Category: Women in Tech

Seven Survival Strategies for Job Seekers

The current job market is unlike anything in the past. AI has corrupted the application process. Fake companies, fake jobs, fake recruiters are everywhere. Applicants are being hunted by data brokers’ AI bots who seek only to steal their intellectual property, their voice, image, and likeness. ATS systems are discriminating en masse. And, companies are doubling down on 1990’s hiring practices and RTO mandates making the pool of talent increasingly smaller.

Capital and Labor are at a stand-off, and I do think that companies are going to blink. Here’s seven ways you can help move the blink along and maintain your privacy and sanity:

Don’t Apply to Companies that Use Workday

If you’re Black, Asian, Disabled, Female, have a weird name, have more than 10 years experience, are over 45 or have a gap of any kind in your employment history, you are kicked out immediately from Workday’s ATS. No one will ever see your application. Worse, not only are you kicked out from that company, it’s becoming clear that any company using Workday (See: Class action suit Mobley v. Workday) will reject your application — they’re all using the same Saas.

Do company’s know this is happening? Yes, yes they do. It allows them to discriminate en masse rather than 1:1. (wink-wink) That’s exactly who they are, that’s their culture, that’s their values….don’t work for them….

NEVER Talk to an AI Bot

I’ve written on this extensively. NEVER allow your interview to be recorded by these LLMs….If you’ve received an “invitation” to interview with a Bot, or to take an AI assessment hit delete. If your interviewer is recording you, end the interview.

The potential for damage to you, your career and your reputation via these LLMs is HUGE. You turn over your words, image, voice, experience, education to an AI data broker. It’s parsed, scraped “evaluated” and that AI slop follows you around FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!

You have NO access to the recording or data or findings. No ability to delete it, no ability to challenge the findings, no insight into the algorithm being used to “evaluate” you. You have NO RIGHTS. You don’t know with whom or for what purposes your voice, words, and likeness is shared.

If there even is a job there (and most of the time there is NOT as many of these AI Interview jobs are fake) the AI bot is designed to lure unsuspecting applicants into their data trap by making them believe they’ve actually been shortlisted for a real job, when in fact, there’s no job at all. They’re scraping people for IP to use for LLM training.

Given recent developments in the Workday case, and the Stanford study, as well as legislation that has been passed in Colorado, Illinois, New York, I fully expect that AI interviews and assessments will be illegal, and if not illegal, their use will be killed by company’s legal department and data governance team.

Don’t Do Projects, Don’t Write Essays, NEVER Provide Videos

People asking for unpaid shit are looking for ideas (very common in marketing/social media/creative positions), or they’re just too lazy to evaluate talent themselves, so they tell the applicants to make notes and do all the work for them. In either case, you’re getting a lazy, shitty employer…

Have your own on-line portfolio – blog, GitHub, YouTube, even your FB.

Be aware that all your good ideas, all your great answers are fed into an LLM, and then provided to another candidate who is cheaper or off-shore, or a nepo hire. Corruption is rampant in TA. Don’t think people are above stealing interview answers from you for their deep fakes. They’re not.

Don’t Apply to Jobs without Salary Posted

I used to feel like, WTF, I’ll throw my resume in the ring even if it’s not posted. I’ve changed my mind.

Not only is the application process exhausting, but 100% of the time you’ll get a call offering you the position at a pay rate that is so ridiculously under market that you could not afford to pay your rent and commute to their (100% on-site) location five days a week.

Oh, BTW, it’s a contract job with no benefits…they “forgot” to post that, too…

Don’t Apply to Reposts, Repeated Posts, or Jobs More than 2 Weeks Old

Ghost jobs are everywhere. It’s estimated that approximately 30% of all job posts are fake.

If you see a job “reposted” don’t bother to apply. It just means the lazy recruiter didn’t pull down the ad. If you see jobs you’ve applied to re-posted, don’t bother, either. It’s likely a ghost job or the company is window shopping (to keep current employees “on their toes” or the hiring manager gets off on unicorn hunting).

Finally, anything that’s more than two weeks old is just too old, and they already have people in the pipeline.

Don’t Do Business on What’sApp

This should seem obvious, but anyone who contacts you via text or wants to pull you into What’s App is a scammer. Never, ever download anything to your phone or computer either…

Don’t Be Afraid to End the Interview

I’ve talked to sooooooo many people who found themselves in horrible interviews behind closed doors with some rude, disrespectful ass who is clearly using you for his narcissistic supply or using you to “check the box” for HR’s requirement to interview outside talent or a “minority.”

When I ask “Why didn’t you cut it short and leave?” there’s inevitably a silence, and then a reluctant admission that it never really occurred to them that they COULD leave!! Worse, they were afraid to leave because the interviewer (!) might think they’re rude! This is how f-d up our culture is when it comes to work….

Ending an interview is a little like cutting short a bad date. It’s a last resort, but you should not hesitate to end an interview if you’re being ignored, disrespected, or if someone is asking you personal and inappropriate questions.

You end the interview like this…

(Inappropriate question | Interviewer rude/dismissive | Interviewer distracted)

Pause – 5 sec…long enough for them to notice the pause.

“I’m troubled that …

~ this line of questioning feels personal and invasive.”

~ you seem distracted and unprepared.”

~ your tone is aggressive and argumentative.”

Note: Do NOT engage in an argument, do not elaborate, do not plead your case, do NOT complain about how much time/effort you put into prepping for this, and they’re not even listening. Don’t argue. Any argument will get you nowhere.

