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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July 8, 2026 0

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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July 1, 2026 0

Four Ways Your Hiring Manager is Killing Your Company

Ask any recruiter what the issue is in Talent Acquisition, and they’re not going to say a lack of qualified applicants.

The issue is the “hiring manager.”

Who is the hiring manager? Generally it’s some mid white guy who doesn’t have the authority to pick up the tab for the pizza party without prior auth, but for some reason, the company has giving him carte blanche to 1) represent your company and brand to prospective talent with zero training, oversight, for feedback and 2) spend hundreds of thousands of company dollars to hire talent for your organization with zero training, oversight, or feedback.

If your hiring managers utter any of these statements, fire ’em…….

“We can’t find anyone with the skill (combo) we need…”

Clear sign of a red-pill bro who feels deserving of talent that he cannot afford or, worse, talent that simply doesn’t exist.

In tech, it’s the principal architect/project manager combo, closely followed by the architect/Biz Dev combo, or the developer/SE combo. In other words, you want two (or more roles) for one, but can only pay for one at 30% below market.

Truth: I’m 5’6, 30 lbs overweight, and have a credit score of 615, but I’m going to keep insisting I can pull a supermodel rather than face reality that some girls are simply out of my league….

#redpillcorp #alphadog #unicornhunter #notlonelyenough

“I need someone who can get along with <well-known PITA>

Clear sign of a manager who will NOT manage (which calls into question why TF they’re even there).

I see this scenario repeated again and again and again and again and again…… Talent, integrity, and hard work are irrelevant. The only skill being sought is low self- esteem, aka, the ability to put up with an irrational, abusive bully.

Yeah, so this is the third <decentperson> who’s quit in the last 6 months, but you don’t have time to replace the real problem (plus, you’d have to do ALL the work to replace him, and then you’d have to admit to YOUR boss that you fd-up this hire, so that’s a hard No..)

Easiest solution for lazy managers: Find someone with so little self-respect, or so little cash in their bank account that they’ll take this shit job and be abused for rent, food, and health insurance. (Hint: Look for single mothers, or men with young families. They’re the most easily exploited.) After we hire that sucker, it’ll get about six months-to-a-year of peace before the complaints start again. But, whateverrrrr – at least it’s not MY problem….

#doormatsonly #sychophants

“We don’t need someone that Senior”

The greatest annoyance of every single recruiter out there. They bring in great people, only to get push back from a 32 year old crony hiring manager with nepo-baby credentials.

An organization that values sycophants more than innovators is headed down the road to perdition.

Quick way to tell if your mid-hiring manager is gate keeping. Pull the LinkedIns of your last six hires. If none of them possess a single credential that is better or deeper than the hiring manager, you know gatekeeping is a problem. For him, compliance is more important than competence. For you, be assured that competence isn’t always compliant…

#BankruptcyCameOuttaNowhere #fearbasedleadership

“We need someone who will do what they’re told….”

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard this statement uttered behind closed doors. Usually it’s about confident women (“They seem difficult to manage.”) or young men (“They seem a bit cocky, and have their own ideas.”)

These comments surface in HR discussions where there’s been issues and complaints about the current hiring manager. These companies are constantly dealing with lawsuits, worker complaints, and have a long history of PIPing out strong performer for calling out organizational issues, compliance issues or just outshining the master.

If you’re hearing your hiring manager kick out competence, it’s time to find someone who can manage talent.

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Your job isn’t going to be replaced by AI, your job is going to be replaced by someone who can hire and manage a team. If you’re struggling to find talent (and you’re 100% sure it’s not a compensation or RTO ), replace your hiring manager with an unbiased, cross-functional hiring team. You’ll be stunned by how quickly things turn around…

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May 5, 2026 0