Problem

The problem is not simply that there are more applicants. It is that recruiters are screening a much larger volume of candidates before deciding who moves forward. That makes the top of the hiring funnel far more competitive than it was a few years ago.

Once candidates make it into the interview process, the picture improves. By the first quarter of 2026, offer conversion rates had climbed above 2021 levels, reaching 10.4% for business roles and 7.3% for technical roles. That suggests the main challenge for many job seekers is no longer simply finding openings. It is getting enough attention at the top of the funnel to make it into the interview pool.

What The Research Says About Quantity Versus Quality

Research shows that job-search intensity still plays a role. A Journal of Applied Psychology meta-analysis covering 378 independent samples and 165,933 job seekers found that greater job-search intensity was associated with more interviews, more offers and a greater likelihood of finding employment. But it did not predict the quality of the job someone eventually landed.

The same analysis found positive relationships between job-search quality and interviews, offers, employment status and employment quality, although fewer studies were available for those measures. Researchers defined job-search quality as conducting the search systematically and preparing resumes, applications, networking efforts and interview behavior carefully enough to meet employer expectations.

The evidence points to a balance between quantity and quality. Job seekers still need enough activity to create opportunities, but volume alone is unlikely to carry the search.

What Mass Applying Can Cost Job Seekers

The problem with mass applying isn’t just the number of applications. It is what tends to get sacrificed when volume becomes the main goal.

Job seekers can end up:

  • Applying to roles where the fit is weak
  • Reusing the same resume across very different positions
  • Spending less time identifying the experience most relevant to a specific employer
  • Doing less research on the company or role
  • Neglecting follow-up and networking
  • Missing patterns in what is and isn’t producing interviews

The academic research makes a similar distinction between job-search intensity and the thoroughness with which job-search activities are performed. If your search becomes a race to hit an application quota, it becomes harder to tell whether the real problem is your target audience, your positioning, your resume or the market itself.

How To Build A More Targeted Job Search

A stronger approach starts with being more deliberate about how you organize your time.

  • Get clear on your target. The research defines job-search goal clarity as having a clear idea of the type of job, career and organization you want. Goal clarity was positively associated with employment status and employment quality.
  • Prioritize higher-fit opportunities. Spend more time on roles where your background, level and experience line up with what the employer is asking for.
  • Adjust your materials. You don’t need to rewrite your resume from scratch every time. But the most relevant skills, experience and accomplishments should be easy for the employer to find.
  • Review what your search is telling you. The research describes self-regulatory activities such as monitoring progress, analyzing performance and adjusting your approach based on what you learn. If dozens of applications are producing almost no interviews, repeating the same process may not be the best use of your time.

A targeted search still requires consistent effort. The difference is that you are putting more of that effort toward opportunities where there is a fit and adjusting your approach when the results tell you something isn’t working.

Use Networking To Strengthen Your Job Search

Ashby found that inbound candidates accounted for 52% of hires by the first quarter of 2026, up from 38% in early 2021. Direct applications are still producing hires, so there is no reason to abandon them just because competition has increased.

A more effective job search also uses relationships to gather information and create more context around an opportunity. Current and former colleagues, friends, previous employers and other professional contacts can be useful sources of job leads, information and advice.

That can mean:

  • Reaching out to someone at the company to learn more about the role
  • Asking a former colleague whether they know the hiring manager or team
  • Contacting a recruiter who specializes in your field
  • Using alumni or professional associations to identify relevant contacts
  • Following up after you apply when you already have a credible connection

When application volume is this high, relying on online applications alone can make your search more passive than it needs to be. A direct application can get you into the system, while a relevant relationship can help you better understand the opportunity and, in some cases, get your experience in front of the right person.

A Better Job Search Strategy In 2026

With recruiters processing hundreds of applications per hire, job seekers need to be more deliberate about where they spend their time. Applying broadly enough to create opportunities still helps. But volume alone isn’t much of a strategy. A more effective search means targeting roles that fit your experience and tailoring your application to the role. Use relationships where they can help, and adjust your approach based on what is producing results. If your application count keeps rising but your interview count doesn’t, it may be time to change your strategy instead of doing more of the same.

 

Forbes.com | September 29, 2026 | Caroline Castrillon

#ResumeWriting : 7 AI Skills To Put On Your Resume In 2026. MUst Read!

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You’re proficient in talking to ChatGPT…impressive.  So are your intern, boss, and your competition. The bar for being good with AI has moved from “I can talk to AI” to “here’s what I’ve done with AI and how I’ve made it safe, useful, and profitable.”