Any interviewer behaving like this tells you everything you need to know. You’re NOT getting this job – you were NEVER going to get the job. Even before you showed up, you were NOT getting the job! And, this is a TERRIBLE job!!!

If you get pushback like “Well, it seems like YOU’RE not prepared to discuss YOUR background”…. or an “I’m sorry YOU feel that way….” or a ” I’m not doing that, I’m just asking about YOUR………” Do NOT respond to the DARVO deflection.

Finish with:

“I’m going to pass on this opportunity, and respectfully end this call.”

Then hang up!

Circle back with (HR/Agency/Recruiter) to provide feedback if you feel appropriate. Otherwise, it’s a bad date. Red Pill Entitlement is rampant in corporate America these days…. Move on…

Here’s the Sad Reality

None of these things has anything to do with YOU – personally. The fact that this stuff effects you personally is annoying AF, but it’s important to remember that you are not the cause of any of these dysfunctional and illegal behaviors, nor do you deserve them.

We are in late-stage capitalism. MANY companies are putting on a brave face, but they ARE dying…

Inside these dying companies are the people who are interviewing you and those people are scared and in deep stages of denial. They’re scared of losing their jobs. They’re scared of hiring anyone who is better or cheaper. They’re scared they cannot compete in the current job market (which is why they’re petrified of losing their job). They’re scared of confronting a spouse with their job loss. They’re scared of losing their homes. They’re scared…..

Scared people act out.

The climate of fear in corporate America is being stoked by AI FOMO propaganda. Even in big tech companies, once thought to be the country’s most financially healthy sector, the undercurrent of fear is palpable. The top line is declining; CapEx cannot be obtained from outside sources; Cutting labor is the only strategy they know to keep the company “profitable” and the venture capitalist vultures from eating them alive.

Exercise hyper-vigilance before you jump into another job. It’s OK to say no….

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Copyright 2026 Pierce/Wharton Research. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.

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Recruiters: Clean Up After Yourselves!!!

The world is full of tips and tricks for the job seeker. No shortage of self-proclaimed coaches, HR Professionals, and any number of “leaders” who’ve got something to say about the way applicants need to change, mold, and brand themselves. But, when it comes to recruiters (outside of the ubiquitous complaints about ghosting), there’s not much out there. Let me change that…

If your goal is to attract top tier talent to your organization, note the following behaviors:

You Don’t Pull Your Posts

Pink Pill Alert: Not pulling your posts is akin to leaving your dishes in the sink because someone else will (eventually) put them into the dishwasher or wash them for you. How’s that helping your marriage?

The constant complaints by recruiters of how many applications they received, how difficult it is to review them all, how they must have AI/ATS systems to help them, how their world is full of woe. A lot of this could be avoided if your JD was posted and pulled quickly. “No Longer Accepting Applications” is an option USE IT!!

I advise everyone not to apply to “reposts,” and not to apply to anything more than three (3) days old. If you’re leaving your posts up longer than that, you are doing a disservice to job applicants AND yourself.

You Lie about Hybrid/Remote

Please stop lying!! Stop posting the role as remote “for visibility.” Stop posting the role as remote, but you need to live within 30 miles of Philly. Stop posting the role as remote, but “you might have to come in a few days a week as needed.” Stop posting the role as hybrid when you need to be on-site Monday-Thursday. Just stop!

Lying about on-site time has become commonplace. Why: Because people who are employed in either on-site, hybrid or remote roles are seeking remote-only work. Everyone knows that if you can support remote workers, you’re going to have more and better-quality talent from which to choose. If you want someone on-site, you’re going to have fewer options. And, if the role could be hybrid or remote, know the person you hire will be short term, even if they live fairly close.

The days of employees subsidizing their employers’ “culture” with commuting costs and travel time is ending. If someone is seeking a remote role, s/he will find one. On-site will ALWAYS be a temporary option for high-end talent.

You Post State Information at the Bottom of the JD

“This job is available to applicants located in the following states: NY, NJ and CT… ” is at the very bottom of the JD, but you posted the JD as remote USA, ya know, for “visibility” and didn’t bother to move that requirement to the top of the post.

Only thing worse is finding this at the end of a JD is finding it at the end of a Workday application!! Ugh!

Your Parsing Is Horrific

There’s no shortage of companies that offer parsing services, but you’ve chosen the cheap, shitty option, or better yet, your “leader” decided to save the cost, and he had Dinesh write a few parsing scripts (I mean, how hard could it be?). As a result, your resume parsing sucks, and your “leadership” thinks that filling out a form is the “first test” for your principal architect applicants. Second test: Ask them to breakfast and see if they pepper their eggs before tasting them.

SMH. Sadly, these dinosaurs still exist…

On the bright side, MANY companies have gotten better with their on-line application. I see customized Workday instances to remove form fields. Greenhouse is a breath of fresh air. And everyone loves of good Easy Apply.

Your application process tells me a LOT about you – bad parsing (bad UI), tells me that your living room and dining room is dirty. As an technologist, I know that the back of the house is even worse. I will exit out of these applications, and I encourage others to do so as well. Nothing good is coming from cheap and shitty companies like this.

You’re Too Lazy to Customize the Post with Salary

I mean, lazy is lazy. It’s all about you! So, you either leave salary out (even though you’re required by law in the majority of states to post it), or you put your 30% under market salary at the very bottom of the JD because you’re sure your JD will be sooooo compelling, we’ll forget about the shitty pay and apply anyway???

