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The Job Search School How to Find Your Dream Job...What is working in today's job market?

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There's a quiet reason two candidates with almost identical resumes walk out of the same interview with two very differe...
09/03/2026

There's a quiet reason two candidates with almost identical resumes walk out of the same interview with two very different outcomes. And it has nothing to do with who accomplished more.

Here's the thing. When you sit across from a hiring manager, you naturally want to prove yourself. So you stack your answers with everything you've already done. Every win. Every title. Every project you're proud of.

But listen to me, because this is the part almost nobody teaches. The truth is the hiring manager really doesn't care what you did at your last job. Those are basically just tasks. What they care about is what you can do for them in this particular position.

Employers hire in the exact opposite direction that people look for jobs. You're looking backward at your history. They're looking forward at their problem. The reason they're hiring is a pain point they need solved, and every answer you give is really answering one silent question: can this person fix what's broken here?

So your past wins do matter. But not as a trophy shelf. They matter as evidence. Proof that you've already done the exact thing they need done next.

That's the shift. Stop reciting your history. Start connecting each accomplishment to their future. "This role needs someone who can do X, and that's the exact environment I thrive in. Last year I did X and here's the result." Same accomplishment. Completely different power, because now it's pointed at them.

When you get to that final interview and it becomes a close race between you and someone with equal qualifications, the deciding factor is the candidate who made the interviewer picture the future. That's the part of the sales process. Accomplishments show results, but relevance to their next chapter is what gets you the offer.

This is one piece of my dream job formula, and it's why my clients walk into interviews confident instead of just qualified. You're not doing this alone ever.

Save this for your next interview. And follow for more on getting in front of the people who actually decide.

From Sylvia L., Senior Alliances & Partnerships Leader at Genentech:"Tammy and the Job Search School were so helpful in ...
09/03/2026

From Sylvia L., Senior Alliances & Partnerships Leader at Genentech:

"Tammy and the Job Search School were so helpful in navigating my way through my job search. Tammy's weekly courses taught me so many things that I didn't know and made my job search seem less daunting."

Two words in that testimonial matter: "less daunting."

If you're in a search right now, you know exactly what that word — daunting — feels like. Application after application. Silence. The self-doubt that creeps in around month 3.

The framework doesn't just make you a better candidate. It makes the search itself manageable. Because knowing WHY things aren't working (and WHAT to do differently) is the difference between hope and strategy.

Free webinar this week. Free copy of my book if you stay to the end. Register: https://webinar.thejobsearchschool.com/webinar16-var4-aevent

"I usually hear that it's not an easy task to find a job at my age, over 55." That's a real sentence from a real client ...
09/02/2026

"I usually hear that it's not an easy task to find a job at my age, over 55." That's a real sentence from a real client of mine. Does this sound familiar?

Here's the thing. I would love to tell you that ageism doesn't exist. But unfortunately it is out there. I've talked to tens of thousands of job seekers and I'm not going to pretend you're imagining it. You're not.

But here is where I need you to hear me. Real does not mean final. Ageism is something you actively counter, not a wall you accept as the end of your search.

Start with your mindset, because that's the part quietly working against you. Age is not a liability the way society might have you thinking. You come with wisdom. You come with experience that younger people don't yet have. Judgment. A cool head in a crisis. Reliability. Those are the things employers value and rarely advertise. In fact 60% of employers say they'd hire a worker over 50 over a millennial.

So flip your focus. Stop focusing on what you don't have and focus on what you do have.

Then you fix what's actually signaling your age before anyone reads a word about you. That email address ending in 1975. Thirty-five years listed on your summary when 10 to 15 is the standard. Graduation dates that do the math for a recruiter in a half second. Those are all fixable, and none of them require you to hide who you are.

Here's a client who did exactly this: "Tammy always says that ageism does exist, but she motivates us to overcome this obstacle. Her optimism and enthusiasm have been contagious, so that I could succeed in overcoming the obstacles to find a job." She landed a good offer at over 55.

You are valuable. You're a huge asset to that employer with your years of knowledge, and you need to make sure you know that and are showing it. A job interview is a two-way street anyway. You're evaluating them just as much as they're evaluating you.