There’s a difference between talking to AI and actually gaining business value and ROI. The latter (also known as applied AI) is what employers will pay a premium for.

Coursera pulled skills data from more than 300 million learners globally and analyzed skills development, proficiency, and enrollment trends to understand what’s changing in AI and human skills.

Their findings revealed that the most critical growing high-income AI skills for professionals in 2026 move beyond prompting techniques and focus specifically on AI transformation, deployment, and implementation.

While not all of the skills listed in this article will apply to you, depending on your role, it’s helpful to understand what these skills are so that you can choose to upskill and learn them (relevant to your industry and function) or simply to be aware of where your salary premium might lie and what to include within your resume.

These in-demand, trending AI skills include:

1. Generative AI Skills

The basics are still essential. Coursera defines this as using artificial intelligence systems to create new text, images, code, audio, and other content from instructions or data.

Some professionals might be proficient at talking to ChatGPT to help you create written content but not as well-versed in designing images with AI.

And by designing images with AI, I don’t mean asking ChatGPT to create a business flyer for an upcoming conference and then taking whatever ChatGPT generates and using it for your work. I’m talking about giving the AI specific context, constraints, voice guidelines, and detail to fully have your human input throughout the creative direction and process, and then reviewing the output to ensure that what is generated is in line with brand guidelines and is professionally acceptable without looking like an AI mistake.

 

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We here at FSC want to thank each of our corporate partners for the opportunity to serve & moving each of their transitioning employee(s) rapidly toward employment!

Article continued …

2. Model- And Assistant-Specific Skills

This is a new one. Previously, simply adding generative AI to your resume might have earned you a quick pass, but now companies want specifics.

There are differences between LLMs: ChatGPT versus Gemini versus Claude versus Copilot. (I spot the differences here.)

How do you know which model to use, for what, and when? What are the best models for your type of work?

Employers will want to know you have a solid answer, because if you don’t, you’d waste company AI tokens and compute on the wrong models and model strengths instead of producing focused work; it will show in the resulting outputs, too.

3. Agentic AI Skills

At the beginning of last year, I interviewed IBM’s vice president, Justina Nixon-Saintil, at the IBM headquarters in London. She told me that agentic AI would be an emerging skill that would pretty soon become in demand across employers globally. More than a year and a half later, we’re seeing that prediction come true.

AI agents are being embedded across enterprise for multi-step tasks and complex workflows, running quietly in the background while employees focus on other human-demanding tasks. This gives you a strong advantage in productivity per employee, because you can create more value as a professional.

There is a caveat: companies don’t want you to use agentic AI ruthlessly.

You need to understand how to direct the agent in the same way you would train and direct a human teammate. You also need to understand what good looks like and know how to incorporate agentic AI into your decision-making without letting it do all the work for you. Ownership and ethics still sit with you.

That’s why agentic AI skills, both on the technical side (from building an AI agent to knowing how to use existing agents, like Asana’s teammates) and on the human control and ethical side, are very important. That’s also why domain expertise in your field is essential: you can’t give an AI agent the right instructions if you don’t know your field inside out.

4. Prompting And AI Interaction Skills

This refers not only to writing prompts, but to refining and iterating so you’re guiding AI to create the best, most useful, and reliable outputs and solutions.

Do you know how to construct a useful Claude or ChatGPT skill? Can you analyze why your prompt produced a terrible output and what you need to add to reduce ambiguity?

5. LLM Application And Modeling Skills

This is best suited for your resume if you’re in a tech or startup environment and want to pursue a technical career. LLM application and modeling skills refer to knowing how to develop LLMs and LLM-based applications to “understand, generate, and transform language,” as Coursera puts it.

This is a highly in-demand skill, and professionals with it are in the top percentile of high-paying earners in the AI industry, per LinkedIn, including technical staff and AI and machine learning engineers.

6. AI Security

Cybersecurity professionals are experiencing a surge in demand, with AI security incidents and agentic AI implementation heavily contributing to the need for this skill set — not just within consultancies, but internally within organizations as well.

There are far too many recent headlines about AI agents going rogue to make it easy to see why this is a necessary skill.

But beyond cybersecurity, everyday non-technical professionals also need AI security skills.

Every professional should take responsibility and ownership for how they use AI within an organization, protecting against shadow AI misuse, hallucinations, and closely monitoring and following company guidelines and policies around high-risk, high-consequence activities (such as hiring, using AI tools, for example).