Don’t tell me that you pay differently for different markets. That’s why you post a RANGE. I routinely see comments from applicants who say that absolutely will not waste their time applying to jobs that don’t post a range. I’m inclined to agree…

You Lie about Compensation

This is very, very common. Posted range 100-140K. When you pull up the corporate site to apply, the JD clearly states Salary Range 75-110K DOE. Stop, stop, STOP!!!!

You Bury the REAL Requirement

Must speak Mandarin. Top Secret Clearance. Only able to hire in seven states. Must be available for after-hours phone calls. Must have some specific, microscopic domain experience (very popular in public sector posts), ex: ” Five years experience supervising the reproductive cycles of green slider frogs….” All buried at the bottom, when it should be the first line or in the title…

The specific domain experience is usually listed as “preferred” but it’s a clear tell that they have an internal candidate identified, and are only interviewing because they’re required to do so. While recruiters can’t do much about this (except please spare anyone who is already employed), for applicants, I advise not to waste time applying to these custom JDs that were clearly tailored to an internal applicant.

You Expect Essays, Videos, and Love Letters

I’ve grown weary of lazy Mean Girl recruiters who expect applicants to provide them essays and love letters. Ya know, so they can “make the funnel stickier” or “separate signal from noise.” These are the same recruiters who are just too busy to read my resume, haven’t looked at my website, haven’t looked at my blog, my book, my white papers, my reels, or my publications. But, I’m going to write an essay for you about my last team’s Agile transformation, the roadblocks, challenges I encountered, and how I was able to overcome them and drive the team and project to a successful outcome.

F-off.

Even more entitled, are those who request you provide them a MP3 video explaining “Why Should You Hire Me?” Short format, of course, and try to be original and compelling.

Stop trying to make “Fetch” happen….You are NOT special! For applicants, there’s absolutely nothing to be gained by participating in these recruiter auditions. Be assured that your intellect is funneled into an LLM. Your words, thoughts, image are shared with “partners.” You have zero rights to the data, cannot delete it, and any good ideas you have WILL be given to another (cheaper, younger, better looking, or off-shore) candidate.

Recruiters Aren’t the Problem; They’re at the Door

Recruiters aren’t the problem in the Talent Acquisition (TA) process, but they are standing at the front door of the club deciding whether or not you are good looking enough to get in. Unfortunately, many don’t fully understand their actions negatively effect the supply chain, and are shocked to see that people are simply skipping the audition and hitting the sports bar down the street for the $5 buck wine and beer specials.

If you’re guilty of any of the above behaviors, reconsider if your actions are helping or hindering the flow of talent into your organization. It’s not about what’s easiest for you – it’s about finding the best and brightest for your organization.

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Copyright 2026 Pierce/Wharton Research. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.

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Do NOT Submit to AI Interviews!

If you’ve received an “invitation” to interview with a Bot, hit delete. If your interviewer is recording you, end the interview.

NEVER allow your interview to be recorded by these LLMs….

The potential for damage to you, your career and your reputation via these LLMs is HUGE. You turn over your words, image, voice, experience, education to an AI data brokers. It’s parsed, scraped “evaluated” and that AI slop follows you around FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!

You have NO access to the recording or data. No ability to delete it, no ability to challenge the findings, no insight into the algorithm being used to “evaluate” you. You have NO RIGHTS. You don’t know with whom or for what purposes your voice, words, and likeness is shared.

Here’s my point:

Do not trifle these one-way video interviews. These companies are harvesting YOU. They are building dossiers on YOU. Every single frame is associated with you for the rest of your life, and you cannot do anything about it.

If there even is a job there (and most of the time there is NOT as most of these jobs are fake) the AI bot is designed to lure unsuspecting applicants into their data trap.

Be assured that every insight, every “right” answer, every bit of wisdom you possess is going to another candidate – one who is likely less qualified, less expensive – and once it’s out there, you cannot do a single thing about it except opt out.

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Copyright 2026 Pierce/Wharton Research. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.

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Five Signs You’re NOT Getting that Job

(and they have nothing to do with you!)

There’s no worse feeling than realizing that you’re wasting time at an interview. Here’s five ways to tell (early on) you’re not getting the job:

Your Interviewer is Late and/or Distracted

Yeah, I get it. I’ve been on the other side. You’re short staffed, overworked, AND trying to backfill. It’s tuff to come to an interview with full focus on the candidate…

Anyone interviewing you in this frame of mind is never going to choose you – why? Because they’re not really listening, they’re not engaged. They’re not confident in their choice because (in their mind), you’re a distraction, not the main event.

When I’m confronted with these types of interviews (and sadly, there are far too many of them), I’ll acknowledge the distractedness with an “I’m happy to reschedule this….” I’ve had a few people respond with a “Whew, yes! That would be wonderful…!” (My kinda people). Others who choose to power through? I know that absolutely nothing will come of it, so I see them as batting practice….

You’re More Qualified than Your Prospective Boss

Earlier in my career, this wasn’t a problem. As I’ve grown and sharpened over the past decades, it’s become a much bigger problem in getting hired – especially as an FTE – because there are few people who are able (and willing) to manage talent greater than their own.

There is no one “type” of boss who purposely hires less-than talent, but if I were to cast a big net, I’d say you’re going to encounter this with any person who is a single parent, and definitely any man with kids and a trad wife. They’re not going to do anything to jeopardize that meal ticket, and you showing up with your Master’s degree, industry certifications and “great ideas” is never going to get you hired.