You're not doing this alone ever. Follow for more, and save this for the week you need to hear it most.

"Within 16 weeks of starting the program... I received a job offer."That's from Michael Mullins, IS Project Manager at S...
09/02/2026

"Within 16 weeks of starting the program... I received a job offer."

That's from Michael Mullins, IS Project Manager at St. Elizabeth Healthcare.

Michael's story is important because of the timeline. 16 weeks total. The first 4-6 weeks were dedicated to updating his LinkedIn and resume — not to applying. He didn't send a single application in the first month and a half.

Then, once his positioning was rebuilt: profile views up, recruiters reaching out, offer in hand within the following 10 weeks.

That's the actual sequence. Rebuild first. Apply second.

Most people flip it. They apply for 6 months with an outdated profile, then wonder why nothing's working.

If you want the same framework — free webinar this week, plus a free copy of my book. Link in first comment.

You're making eye contact in your virtual interviews. Good instinct. But if you're aiming that eye contact at their face...
09/02/2026

You're making eye contact in your virtual interviews. Good instinct. But if you're aiming that eye contact at their face on your screen, it's landing everywhere except where it needs to.

Here's the thing. It's just human nature. When a person is on your screen, you look down at that little box and stare right into their eyes. Warm, engaged, present, right?

Except it's just a picture of them on the screen. And on their end, you're not looking at them at all. You're looking down and away. It reads like you're distracted, checking notes, or not really there.

This is where almost all of the rookie virtual interviewers make the biggest mistake of all.

The connection only lands one way: you look straight into the we**am lens. That tiny hole above your screen. On a laptop it's the little dot at the top. When you talk to that dot, on their end it looks like you're looking straight into their eyes.

I know it's difficult. I know it feels unnatural. I'm going to keep saying it anyway, because it's really really important that you do it. Confidence is contagious, and so is presence. Let them feel you looking right at them.

Online interviewing is completely different than interviewing in person, and small things like this decide whether you get the callback. People hire people, they don't hire paper, and they hire the person who felt truly present.

Save this for your next virtual interview. Follow for more on landing the sought after interviews. You're not doing this alone ever.

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Your LinkedIn headline is 220 characters that decide whether a recruiter clicks your profile.Most people waste it.The de...
09/01/2026

Your LinkedIn headline is 220 characters that decide whether a recruiter clicks your profile.

Most people waste it.

The default LinkedIn shows: "Marketing Director at Company XYZ."

Nothing wrong with it. Also nothing memorable about it.

The headline that gets clicked looks more like this:

"Marketing Director | Turned around 3 underperforming brands in 5 years | Hiring managers: I'm open."

Same person. Same title. Different signal.

The first says "here's my current role."
The second says "here's what I do and I'm available."

Rewrite yours in the next 15 minutes. Include:
1. Your current role or target role
2. The specific thing you've moved (a number, a turnaround, a shipped result)
3. A signal of availability if you're searching

That headline gets clicks. The default doesn't.

The rest of the framework is in my free webinar this week. Free copy of my book if you stay to the end. Link in first comment.

In over nine years of coaching, here's the hardest thing I have to tell exhausted, hard-working people: all that grindin...
09/01/2026

In over nine years of coaching, here's the hardest thing I have to tell exhausted, hard-working people: all that grinding you're doing isn't proof of effort. It's a road trip with no GPS.

You're up early. You're applying to everything. You're refreshing your inbox all day. Network, apply, hope for interviews, eat, sleep, shower, wash, rinse, repeat. And it's just stone cold silence. Crickets.

Here's the thing. Effort feels like it should equal results. But you can drive twelve hours a day and still end up nowhere if you never had a route in the first place. That's the trap. You mistake the exhaustion for progress.

Would you ever start an epic cross country road trip without a map or a GPS? Of course not. Yet most people do exactly that with their job search. They just randomly start applying for job after job. No rhyme or reason. And 98% of Fortune 500 companies run every one of those applications through an ATS that scores you low and tosses you into the black hole before a single human ever sees your name.