7. AI Workflow Integration And Orchestration

Given my project management background, this is actually my favorite AI skill.

And if you’re an organizer, operations manager, leader, or a program or project management professional, this will appeal to you too, because this is where you’re able to:

  • Coordinate AI tools, systems, and agents
  • Connect them to applications within your organization
  • Redesign processes and workflows to remove bottlenecks and make them more efficient

This slashes costs, reduces time, and boosts efficiency in project delivery while maintaining a high bar for quality.

Outside of project and operations management roles, AI workflow design and the skills listed above can also help individual contributors. Instead of taking the long route and adding technical (and cognitive) debt, you can ask yourself:

How can I reimagine the work I’m doing right now while maintaining a high-quality bar? What might it look like if I used the best AI model or tool for each part of this process?

Remember, an AI tool in your workspace apps–in itself–is not a flex. The flex comes from what you do with it, and how you apply your knowledge. That’s precisely what your resume needs to convey.

 

Forbes.com | September 30, 2026 | Rachel Wells 

 

#JobMarket : Hiring Season: How To Find The Right Job This Fall. Finding that Job that is a ‘fit’ for You.

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Looking for work after time away can bring up a lot at once: hope, questions and concerns about what returning to work might mean for your day-to-day life and benefits. Fall job postings can sometimes create a sense of urgency to apply quickly. But before you hit “submit,” it is worth taking time to understand what a job could potentially ask of you and be able to plan accordingly.

A useful question is: “Could this job work for me, with the right support?”

A job title and hourly rate tell only part of the story. A part-time position might have changing shifts. A remote job might require in-person training. A seasonal role might end after a few months. None of those details automatically make a job a poor fit. Knowing them in advance can help you decide whether the opportunity aligns with your needs, goals and lifestyle.

If you are 18 to 64 and receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) because of a disability, Social Security’s Ticket to Work Program can help you explore your employment options. The program is free and voluntary. Authorized providers offer services that can help you prepare for work, find a job and receive support as you transition into employment.

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We here at FSC want to thank each of our corporate partners for the opportunity to serve & moving each of their transitioning employee(s) rapidly toward employment!

Article continued …

 

Look Beyond The Job Posting

Before applying, think about what you would need to make a job a good fit for you. Maybe a consistent start time matters. Maybe you need to know when breaks are available or how often you would have to commute. You do not have to figure everything out at once.

An interview is your opportunity to learn about the job. Consider asking:

  • “What does a typical shift look like during your busiest weeks?”
  • “How far in advance are schedules posted?”
  • “Do weekly hours usually stay the same?”
  • “Which duties need to be done on-site?”
  • “What does training look like during the first month?”

You can ask questions about how the job works without disclosing your disability.

Imagine a job seeker who applies for a position advertised at 20 hours a week. During the interview, she learns that training requires full days for the first two weeks. Now she has information she did not have from the posting. She can decide whether that schedule would work for her and, if necessary, ask whether another training arrangement is possible. It is much easier to have that conversation before the first day of work

If you are considering a different field, CareerOne Stop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, can help you research occupations, including typical duties, skills, wages and employment trends.

Find A Support Provider Who Fits Your Goals

Through Ticket to Work, you will work with an Employment Network or a state vocational rehabilitation agency. Providers do not all offer the same services, so it can be helpful to talk with more than one. Social Security’s Find Help tool can help you locate providers, while its guide to choosing an Employment Network includes questions to consider before making a decision.

Thinking about your needs ahead of finding a job can help prepare you for the right position. Ask what support is available after you are hired. Could someone help you navigate a schedule change or prepare to request an accommodation? Can you meet virtually? Who would you contact if the job turns out to be different from what you expected?

If you choose an Employment Network, you and the provider will develop an Individual Work Plan. This plan outlines your employment goals and the services the provider agrees to offer. Read it carefully and ask questions. The plan should reflect the kind of work you are actually trying to pursue and the support you need to achieve your goals.

Get A Clear Picture Of Your Benefits

Worrying about how work could affect your benefits is understandable. SSDI and SSI have different work rules, and employment may affect other benefits as well. Before accepting a job offer, consider talking with someone who can review the benefits you receive and help you understand how earnings may affect them.

Some Employment Networks offer benefits counseling. Work Incentives Planning and Assistance projects also provide free, in-depth benefits counseling to eligible Social Security disability beneficiaries, including those who are working or have a pending job offer. A benefits counselor can help you understand which rules apply to your situation and how changes in earnings could affect your benefits.