The Place is a Dumpster Fire, and You Have FU Money

Similar to the above, there’s no shortage of interviewers who know the turnover is horrendous, so they’re sniffing around for signs of financial distress because slaves are less likely to leave. Be careful how you answer seemingly innocent questions, “Did you do anything fun this weekend?” “Do you have any vacations planned?” or even questions about “gaps” in your resume. You may think it makes you more desirable to tell you recruiter that you spent three months in France cultivating your Pino pallet, but what he’s going to hear is “He’s not ‘hungry’ enough…” and isn’t going to hang around for very long (and maybe they’re right).

You are V-E-R-Y Employable

Falling under the “more qualified” and “over qualified,” low-tier employers seem to fret constantly about being left at the alter. It’s interesting how small shops are the ones who complain the most about “spending all my time” hiring and then training someone only to have them leave in a year or two for $2-3 dollars an hour more. Oh, the ingratitude!

The majority of employers I speak with are happy to consider applicants with strong software skills, communication, organization abilities and the like, but like marrying a beautiful women or a very handsome man, there are those whose egos and insecurities simply cannot manage those relationships – so they choose (consciously or not), the C+ student who doesn’t have as many options…

They’re Only Window Shopping – Wow Me.

Whether the result of our swipe-left culture or just the old-fashioned hubris of “I’m PAYING you…” there’s no shortage of folks who just like to interview – sorta like those folks who just l-o-v-e shopping for cars – just in case they find something they might want to buy.

These folks are easy to spot because they have done zero real work to actually hire someone. There’s no JD, only a working title, and a Frankenstein wish-list of skills cobbled together by the “team.” The answer to the question of what they’re looking for is an arrogant, “I’ll know it when I see it…” because, of course, everyone and everything has its price, and everyone and everything is for sale (should they choose to purchase it).

Window shoppers are the most entitled of all interviewers. These narcissists use these interactions (steepled hands, 1:1, behind closed doors, no notes required), as their “feed.” They get off on watching people sweat, squirm, prostrate. They’re often rude, dismissive, and enjoy watching nervous applicants stumble to “Wow Me” while they interupt you with comments like, “I don’t care about that…” or “Your education mean nothing to me because your degree is in <humanities> (eye roll)…”

When you encounter a window shopper, don’t despair – step back, understand you’re only there for them to F with, and then use these interviews as practice F-ing with them. Lean in. Answer their “Wow me,” questions irreverently. Note how far you can push them – note their facial expressions, criticisms, and behavior. Store this experience for a time when you really do want to wow someone …..

Final pointer: When the Wow interviewer gives you the obligatory, “We have a minute or two left, do you have any question for me?” (Note: They don’t GAF about you or your questions – your questions are only for them to evaluate how “good” your questions are) smile, and politely say no – no questions – this isn’t a fit for me, thank you for the time, and my best wishes to you in your search. They’ll choke, and look on their face will make all the BS condescension worth it, I promise.

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Copyright 2026 Pierce/Wharton Research. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.

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How to Spot a Fake Job

They’re everywhere, and their purpose is to collect your Personal Information (PI) and and Intellectual Property (IP).

Here’s how to tell:

I Have to Accept your Cookies

Being able to opt-out of cookies is a legal requirement, but like most legal things these days is ignored because there’s no one actually enforcing civil law (happy to collect a list of these sites for any interested attorney).

You Ask for PI, like SSI or DOB to Apply

Amazing to me how many people simply offer this up. Note: If you feel you just cannot say no to the webpage, for God’s sake, please input some phoney numbers!

Essay Questions

Clearly data scraping. Nope.

Bots and More Bots

Oh, they “prefer” to be called “Virtual Recruiting Assistants.” IDGAF what the Bot prefers! I’m not permitting my voice to be recorded by some “spam” number that comes into my phone. Click.

Same Bat-Job, Same Bat-Time

If you’re looking at the boards, you can clearly see the same “companies” advertising the same BS jobs every day. You know these jobs: general JD, above average salary, need immediately. Fake, Fake, Fake.

Reposted

Don’t bother…

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Copyright 2026 Pierce/Wharton Research. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.

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Things I Hope NOT to See on LinkedIn in 2026

My yearly update of things I hope LinkedIn users will resolve NOT to do in 2026:

Bitching about Ghosting

“Don’t call us, we’ll call you…” has been around since the 1900s.  Ghosting isn’t going away no matter how many annoyed applicants end their posts with “do better.”

#livinginthepast #boomerbitching

“I don’t know who needs to hear this, but….” Intros

IDK who started this intro line, but I’d like to hunt him/her down and explain what a target demographic is. If you don’t know who needs to hear this, WTF are you doing a vid for???

#makemehurl #annoyedAF

What the Applicant is Doing Wrong (In your Interview)

No shortage of people offering BS advise on how to lie your way into a job you cannot do. Two things are problematic with these 20-something sages. 1) The wanna be “influencer” content is trite-GPT-drivel everyone’s heard 1000X. (The “twist” is the mid-screen boob shot.) And, 2) Few talk about the outrageous behavior of hiring managers, and how employers are killing their reputation and brand with bad hiring practices.

#noonewantstoworkanymore

“Fear” Adverts from “Career” Coaches and Outplacement Firms

Similar to the above, the only thing more obnoxious than a 28-year-old wanna-be influencer touting her three years of insight and experience on how to navigate today’s “incredibly challenging” job market is a 32-year old bro touting his superior networking skills. (Daddy and/or your frat bro hooking you up with a gig isn’t the flex you think it is.)

