By Bob Larkin
Navigating today’s job market feels a bit start-stop. Sometimes, it seems like the dam’s about to burst and companies will start ramping up hiring again. Other times, we get reports like the one BLS put out in September, where they revised prior job gains down by nearly a million. The whiplash is real.
So if you’re in the market for a career change, a typical “spray and pray” approach isn’t going to cut it. That doesn’t mean the opportunity is gone. It just means you have to be that much more focused and strategic about how you go after it.
More than anything, the candidates I’m seeing land interviews and get offers are the ones who emphasize the outcomes they’ve driven, not just the jobs they’ve done. Based on that and other observations, here are some tips for how to put yourself in the best position to succeed in this market.
Key Takeaways
- In a cautious hiring market, employers want proof of impact. Quantify your results and tie them directly to business outcomes like cost savings or revenue growth.
- Target a few high-value roles, tailor your outreach, and leverage relationships or recruiters instead of wasting time on “spray-and-pray” applications.
- Focus on resilient roles, build skills that align with demand, and negotiate with flexibility. Show that you understand both your value and today’s hiring dynamics.
1. Read the Market Like a Recruiter
One of the first things I try to help job seekers with is to start looking at the market like a recruiter does. When roles stay open longer and employers start adding more steps to hiring processes, it can feel frustrating. Especially if you’re on your third round of interviews and are no closer to actually getting a job.
But for those of us in the recruiting space, these trends aren’t good or bad per se. They’re just signals. And in a slow market like the one we’re in right now, these signals send a clear message: companies are cautious about who they hire. They’re pausing on “nice-to-haves” and prioritizing hires who can directly generate revenue or increase efficiencies.
Once you look at it through that lens, you can tailor your job search accordingly, positioning yourself as essential to businesses’ bottom line.
2. Sharpen Your Value Proposition
In that same vein, I’ll work with job seekers on shifting their value proposition to align with businesses’ more acute needs. With AI keyword detection tools prompting people to stuff their resumes with buzzwords, the amount of generic noise is at an all-time high.
So, for example, you can’t just say “I know Kubernetes.” You have to get specific, say something like “I cut deployment time by 40% and lowered infrastructure costs by 15% through Kubernetes optimization.” That level of specificity will get a hiring manager’s attention and land you an interview.
But a word to the wise: if you’re going to make those kinds of claims, you have to be able to back them up. Otherwise, you’ll kill whatever trust you’ve built with the employer.
3. Upskill Strategically, Not Randomly
When the market is tight and people are desperate for work, they’ll start learning new skills. It’s a good instinct, but most people often waste valuable time learning skills that are irrelevant to their career goals. Or, like with the current market, they spend hours learning to code, only to have AI replace that function a few years down the line.
Right now, skill-building only pays off if it’s strategic. Focus on competencies that are in high demand: applied AI and automation, strategic and systems thinking, model evaluation, data quality and observability, cybersecurity, and more.
Beyond that, if you’re going to work on upgrading a particular skill, you need to show your success instead of just talking about it. For example, you could publish a series of projects on GitHub or your portfolio site. If you do this, always include the impact the project had (or could have) on the business. This kind of proof beats having a dozen certifications that are a dime a dozen these days.
4. Focus on Resilient Roles and Companies
Even in a slow market, certain roles are always in demand, usually because they generate or protect revenue. Think your security analysts and SecOps pros, cloud or platform engineers focused on cost optimization, or administrative roles like controllers and operations directors; the roles that, when unfilled, grind business to a halt.
But the same is true for employers in certain sectors. For example, for all the talk about AI coming for certain jobs, increased AI demand has led to a massive expansion of hyperscale data centers across the country. This has led to an acute need for energy, construction, and engineering roles to build and maintain these facilities.
There’s always going to be opportunity. You just have to follow where it leads.
5. Ditch “Spray-and-Pray” Applications
I’m sure there are people who land jobs from applying to open positions on LinkedIn or Indeed. But given the number of ghost jobs out there, these are few and far between. Most candidates I know landed a job because they either a) had already built a relationship with that employer through networking, or b) had a recruiter who helped open a door for them.
So going out and doing a “spray-and-pray” approach to job applications is a waste of time. Instead, I’d recommend doing the following:
- Picking a handful of high-value positions to apply for, then pursuing a deep, personalized approach (resume tailoring, cold outreach, etc.)
- Starting conversations with your network (alumni, former managers and colleagues, etc.) to put yourself out there and stay top of mind
- Writing succinct value props that tie to the bottom-line benefit you offer the company, and incorporating that into your resume, cover letter, cold outreach, etc.
- Working with a recruiter who can get you access to roles that aren’t even public yet; this not only reduces competition, but it means you’re talking with hiring managers who are serious enough that they’ve hired a recruiting firm
6. Be Smart About How You Negotiate
Although job seekers still have negotiating power in certain niches, the days of candidate power seem to have faded. Approaching a negotiation with a list of, well, non-negotiables is a sure way to end the interview fast.
When you negotiate, have a sense of what’s a reasonable ask and what isn’t. For example, a lot of companies are pursuing return-to-office mandates (at least on a part-time basis), so making 100% remote a sticking point may not be the right move. Likewise, I’m seeing many firms wanting people to do a 90-day contract-to-hire arrangement before extending a full-time offer.
It’s not about who’s right and who’s wrong. It’s about where the pendulum sits when you’re in the market for a new job. Be realistic and negotiate accordingly.
Final Thoughts
A slowing job market isn’t a dead job market. But it does mean you have to adjust your job search to align with current realities. The candidates who are winning right now are the ones who define their value in terms of business outcomes and are going after roles and companies strategically.
If you’re not sure where to start, that’s where I can help. At Concero, we specialize in matching skilled professionals with high-impact opportunities across St. Louis and beyond. Reach out today and I can give you some pointers to help you get started.