One work incentive you may hear about is the trial work period. This SSDI work incentive applies whether or not you participate in Ticket to Work. It allows eligible beneficiaries to test their ability to work for up to nine qualifying months while continuing to receive full SSDI payments, as long as they continue to meet Social Security’s disability requirements and report their work activity.

Those nine months do not have to be consecutive. Instead, Social Security counts them within a rolling 60-month period. In 2026, a month in which gross earnings exceed $1,210 generally counts as a trial work month for an employee. Different rules can apply to self-employment. The trial work period does not apply to SSI.

The rules change once those nine months are used, different work rules generally apply. Most SSDI beneficiaries enter a 36-month extended period of eligibility. During this period, Social Security compares your earnings to its substantial gainful activity (SGA) amount, along with other factors, to determine whether SSDI payments are payable for a particular month. In 2026, the SGA amount is $1,690 a month for individuals who are not blind and $2,830 for individuals who are blind. Social Security offers other work incentives that may help eligible beneficiaries maintain or restart benefits and or continue health coverage under certain circumstances.

Another topic to discuss with a benefits counselor is impairment-related work expenses. These are certain expenses for items or services you need to work because of your disability and pay for yourself without reimbursement. When an expense meets Social Security’s requirements, it may reduce countable income for SSI or be deducted from gross earnings when Social Security evaluates substantial gainful activity for SSDI. Keep receipts and confirm whether an expense qualifies rather than assuming it will be deductible.

Ask For What Helps You Do The Job

You do not need a perfect explanation before discussing accommodations. Sometimes it is easier to start with the work itself and the change that would help you perform it successfully.

For example: “I can handle the customer calls and documentation. A consistent start time would help me do that work reliably.”

You may also request a reasonable accommodation for the application or interview process if you need one. Deciding when to discuss accommodations for the job itself is a personal choice. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission explains how the ADA protects job applicants, including how to request an accommodation during the hiring process. For help exploring possible workplace accommodations, the Job Accommodation Network provides free, confidential guidance.

Keep Notes As You Go

Once you start working, keep copies of your offer letter, schedules, pay stubs and receipts for expenses that could qualify under a work incentive. Good records can make it much easier to answer questions and report information later.

Stay in touch with your employment provider after you are hired, too. If your schedule changes, and an accommodation does not meet your needs or the job is different from what you expected, revisit your plan and discuss your options. Finding out that one particular role is not the right fit is not the end of your employment journey. Instead, it can provide useful information about what to look for in your next opportunity.

Take The Next Step That Works For You

The right fall opportunity may be a job you are ready to accept now, a position worth exploring further or simply a chance to learn what you need before returning to work. Asking about the schedule, understanding how earnings could affect your benefits and knowing where to find support can help you make informed decisions along the way.

A successful job search is about more than getting an offer. It is about finding work that fits your skills, needs and life. Social Security’s Find Help tool can help you find Ticket to Work service providers when you are ready to explore your options.

Forbes.com | October 1, 2026 | Diane Winiarski,

#LinkedIn : 3 Simple Ways To Make LinkedIn Work For You In 2026 ….. Great REad!

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It’s a new year, which makes it the perfect time to update your LinkedIn profile and communications strategy to make sure it is current, relevant to your goals, and compelling to the people who are checking you out. The world of work continues to evolve, and your LinkedIn profile and networking strategy must position you for success.

Align Your LinkedIn Strategy With Two Critical Forces

Two important areas to consider while evolving your LinkedIn strategy are humanity and AI. As tech gets integrated into every aspect of business, your humanity is what helps you stand out and build meaningful relationships. That means your profile must show that you are clear, human, generous, empathic, and grounded in real experience, all the things AI and technology are not.

At the same time, you need to showcase your skill and interest in AI. AI will impact virtually every role. Make it clear that you’re using AI thoughtfully and are committed to proactively developing AI skills to remain ahead of the curve. This can show up in how you describe your work, the content you share, and the tools or approaches you reference in your profile.

The goal is not to do more on LinkedIn, but to do the right things well. Follow this these three steps:

1. Update Your LinkedIn Profile

A lot happens in a year, so if you haven’t been updating your profile regularly, it’s time to make it current and compelling.

Your LinkedIn Headshot

Your headshot makes you real in the virtual world. It allows people to connect with you on a human level. It should convey the real you and be at least current enough for someone to be able to find you in a crowded coffee shop. If you changed your headshot recently, you probably won’t need to update it if it meets these criteria.