 #nepobaby #cronycapitalism

Laid-Off Sycophants

Laid off? Been there. What I completely do NOT get is the need to post some sappy eulogy for a company that doesn’t GAF about you. All this BS about how proud you are, all your great loves and losses, and how you’re “ready for your new chapter”?? Gag…

These types of posts tell me that waaayyy too many people see their job as their #1 relationship, and #1 purpose in life. I’m sorry to inform you: Employment is transactional. Like buying bananas at CostCo, or a beer at the bar. Six months from now, they’re not going to remember your name….

To further illustrate the ridiculousness of these jerk-tear posts, consider the following: Would you post on social media how much you loved your ex-spouse, how you’ll treasure the great times together, and now that you’ve been kicked to the curb, you’re ready for “your next chapter”?!?! No, no you wouldn’t. Why: Coz it’s f-n WEIRD!!! That’s why!

#lookingforloveinallthewrongplaces

Employed Sycophants

Your off-site was productive?  Great.  You’ve got a new CEO?  Congrat’s. Your BFF was promoted? Nice. LinkedIn doesn’t need another obsequious corporate sycophant tearfully proclaiming how they “couldn’t be more proud to be associated with such an outstanding group of individuals.” 

Unless your ass-kissing is one of your KPIs, spare us.

#embarrassed4U

CEOs, Recruiters, Founders, et al “humble brags”

You’re fully remote?  Good for you!  You hired someone who had a 2-year gap in his/her resume?  I’m sure they were eminently qualified.  You hired a fresher/woman/minority/disabled individual who didn’t have the perfect resume, but you…with your tremendous leadership and magnanimous character … saw their potential? 

Stop sniffing for public praise and accolades for the most basic levels of decency.

#needy

Open to Work Banner

Si o No?  Stop talking about it!

#NoOneCares

Age Discrimination

You’re a white, Anglo-Saxon male, over 50, and now, for the first time in your ENTIRE life, you’re finding that you’re not the preferred demographic? WOW, what must that feel like!?!  Tell me more about how unfair corporate life is! Twenty-five years in tech, I’m sure I don’t know what it feels like to be marginalized, dismissed, or passed over in favor of some crony C-Student bro or a cheap H1b…

PS:  Maybe it isn’t your age? Maybe the field has leveled and you’re just “entitled”? Try working “twice as hard,” for half as much. You know, like the rest of us…

#whiner #equalityisoppression

WFH v. RTO

If you don’t want to work on site, don’t.  If you want to go into an office, go.  Stop trying to convert the heathens.  You’re as likely to convince a MAGA supporter that tariffs are inflationary.

#snore

“Behold” my Achievement

Unless you just won the Nobel Prize, no one is interested in your Udemy, Coursera or company-training certs. Add them to your profile and move on with your life.

Your Wedding, Your Kids, Your Holidays  

#facebook

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Copyright 2026 Pierce/Wharton Research. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.

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Stupid Essay Questions

Below is a sample of the ridiculous essay questions I’ve been asked to provide answers to as part of my program/project management applications (all 100% real!):

  • How do you balance Agile principles with the need to meet business deadlines and stakeholder expectations?
  • What Agile metrics do you find most valuable for tracking delivery performance, and how do you use them to drive improvements?
  • How to you handle cross functional dependencies and coordination in an agile environment?
  • What does a healthy Agile culture look like to you?
  • Please briefly describe how you keep projects on track?
  • What is the most significant challenge to scaling a business, and how did you overcome this challenge in your prior position(s)?
  • Can you provide an example of a workflow automation or API integration project you have led?
  • How have you handled risk mitigation and problem-solving in past projects, particularly in data conversion or integration scenarios?
  • How has good project governance helped you to ensure a project stays on track?
  • Describe your approach to leadership
  • Describe your approach to clearing blockers for technical personnel on your agile team.
  • Can you provide a specific example of how you implemented service management discipline within a project or organization? What were the measurable results?
  • Provide a detailed overview of your experience managing B2B commerce projects. Please include the platforms used, the types of customers (industry/business), the total project scope, and your role as PM.
  • How do you ensure stakeholders are engaged and supportive of new processes and tools? Can you share a successful change management strategy you implemented.
  • How would you approach understanding the current project landscape and identifying the most pressing needs?

The TA process is broken, but expecting applicants to provide you written answers to make “the job easier,” isn’t going to bring talent into your organization.

Applicants: Take a hard pass on anyone asking you for free work. Your intelligence and experience is what you sell. If you are foolish enough to answer questions like this, be assured that every answer, every insight will be stolen, re-used, and shared with another candidate. One who is cheaper, or off-shore, or a nephew of the hiring manager. After that, it will be processed by a LLM. The payout for for all your work: Zero.

Employers: This isn’t Costco. Stop asking for free samples.

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Copyright 2026 Pierce/Wharton Research. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.

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Three Post-Covid Reasons Your Project is Failing

Projects fail for all kinds of reasons – here’s a few things that are different after Covid…..

You’re Trying to Manage a Team on Chat

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not anti-IM. Chat, and its appropriately named cousin, Slack, are fine for a QQ to an individual or small group. What it doesn’t take the place of is a well-run meeting, goals, action items, workflow tools, documented requirements, baseline reporting, status, deliverables – ya know – the “work.”

It’s amazing how many people think nothing of constantly interrupting their highly-paid resources to insist they participate in circuitous Chat threads. Pre-Covid, no one would have ever said to their boss or co-workers, “Follow me around today and listen to all my conversations. That way, you’ll know what I’m doing.” How is constantly being interrupted by chat any different?

Talk is cheap, and the cheapest of all talk is chat.

I recently attended a meeting with a client’s finance team. They were proposing changes to their enterprise Rev Req process. Flow chart? Business Rules? Requirements? SOW? Nope, the guy pulls up a chat from three days ago, and proceeds to add people to the thread – really?