That's not effort failing you. That's a plan you never had.

Here's what beats the grind. There is no dream job magic button to push, but there is a solid, proven plan. I call it my dream job formula. Dig for the right opportunities, including the 80% of jobs that are never posted online. Sow the connections that actually get you found. Grow into the candidate recruiters reach out to first.

That's the GPS. And this isn't a you problem. This is a broken system problem, and good news is coming.

If you're burned out, take two or three days completely away from it. Don't even check your job search email. Get your mojo back. Then come back with a route, not just more gas in the tank.

Follow for more on beating the system instead of grinding against it. You're not doing this alone ever.

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Last day of August. Tomorrow the market changes.Here's what nobody wants to tell you: September doesn't just reward cand...
08/31/2026

Last day of August. Tomorrow the market changes.

Here's what nobody wants to tell you: September doesn't just reward candidates who show up ready. It punishes the ones who don't.

Because the roles that fill fast fill by mid-September. And by October you're back to the same slow-market fatigue you spent August in.

If your search on September 1st looks like your search on August 1st — same target list, same applications, same LinkedIn profile — you already know how September ends.

I'm hosting Stop Applying, Start Hearing Back this week. It's the hour that separates candidates who catch the wave from candidates who watch it pass. You'll leave with:

→ The 3-shift framework that moves executive searches in 2026 (none of which is 'apply harder')
→ The LinkedIn positioning rebuild that gets you into recruiter search results
→ The target-list method that beats job-board applications 10-to-1
→ A free copy of my book Why Nobody's Calling You Back if you stay to the end

If you've been telling yourself 'next week' all summer — this is next week.

Link in first comment.

"Tell me a little bit about yourself." You treat it like a warm-up throwaway. It's actually the single biggest storytell...
08/30/2026

"Tell me a little bit about yourself." You treat it like a warm-up throwaway. It's actually the single biggest storytelling opening in the whole interview.

Here's the thing. This question is equivalent to a first impression. If you don't give this right, you'll lose the attention of the hiring manager and most likely lose your chance at the job.

And what do most people do with it? They go right back into the well I did this, and then I did that, and then I moved to this role. Just listing and reciting their entire work history. That's a huge mistake.

Why? Because they're not looking for a recital of your resume. They already have your resume in front of them. What they're doing in this moment is deciding whether you're memorable. And facts don't stick. Emotions tend to stick in one's memory even when facts are long forgotten.

So here's how you flip it.

Step one is who you are. Tell them exactly who you are today, not a walk back through 20 years. The biggest mistake I see is people going too far back.

Step two, don't list your accomplishments. Tell one in story format, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. That's when bragging stops sounding like bragging. That's the secret weapon you can use to wow a potential hiring manager.

Step three, keep it tight. Roughly 60 seconds. Trim it so it stays easy to remember and easy to deliver.

Remember, people hire people. They don't hire paper. This is the one moment they're most primed to remember you, so don't hand them a paper version of yourself.

Follow for more interview strategy that actually moves the needle. And know this, you're not doing this alone ever.

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Been thinking about the shift I'm watching happen this year.Two years ago, the executive job search was about optimizing...
08/30/2026

Been thinking about the shift I'm watching happen this year.

Two years ago, the executive job search was about optimizing for AI screeners. Everyone was terrified of the ATS. Every conversation was about keywords, formatting, resume-check tools.

This year, that's not where the real challenge is. AI on the CANDIDATE side has closed the gap on the ATS side. Any decent resume tool now writes bullets that pass automated screens.

Which means the ATS is no longer the bottleneck. The HUMAN is.

Hiring managers now get a stack of 40 resumes that all look competent. All are formatted well. All have keywords. All have bullets that read like they could work.

The candidate who wins from that stack isn't the one with the best resume tricks. It's the one whose resume tells a specific, memorable, human story that a hiring manager remembers 20 minutes later.

The playing field just leveled. The winners are shifting from "who can beat the algorithm" to "who can be remembered by a person."

The framework I coach clients through — free webinar this week. Free copy of my book if you stay to the end. Link in first comment.

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