Your LinkedIn Headline

Your headline’s job is to make you relevant and confirm for viewers that you are the person they are looking for, or a person they should get to know. LinkedIn gives you 220 characters for your Headline. Use as many as needed to captivate viewers and encourage them to read on. Your LinkedIn headline has three important functions:

  • It makes you relevant. Your current title, role, and company make you relevant.
  • It helps you get found. Use your headline for search optimization. Include in it all the keywords you want to be associated with, and those people will use to search for you.
  • It allows you to showcase something interesting about you that makes the viewer want to learn more. Consider including why you do what you do, how you do what you do, or the results you achieve when you do it. You could also share your passion or life purpose.

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What Skill Sets Do You Have to be ‘Sharpened‘?

Did you know?  First Sun Consulting, Llc (FSC) is celebrating over 32 years in delivering corporate & individual outplacement services & programs to over 1200 corporate clients in the U.S., Canada, the UK, & Mexico!   Visit us @ www.firstsun.com  OR Ask for a Quote for Services at  info@firstsun.com

We here at FSC want to thank each of our corporate partners for the opportunity to serve & moving each of their transitioning employee(s) rapidly toward employment!

Article continued …

Your LinkedIn About

Your About allows you to introduce yourself, tell your story, and make a branded first impression. Because of the power of LinkedIn and how search results are presented in Google, it will likely be your first impression. When you’re thoughtful in crafting your About, it helps you:

  • Differentiate yourself in a crowded marketplace
  • Attract opportunities that align with your goals
  • Build trust and real human connection with others

Your About is also a natural place to convey your thoughts about AI and the role it plays in your work.

Your LinkedIn Featured Section

Because many people keep their Featured section blank, it is an opportunity for you to stand out and showcase your passions, purpose, and accomplishments. Your Featured section sits near the top of your profile, between your About and Activity sections. That means more people will see it. This section is designed to showcase multimedia. Include images and video to enhance your story and make your profile richer and more interesting. Consider including:

  • Your Brand introduction. Create a brief 60-second video, that highlights your interests, accomplishments and fun facts about you.
  • Your Success Stories. Share one or two pieces of content or stories that highlight your superpowers and differentiators.
  • Your Intellectual Property. Use it to convey your proprietary process, framework, or system, like your three-step formula for crafting click-worthy headlines for social media posts.

2. Define Your LinkedIn Networking Strategy

In 2026, effective networking is about relevance and relationships, not volume. With over 1.3 billion members, LinkedIn is a powerful place for networking. Your goal, though, is not to connect with all 1.3 billion professionals. It’s to identify your community and be visible to them. As the new year begins:

  • Get your network up-to-date. Look back through your calendar and emails and send connection requests to the people you have met in the past year.
  • Decide on your strategy for adding new connections as you meet people. Also, do searches to connect with other like-minded peers so you can build a community for mutual support.
  • Put plans in place to grow your network. Consider adding your LinkedIn profile to your email signature, and create a slide to include in presentations you deliver to encourage participants to reach out and connect.

3. Commit To A LinkedIn Visibility Plan

Once your profile and network are aligned, visibility is what brings your personal brand to life. Strong brands are visible and available to the people they seek to impact, influence, and impress. The best way to do that is to share value as your primary thought leadership priority. There’s a lot of noise in the world of social media, and LinkedIn is no exception. To stand out, commit to the three Cs of social media communications plans:

  • Consistent. Strong brands are known for something, not 100 things. Know your topic, message, and POV and stick with it.
  • Constant. Choose a cadence and commit to it. You may choose to post a couple of times a month, weekly, or even daily. Whatever you choose, treat it as you would any other important item on your to-do list.
  • Critical. Not critical in the sense of being judgmental. Critical meaning it is not content that is nice to have. It’s meaningful and valuable to your audience and essential for their success.

One way to achieve the three Cs of effective visibility is with a LinkedIn Newsletter. It’s a powerful way to stay engaged with the people who are interested in what you have to say, and the LinkedIn Newsletter platform makes it easy for you to create, share and promote your newsletter to followers and connections. It allows you to build familiarity and trust over time without having to start from scratch each time you post.

Make LinkedIn An Ongoing Habit Instead Of A One-Time Update

Your LinkedIn profile serves many roles in helping you build your personal brand and achieve your career goals. To maximize its impact, commit to keeping your profile up to date and staying engaged with your network. LinkedIn works when you work it, so adopt the habit of interacting on LinkedIn regularly and create more opportunities that are aligned with your goals.