Talk is cheap, and the cheapest of all talk is chat. If you want to be 100% sure that your project will run over budget, over schedule, and your team will be lost in the chum and churn of incomplete direction, “manage” your projects via Chat.

Drug Problems

Maybe you heard: The United States has a drug problem, and that drug problem definitely has gotten worse since Covid. I’ve spent more than a decade working as a Fixer, and I can tell you that the root cause of more than one project / business failure is a key individual (or several individuals) with a drinking or drug problem.

It’s important to keep in mind that just because someone isn’t shit faced drunk at work doesn’t mean they don’t have a drinking problem. “Functional” drunks will insist that they’re not drinking during work hours; ergo, they don’t have a drinking “problem.” However, the effects of their drinking are evident. They’re chronic no-shows. They’re constantly sick, late, a million doctor, dentist, and food poisoning excuses for not showing up. Forget about a morning meeting. They can’t get out of bed. They’re unreliable. They can’t complete anything. When confronted, they will push their work (and blame) on to others. They vacillate between belligerent, and a professional victim, which makes you want to avoid them and assign their tasks to others, which is exactly what they want. #enabler

Another Post-Covid change is the ubiquity of Adderall and its many cousins. Unlike the drunk – who can’t accomplish anything – the Adderall Overachiever thinks they’re super-super productive! They have no problem calling you at 10 PM (spinning like a dreidel) because they really, really need your help with the font for tomorrow’s PowerPoint presentation. (Hint: NOT Comic Sans)

About 10 years ago, I had the great misfortune to work with a man who had a serious Meth problem. I was green in my career, and a deer in the headlights; I didn’t know what I was dealing with then. Now, I know the signs. And, when I see people sniffing, unfocused, babbling, spinning, and looking exhausted, I don’t think they’re “high energy” or insomnia, or allergies – I know they have an amphetamine problem.

I work in a business that is complicated, difficult, and dense, and the last thing I need is someone so jacked-up they cannot follow even the most basic conversation.

Since Covid, I’ve seen a rise in upper use in two groups: Women (trying to do it all) and new grads, many of whom are just not used to working 8-10 hours a day, day-after-day, week-after-week. Both of these groups are trying to “cram” their lives, loves, and responsibilities into too-few hours. And, much like Lucy in the Chocolate Factory, they are failing.

If you find yourself in a situation where you have a client or (god forbid) a boss with a drug problem, start looking for a job immediately. Forget about HR, or confronting anyone. This situation is NOT win-able. There’s nothing you are going to do, nothing you are going to say that will make that person change. Nothing. Not anger. Not sympathy. Nothing.

Life isn’t an “Afterschool Special.” It’s more like “Intervention.” It will take you about 2-3 months to figure out what going on. Once you do, create space between you and Adderall Annie, or Day-Drinkin’-Dan, and funnel ALL your energy into your exit plan. If you don’t, this person will eventually “Nurse Jackie” you. You’ll be fired, blamed for everything, and they will continue on as they have before.

You’re Still in Crisis Mode

It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since the advent of Covid. When it hit, all business rules were thrown aside, and “Crisis Mode,” took the place of planning. Business pivoted their e-com sites to accommodate a flood of delivery methods, “Essential” workers were defined, money was quickly appropriated (no business case needed), to mission-critical efforts – every fiber of our corporate being was in crisis management mode.

Here’s the problem: Humans are creatures of habit, and crisis mode has become our new habit.

During Covid, workers capitulated to excessive demands for overtime. Now? Quite quitting and labor strikes are in the news. And, it’s not just workers who are setting boundaries. Check signers are waking up as well. During the past two years no one paid any attention to ROI, cost-benefit, roadmapping, priorities – who had time for that mammsy-pammsy stuff? We’re in a crisis!

Covid was like a big fire; no one questioned thousands of people carrying buckets of water. Now, the smoke has cleared, and we realize that if we had better equipment, we wouldn’t need as many people with buckets.

You’ve surely heard corporate leaders feigning apologies as they layoff “over-hired” water bearers. All companies are evaluating their staffing, their roadmaps, and even their missions. But, what corporate leadership is not saying is that in just two years, they’ve actually become a bit rusty (and a little too comfortable with Slacking-in direction). Many have fallen out of the practice of truly managing a business. Now, we’re starting to hear again questions like: What, exactly, are your metrics? Where’s the market research? Where’s the business case for the $1.3 system upgrade? What’s the ROI? Where’s the depreciation schedule? Projects that cannot answer these questions are being axed, and the bucket brigade is being axed with ’em…

Final Thoughts…

Complacency is frequent companion of hubris, and even though making it through the past few years is an accomplishment, don’t think that it’s a vaccination against failure. The world has changed, but the purpose of business has not. The goal of running a business is to make a profit, not just have a high stock price.

The next couple years are going to be rough. Regardless of your press, your followers, or your brand: If you’re not running your business well, running your projects well, and making a profit, you won’t be here much longer.

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Copyright 2026 Pierce/Wharton Research. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.

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The Real Reason Men Want You Back in the Office: They’re Lonely

The demand we all return to the office (so we can all hang out together) seems to come from predominantly men. Why?

They all admit that working at home has not effected the ability of employees to complete their tasks and achieve their goals. Without productivity metrics (something greatly loved pre-Covid) to bolster their argument, these executives are forced to rely upon qualitative and anecdotal reasonings. This is when you’ll hear your c-level overlord wax nostalgic for their pre-Covid Corporate Camelot, how awesome it was, and how this beautiful, perfect culture needs to be proselytize and, if that doesn’t work, brutally enforced.

