Whether you're looking to land that next job, build resilience against today's layoff culture, or create the perfect launch pad for a business of your own, it's time to take back control of your professional identity.
Last week, I learned of a former colleague who stumbled through explaining a 4-month gap to a hiring manager, apologizing for something that wasn't her fault. The shame in her voice hit me: we've been conditioned to see employment gaps as professional failures instead of what they actually are... proof that the system is broken, not us.
How did we get so professionally fragile that a few months without a corporate badge makes us feel like damaged goods?
Here's a question that should make you uncomfortable:
If your company needed to cut 20% of costs tomorrow, and you're a high-performing mid-career IC making over $170K, what structural power do you have to prevent your name from appearing on that spreadsheet?
Not your performance. Not your value. Your structural power.
The answer for most mid-career individual contributors is the same: absolute...
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A recruiter friend admitted something to me recently that she was almost embarrassed to say out loud. She knows her company's ATS is rejecting qualified candidates - she sees it happen when people she knows personally get filtered out. But with 300+ applications per role, there's simply no way to review them all manually. The system is broken, she k...
Read time: 5 minutes | Forward to a friend
The Trail Off the Cliff
Last month, I watched a former colleague celebrate their promotion to Senior Director. Big title. Bigger salary. Expanded responsibilities. But when I asked what excited them most about the role, they paused. "Honestly? I'm just glad I stayed on track." On track. Like they were following painted lines on a factory floor.
When d...
Reclaim Your Professional Identity
Whether you're looking to land that next job, build resilience against today's layoff culture, or create the perfect launch pad for a business of your own, it's time to take back control of your professional identity.
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