Forbes.com | January 6, 2026 | William Arruda

#JobInterview : Job Interview Etiquette Is Changing. These Rules Still Matters. Is it Appropriate to Bring an Iced Coffee to a Job iIterview?

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That’s the debate that’s been making the rounds on the internet after a recruiter criticized Gen Z candidates for arriving to interviews with one in hand, prompting a wider argument about whether the drinks look unprofessional.

In a recent piece for Forbes, senior contributor Benjamin Laker, who serves as professor of leadership at Henley Business School, University of Reading, in the U.K., breaks down why the debate is about more than just coffee. According to Laker, the discussion “shows how quickly an interviewer’s preferences about dress, greetings and body language can harden into standards candidates were never told about.”

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What Skill Sets Do You Have to be ‘Sharpened‘?

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We here at FSC want to thank each of our corporate partners for the opportunity to serve & moving each of their transitioning employee(s) rapidly toward employment!

Article continued …

While job interview etiquette can vary depending on industry and setting—a remote interview may not be as formal as an in-person panel interview—Laker acknowledges that coming to an interview prepared, on time, and with honest answers are the standard rules to follow. But he admits that in recent years, rules around appearance and manners have become a little less clear-cut, leading to blurred lines between what interviewees think is appropriate and what interviewers actually expect.

“Remote interviews and less formal offices have made some old cues harder to interpret,” Laker writes. “Employers should be able to explain which expectations relate to the work. Candidates should notice when the answer is simply, ‘That’s how we do things here.’”

Below are a few of Laker’s tips on how to decide which job interview rules you should follow depending on the format, industry and location of your interview.

Deciding What To Wear: Laker advises candidates to use the role they are interviewing for as a reference point. “Clean, understated sneakers may fit a casual technology or creative workplace; polished shoes may be safer in a conservative or client-facing setting,” he writes. “If you’re unsure, ask the recruiter what candidates typically wear. Choose something appropriate that lets you concentrate on the conversation.”

Deciding To Bring Coffee Or Water: “Water offered by the host is easy to accept or decline,” writes Laker. “If you bring coffee, finish it before entering if practical. If not, ask whether it’s all right to carry it in. The aim is to keep the drink from interrupting the exchange.”

Deciding To Communicate More Formally Or Casually: Laker advises job seekers to “match the interviewer’s level of formality, stay courteous and let rapport develop rather than opening with jokes, slang or instant familiarity.”

Read here for more of Laker’s tips on how to read between the lines when it comes to other unwritten job interview rules, as well as his advice on how to effectively navigate the hiring process without overthinking it.

Forbes.com | September 29, 2026 | Courtney Connley-Hampton,

#CareerAdvice – #JobSearch – #JobInterview Preparation Checklist. Must Read!

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So you applied for a job online, and just got a call from the recruiter asking if you can interview with the hiring manager. You are super excited until you hear that the interview is happening in 48 hours. 2 days. OMG!

Don’t panic; just prepare! Glassdoor has got you covered. Complete with timing and strategy, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of essential ways to gear up for your interview and knock it out of the park. Ready, set, prep!

As soon as you hang up with the recruiter:

1. Study for your interview like it’s a final exam.

  • Find as much information as you can on the company or organization, and commit as much of it to memory as possible.
  • If the job you’re interviewing for requires knowledge in a certain field, do all of the learning and brushing up you can on information that will be relevant to your interview.

2. Generate a list of potential interview questions (and their answers!) beforehand.

  • Base your list of questions on both what you expect them to ask and the real life experience of others
  • Reach out to people who worked in similar companies and positions as you are interviewing for and ask them about their interview experience
  • Use tools like Glassdoor’s interview question database to look up real interview questions and their answers.
The 45 Questions You Should Ask In Every Job Interview

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

36 hours before the interview:

3. Write out answers to every question you anticipate, and practice delivering them out loud.

  • Even if you don’t remember your responses word for word, you can fall back on certain key points and phrases.
  • Write your own list of questions for the interviewer, and be prepared to ask them when the time arises.
  • Make sure your questions are nuanced and well-researched. Never ask for any information that can be simply found online.

4. Compare your skills and experience to the job description.

  • For each component of the job description, brainstorm your relevant skills and experiences, and think critically about how you want to present them.
  • If there’s a preferred skill or experience you do not have, be able to demonstrate you’ll be competent without it.
How to Read a Job Description

12-24 hours before the interview:

5. Be rested and healthy for the big day.

  • Before getting good night’s sleep, try to imagine yourself acing the interview.
  • Eat wholesome, healthy meals for the days preceding the interview.
  • If you are prone to anxiety, try breathing techniques or meditation the morning of the interview, and even directly before.