Corporate culture is a pyramid. There are a few people at the top – literally – on those upper floors, in those big offices with the windows. If you’re really important, the “corner” office with multiple windows. Where are the people holding up the base and sides of the pyramid? Downstairs, in a cube, with the rest of the subjects to be ruled.

I’ve spent 30 years working in some of the biggest corporations at the highest levels, and it has not escaped my attention – nor the attention of labor — that corporate culture is little more than a relic of the Edwardian era. Instead of Dukes, Duchess, Prince and Princesses, we now have Executive VPs, Directors of <stuff>, and assorted lords and ladies of the court who are swept up in the largess of executive coattails.

I’m not down on corporate fat-cats. Being one is kind of sweet. And, what a killer job! What you say goes! No arguments, no need to compromise. Corporate executives are literally surrounded by the fear and trembling of compliant subordinates. When the boss says jump, people jump! Ya know where that doesn’t happen? Every place else on Earth!

There’s a lot to unpack in the WFH debate. Let’s start with the basics:

Men are Lonely.

Men are lonely. They have few friends. They have no women friends. That “culture” they’re bemoaning? It’s an office where they can shoot the shit with the boyz and go to lunch with the gurls. The words “comradery” and “collaboration,” soo important, are thrown into the mix. What that really means is they miss hangin’ with their buddies, and what men really miss is the company of women – women who understand their work, women who laugh at their jokes, women who aren’t their wives. In short: They miss having friends.

Why don’t men have friends? There’s a lot of reasons, but the primary one is that men don’t have friends unless their wives approve of them. This is probably the worst thing about being in a relationship if you’re a guy. Suddenly, every single person in your life must have the nod of your SO. If she doesn’t like ’em, you’re not going to be friends anymore. Female friends? Forget that – they’re toast.

Men aren’t permitted to have female friends unless she’s his sister, and then only with your woman’s approval!

I work in tech. Not surprisingly most of the people I work with are men. My SO works in HR. The majority of his colleagues are women. Should I demand that my man never socialize with his work colleagues? Lunch with the girls? Nope – He should sit in his cube, alone. Happy hour? Not unless I’m there to supervise and approve. What about my work buddies? Am I permitted to have a few beers with the guys after work? What about travel? Should I pass on dinner, and stay in my room and read?

The f-d upness of relationships, love, friendships is a topic for another article, but I think we can all agree that men, in general, lead kind of lonely lives. That needs to change, but making me drive 45-minutes to an office (on my time and dime) so you can feel good about yourself isn’t the way to do it.

Men Derive Their Status from Work.

Our culture associates the value of a man with the job he has. It’s not right, but it is. At work, you’re the VP of this or the director of that. Those titles convey a rank, status. You’re treated with some respect, reverence because of your title. You know where highly-paid and highly-respected C-level men don’t derive status and respect? Having dinner with their 14-year old.

Sheryl Sandberg wants us to lean in, take a seat at the table, and, ultimately sit at the head of the table. Here’s the thing: In the virtual world, there’s no table. Bob Iger is just a little square — like everyone else. In fact, if you’re not talking on your vid, you might not even be on screen. How’s everyone supposed to know that they should be focused on you when you’re not sitting in the power-position at the table, and they’re not in your corner office with your big desk and that killer view of the skyline?

Video calls don’t convey status. You’re a little square – like everyone else.

This is where I see the generation gap the most. Those men who are young in their careers, and guys with young families are not “office-centric,” certainly not in the way men were back in the day. But, if you’re one of those Boomers and Gen Xers whose defined your life and persona by the status you derive from your job, it’s not likely you’re going to give up the trappings of a culture that sees you as a Grand Duke. And I don’t blame you one bit! Doesn’t everyone want be be surrounded by the adoring and obedient?

I Hate My Spouse (and/or Kids)

I think it’s safe to say that there are lots of people who aren’t exactly living the marriage dream. Their attraction to their spouse left years ago. Staying together for the children? Yep. Leading separate lives. You betcha! Grinding it out until <something happens>. Absolutely. What’s a few more years? You’ve been doing it this long, and you’re at work most of the time, right? Except now you’re not…

You can’t avoid your family and its responsibilities when you’re working from home.

When you go to an office, you have a safe place to hang. Getting in early, and staying late is the easiest way to avoid your spouse. If you make a decent amount of cash, there can be travel with your adoring and obedient friends, and team happy hours and dinners where you get to hang with the boyz, pick up the check, and be “the man.” Housework, errands, child care, shopping – so droll! You have people for that! And, besides, you’re at work! You can’t be responsible for honey-do’s if you’re never home. Even better, if you work all the time, you have a solid reason not to do anything but sleep and play video games when you are home. Nirvana.

Final Thoughts….

There’s no doubt that old-school-old-boys want “workers” to return to the office. Why? To support their “culture” – a culture where (mostly white) dudes are happily at the top of the ladder. It’s nice up there. They have windows, and lots of natural light….

It doesn’t matter what your title is; When you’re home, there’s no reason you can’t start the dishwasher …

Lowly cubical dwellers also know that despite the #Elon, #BobIger #JamieDimon edicts and hoopla, demands all workers return to the office are largely ignored by the executive ranks, and riddled with exceptions for other groups and individuals. Executives never really worked in the office anyway. Many travel, work from home whenever they feel like it and, for the most part, they come and go as they please. What bosses do like is to being surrounded by their buddies and loyal subjects when the DO decide to come in. And, what they really don’t like is that the freedom to come and go – the freedom that was conferred upon them by their status and rank – has been inadvertently (and many feel undeservedly) bestowed upon their subjects!

