This week I am sending you two newsletters because I forgot to send you one last week! Next week, we go back to our usual schedule of one newsletter per week. Thank you!
It was around mid-April, just before Easter, that half my clients started worrying about the June-July holidays. They feel that if they don't get a job by late June, it's not worth continuing the job search in July. Is it not better to pause and restart in August?
The answer: No. The better question is: “How can I use this time to get ahead while others pause?”
This week’s podcast episode, featuring leadership expert Michelle Redfern interviewing me, explores the real reasons job seekers get stuck during the slow seasons and what they can do instead.
What You Should Be Doing in June–July
It's May, and maybe you're already planning for the next months. My goal today is to let you know that June and July aren’t necessarily downtime, unless you want them to be. It’s strategy time. While others pause, you can prepare and position yourself. Instead of pausing your search, use this time to create momentum. Here’s how to turn this perceived slowdown into a strategic runway:
1. Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
Most senior roles are not filled through advertisements. They’re filled through search. Make your profile easy to find, and even easier to understand. Your LinkedIn is a passive job search engine. Use May to review your headline, summary, and experience sections. Be clear, focused, and searchable.
2. Refine Your Career Story
Now is the time to distill your narrative: What problems do you solve? What value do you bring? Where do you want to go next? Can you confidently answer, “What do you do?” without using your old job title? Work on your positioning and narrative now.
3. Use Conversations for Business Intelligence
During school holidays and social catchups, skip the elevator pitch. Listen, learn, and reflect. This is the time to ask intelligent questions: “What’s going on in your industry?” “Where is your team growing?” Learn, don’t pitch.
4. Identify and Leverage Your Strengths
Take time to inventory your skills, leadership style, and past achievements. Use this to fine-tune your resume, pitch, and interview prep.
She said she felt invisible.
Last July, a prospective client called me from a café after a school drop-off.
“I feel invisible,” she said.
“No one's hiring. I haven’t had a call in three weeks.”
She’s a senior executive with an excellent track record. But the mid-year pause had gotten in her head.
Once she became a client, we did two things immediately:
First, we rewrote her LinkedIn profile to optimize it for search. This requires more work than my clients imagine, but once it's done, it can be incredibly rewarding. Within a week, she was contacted by a recruiter.
Second, we built her a conversation strategy.
Instead of “I’m looking for a job,” she started saying:
“I’m exploring leadership roles in companies that [here we add what's important to her, and that fits her experience].”
The tone is really important: She sounded clear, calm, and confident.
In August, she was interviewing.
By September, she had two offers.
By October, she had a new role.
Mid-year job searches don’t fail because no one's hiring.
They fail because people stop showing up.
Don’t wait until everyone else starts looking again.
Use the quiet season to plant seeds others won’t.
Listen to this week's episode:
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Now, this conversation was originally recorded in December, but I’m releasing it now in early May because the timing couldn’t be better. In my coaching practice, I am already getting clients asking what to do during the school holidays. For many professionals, that period can feel like a dead zone. In this episode, Michelle and I talk about how job seekers can reframe this time, not as downtime, but as a reset season. We explore the anxiety that comes with being in-between roles during holidays, how to answer the inevitable “What are you doing now?” at social events, and why mindset is just as important as strategy.
- Listen to the full episode on the podcast website
- Listen on Apple Podcasts
- Listen on Spotify
- Listen on Audible
Time Out
We had another long weekend in Australia, as Anzac Day was last Friday. Every April 25, we remember the service and sacrifice of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps soldiers who fought at Gallipoli in World War I, as well as all those who have served in military conflicts since.
- It felt appropriate to start watching the new Australian series, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, the story of Dorrigo Evans, an army surgeon who becomes a Japanese POW in WWII.
- What's on my playlist: Gerry Mulligan's Night Lights album, Chet Baker Sings Album, Dua Lipa's Radical Optimism album.
If this newsletter helped you:
- Please help me raise awareness for the newsletter. You can forward it to other professionals who may benefit from it. I will be forever grateful to you. They can click here to subscribe.
- Visit my website for more information about career coaching. There are services and courses available to help you achieve your career goals.
To your career success
RBX
Renata Bernarde | Career Coach | Host, The Job Hunting Podcast