3-6 hours before the interview:

6. Dress for success

  • Keep your fashion choices subdued and classic – don’t wear clothes that will distract the interviewer.
  • If you’re unclear on what type of clothes to wear, don’t be afraid to reach out to your interviewer and ask.
  • Wear clothes you feel confident in. Don’t be afraid to invest in an “interview outfit” or two that you feel your best in.

7. Empower yourself

  • Practice a firm handshake, strong posture, and attentive body language in advance.
  • Think of a mantra you can call upon for self-confidence, like, “no matter what, I will do my best.”
  • Try to imagine yourself not getting the job. While it might be painful to think about, what can you see yourself having learned from the interview experience?

8. Don’t leave any unnecessary unknowns.

  • Plan what to bring (extra copies of your resume!) and even what transportation you are taking to the interview way in advance, so there’s no added uncertainty the day of.
How to Interview for Your First Management Role

During the interview:

9. Keep an interview journal

  • During or even after your interview is over, take a few minutes to jot down what parts you felt you aced, and where you could have shone brighter. These notes can serve as a valuable guide for your future interviews.

6-12 hours after the interview:

10. Follow up.

  • Extending the conversation shows that you’re passionate about the job. Don’t call every day asking if you got the job, but a simple thank you note can speak volumes about your commitment to the position.
  • And if you didn’t get the job? Let them know if you’re still interested, and ask what you can do to be a more attractive candidate in the future.

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#CareerAdvice : #ResumeWriting -How Can You Make Yourself Sound Better on Your #Resume ?

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Your resume is your primary personal marketing tool in the job search. You very well may have the chops for whatever role you’ve set your sights on, but you can still come up short if your resume is missing the mark on reflecting your skill set.

These five tips will provide essential marketing flair while ensuring you never have to exaggerate or bend the truth when it comes to your career.

Convert accomplishment numbers

Decreasing spending by $10,000 in a quarter might sound like a lot of money in your current role, but you may be applying for a role where $10,000 is a fairly insignificant amount. However, updating your resume to reflect that you were able to reduce spending by 20% is a much more digestible statement, regardless of the sample size. Converting all dollar amounts, pageviews, or revenue gains to percentages that reflect growth or year-over-year change will make all of your accomplishments sound much more impressive to hiring managers.

4 Metrics Recruiters Love to See on Resumes

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

Don’t be afraid to brag

Think of your resume as an abbreviated quarterly report or project debrief that you’d deliver at work: It needs to provide context, details, and results to reflect the hard work that went into making something a success. Therefore, being your own cheerleader is essential. So is making sure your responsibilities or day-to-day tasks don’t outweigh the measurable accomplishments throughout your most recent roles. If tooting your own horn isn’t something you feel particularly comfortable with, hiring a professional resume writer can help take the pressure off.

Stand out from the crowd

Rewriting your resume is the perfect time to think about what makes you unique as a professional. Hiring managers see tons of cookie-cutter resumes with bland objective statements on a daily basis; identifying a few specific points about your individual skill set will set you apart from the rest of the applicant pool. Are you a marketer with HTML skills? An operations manager with a background at Fortune 500 companies? A multilingual analyst? Once you’ve found your specific edge, don’t be afraid to highlight it in your resume and cover letter (and LinkedIn profile summary, while you’re at it!).

64 Action Verbs That Will Take Your Resume From Blah to Brilliant

Address specific points from the job posting

A common mistake job seekers make is not customizing their resume for every application they make. Remember that a recruiter or hiring manager is looking for incredibly specific qualities in a candidate, and if your resume doesn’t address those points, it’s likely to end up in an application black hole. For example, if a role will focus heavily on P&L or developing a loyalty program or managing a large team of cross-functional direct reports, make sure your experience tied to these focus areas are front and center on your resume when you send in your application.

Don’t leave gaps in employment

Periods of under- or unemployment are not uncommon in our current workforce, and there are several techniques to address them effectively on your resume. If you’re stumped on how to work with these gaps yourself, a professional resume writer can work to equip you with the tools you need for your specific set of circumstances.

 

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#BestofFSCBlog : #Recruiting – Nine(9) Reasons to Hire a Candidate Without Experience. Focus on Skillsets vs. Experience.

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With more and more candidates being hired who have little or no industry-specific experience, we need to think about why this is the case.