The move away from the office and into virtual work is yet another example of precipitous decline of the white male empire. That decline has been facilitated by Internet and VPN technology, and it is continuing with the slow but steady elimination of the symbols of corporate hierarchy and status: The corner office, the assistant, the private conference room, the preferred parking, the jet. These have been replaced with an avatar and a disembodied voice, which forces everyone to focus on what is said and done – not the rank, title, height, weight, clothing, desk or any other distraction.

May be it’s not such a bad thing.

Copyright 2026 Pierce/Wharton Research. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.

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W2? 1099? C2C?

One of the questions I get asked most often from those considering contract work is whether to work as a W2 contractor or should they consider 1099, or incorporate so they can bill corp-to-corp (C2C).  The answer is – it depends – and it mostly depends on you.

If you are going to contract long term, or you have a particular expertise that you sell, eventually you will move from working as a W2 Contract Employee to being Independent / Incorporated – in other words: A vendor.  These are not mutually exclusive, BTW. When you’re a vendor that means that you could be billing on a 1099 basis or you could be incorporated and use your corporation to bill the agent or client corp-to-corp (C2C). 

When you choose to bill as an independent vendor that means you are viewed as a business, which is a separate legal entity, and completely different from being an employee. When you’re independent, you have all the privileges and responsibilities of a business owner.

“Responsibilities” is the key word here:  If you choose either 1099 or C2C, you will take home a lot more money than you would as a W2 Employee. But if you are not prepared to handle the responsibilities (and risks) of being self-employed, mo’ money mo’ problems.

Whether you are a sole proprietor, in a partnership, or a principal of a corporation, if you are deriving “Schedule C” income, you are responsible for obtaining business licenses, paying business taxes, keeping accurate records, maintaining general liability, and other types of insurance.  If you’re working as a vendor, you may need to purchase and maintain your own tools, equipment, prepare your own contracts, invoices, and track your payables and receivables. Some clients will provide you a 1099 form for taxes; some do not. Sometimes they’re accurate; sometimes not.  Regardless, you are responsible for an audit trail of your gross receipts and expenses, maintaining bank records, and insuring you adhere to all applicable laws. If there is a discrepancy, you need to be prepared to prove everything.

When you are independent or incorporated, you are a vendor. Instead of a job description, you have a statement of work (SOW). The SOW details what you are to accomplish for the client, a time frame for doing so, and what are the payment and acceptance criteria. SOWs can be very general or very specific. There’s no “standard” SOW. Its specificity varies by the complexity of the project and your relationship with the client.

When you are a vendor, the client cannot dictate the manner and means by which you complete your work.  So, if you wanted to assembly your PB&J in a different order in your kitchen that is your prerogative. The client can only accept or reject the work.

Most importantly, if you are billing as independent or incorporated, you do NOT have the same legal protections as you would if you were a W2 contract-employee. You are a vendor, just like the Crystal Geyser guy. If the customer decides to go with Sparkletts, Crystal Geyser doesn’t file for unemployment. If the delivery truck gets stolen, Crystal Geyser doesn’t ask the customer to buy them a new one. Similarly, like the Crystal Geyser vendor, you also have an implied warranty with your service.  If something goes wrong, your service is defective, you drop your Pepsi on someone’s laptop, it’s not a “My bad!” you are financially liable for that expense.  If your work is on the critical path of a project, be sure to talk to an insurance agent and your client to ensure you have the coverage you need.  If you own things – like a house – and want to keep it, you’ll need to incorporate.

You want to run a business?  Make big bucks?  We live in a litigious society. Don’t take chances.

Unlike W2 workers, your client will want to pay you every 30 days just like they pay all their other bills. But, what if your client doesn’t pay you in 30 days? What if they pay you in 45 days or 60 days?  Or not at all? How long will you keep working without being paid?  A week?  A month?  Two months? How will you collect if they don’t pay? (A big concern in today’s “virtual” world.) What if they claim your work is defective, and they refuse to pay?   Similarly, who pays for your travel expenses? Are you putting them on your own credit card and waiting for client to reimburse? What if they don’t reimburse you or take months to do so? I’ve worked in big corporate offices my entire life: You’d be amazed how many rich companies don’t pay their bills on time.

If you suffer from people pleasing, can’t say no, can’t write a contract, could never see yourself suing someone, or all this sounds just too unpleasant for you, don’t waste time billing as an independent or incorporated contractor. I’ve listened to lots of stories (mostly from women I’m sorry to say) who thought they could handle this kind of relationship, and ended up being taken advantage of by someone who was really, really going to pay them as soon as <somecrisis> passed.

There’s a certain amount of cold, hard, capitalism required when you truly work for yourself. I can assure you that no one is more unpleasant than someone who owes you money. You can’t put up with excuses. Other people’s bills and emergencies and sick kids are NOT your problem. Always track your hours and tasks; always keep copies of your work.  Be prepared to withhold work until you are paid for it.  Be prepared to walk off the job if you’re not paid on time, and be prepared to sue. 

If you have a tough time sticking up for yourself, can’t handle people’s anger, or you’re afraid of being “mean,” being a vendor is absolutely not for you.

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Excerpted from: The Temp Job: A Survival Guide for the Contingent Worker. Copyright 2021. Pierce/Wharton Research, LLC.  All rights reserved.  No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission. info@piercewharton.com.

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