Here are 9 reasons you may want to consider doing it before you post your next job listing.

Inexperienced hires will require lower salaries than experienced professionals

Salary is one of the main hurdles when you want to hire someone with lots and lots of experience. From their point of view, they served their time, built up an impressive track record, and they should be compensated accordingly. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, but it does mean that you’ll have to pay out more money to get the person you want.

Inexperienced workers, on the other hand, are far more likely to be amenable to starting at a lower pay grade. What’s more, if you run a business for a young audience that often is on a budget, it may be reasonable to look for beginner employees. They will show greater readiness to do various kinds of work for moderate pay. For instance, best college writing services do just that. All you need to do then to sweeten the deal is talk about their prospects for progression and you’ll have them motivated from day one.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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Negotiation is likely to be a lot quicker and easier

There’s a lot more to signing someone from a competitor than matching or improving their salary. They’ll likely have a list of perks and demands that will take considerable time to work through. An inexperienced candidate won’t come with any such baggage, and you should be able to agree on terms in a couple of quick phone calls or emails. Ideal if you want to get your new member of staff onboard as quickly as possible.

People always remember the boss who gave them their first big break

When you start hiring for potential, you have the advantage of fostering loyalty with your new hire. They’ll be grateful for having been given the opportunity which means that they’re going to be considerably easier to retain over the long haul. Ideal if you want to create a long-serving team that you can rely on for years to come.

Inexperienced people will not be wedded to a particular way of doing things

If you hire someone who has worked at a competitor for the past 20 years, then they’re sure to be able to tell you a lot about how they used to do things. Whilst this can be insightful, it can also slow things down.

Someone who has no prior experience won’t be tied to a particular way of thinking, or keen to promote a certain way of doing things that they’ve done in the past. This is ideal if you want to get someone onboard from day one.

They can be easier to assimilate into your corporate culture

When someone joins your company and it’s their first ever position, it’s quite easy to get them to buy into your culture. They’re far less likely to question why certain procedures are done the way they are, and if you tell them you would like them to dress a certain way when meeting clients, they’ll just get on with it.

This isn’t to say that experienced hires would make for objectionable members of your team. Rather than it is particularly easy to promote uniformity and group identity with someone who has no prior experience. 

Candidates without experience will bring new ideas to the table

New ideas for products, services, and improving throughput should be welcomed with open arms. If you want to be able to stay ahead of your competitors, you need to promote a culture of innovation and creativity.

By bringing in candidates with no previous experience, you’re inviting people with different backgrounds and mindsets to the table. This can be particularly useful if you want to be able to discover the next big thing by turning current thinking on its head.

Even the best and brightest will start with no experience

There was a time when the CEO of any company in the world was a new hire with no experience. This means that it’s wrong to dismiss people purely because they can’t demonstrate as much experience as some of the other applicants.

If you structure your application process so that it challenges people, then you’ll be able to see firsthand how each of the applicants approaches a problem. If you can create a practical problem they need to solve in the interview then this is a great way to see how their mind works. Not only that, but if you can make it a problem no one has tackled before, then you can ensure experience has a limited role to play. This is the secret uncovering the difference between intelligence and familiarity.

It allows you to recruit from outside your own narrow niche

Some people will think that by looking at applicants with less experience, you’re bound to get nothing but under-qualified new hires. Not only is this untrue, it also closes your eyes to the fact that you’re often recruiting from the same narrow talent pool.

In today’s world, the job market is awash with specialists. Each works in their own narrow sector, has its own jargon, procedures, and ways of doing things. Sometimes by going outside of your own immediate niche, you can connect with people who are extremely talented, but have been working in seemingly unrelated areas. Make a virtue of their different approach to doing things, and it’s your business that will reap the rewards.

They are more likely to work harder to prove themselves

You want your staff to be loyal, and you also need them to be motivated to do the best job they possibly can every single day they come to work. If you hire someone with little or no experience, and then tell them that they will progress quicker if they work harder and do a better job, they’ll produce an incredible level of output.

This is ideal if you want to create a culture in which everyone feels empowered to improve as individuals, and to make a telling contribution to the progress of the company as a whole.

About the Author:  Daniela McVicker is a Career Coach and a major contributor to our FSC Career Blog & to  RatedbyStudents . She’s also a business communication coach, helping future job applicants to write business emails to help them achieve success on their career paths.

 

FSC Career Blog | July 8, 2019 | Daniela McVicker- FSC Career Blog Guest Contributor