Episode Transcript

Chris Villanueva 0:00
My other tip, and this is probably going to be my favorite thing, because it’s something that’s been on my mind for the last couple of years here.

Chris Villanueva 0:11
And welcome to the Let’s Eat, Grandma Career Warrior Podcast where our goal is not only to help you land your dream job, but to help you live your best life. My name is Chris Villanueva and the CEO and co founder of Let’s Eat, Grandma. Yes, that’s with a comma, we are out there to help mid to senior level professionals with their job searches.

Chris Villanueva 0:30
Now, today, we’re going to cover everything that’s going on with this competitive job market. We’ll cover the current layoffs count, as well as any talks about a potential recession. I don’t want this to be a fear mongering podcast. But I do want to address all of the fears that are going on right now as well as what to do to stay proactive and how to deal with a job market.

Chris Villanueva 0:51
That’s a bit tougher. It is a bit of an under exaggeration there but tougher than two years ago here. So don’t forget to go on over to our website. letseatgrandma.com/podcast/ if you have been impacted by layoffs, or if you have any friends or family members who have been impacted by the current layoff situation, we’re doing a free package giveaway and we wanted to reach out directly to those who have been laid off. So submit your name or submit the name of a friend for the chance to win a free resume package here at Let’s Eat, Grandma.

Chris Villanueva 1:25
So few caveats here. Before I talk about what’s going on. First of all, it’s really hard to find unbiased info during an election year, I want to let you all know that some people out there are signaling doom and gloom, it’s the end of the world. While some folks say that this is the greatest economy that we’ve ever lived in, I tried my best to look down the middle as much as possible look to where the facts are, try to gather sources from both directions.

Chris Villanueva 1:50
It is not all doom and gloom, I should say. I don’t want you all to feel like it’s a terrible time to apply for jobs. That’s not the case. My goal here though, is to light a fire under you, if you do feel like things have not been going your way, as well is just to prepare for any upcoming stress or strain that might be going on within the market.

Chris Villanueva 2:13
So look at your current situation, assess the fact yourself, and know that things are still constantly changing. Some articles were not even updated as much as I wish that they were here. So there’s gonna be some things that I get right on this podcast episode, I believe, and some things that I will miss looking back on it in six months.

Chris Villanueva 2:33
So listen, enjoy and reflect on the things that are right for you at this current moment in time. Alright, so what’s going on within us here are some stats and some things that we have found so far. In q1 q2, we’re about at the half year, Mark. Layoffs continue to rock the tech industry with nearly 100,000 jobs lost already Microsoft, Apple Mehta. All these large companies are not immune to what’s going on. Last year, this number was 260,000.

Chris Villanueva 3:05
So we are not nearly as bad as last year, although I haven’t looked over the quarter over quarter data. But it seems to be continuing on with the pattern of layoffs and here, Let’s Eat, Grandma, we’re seeing more folks who have been laid off more clients who were helping with those situations. So I can feel it personally, I know the level of stress and just what it seems to be going on with the market.

Chris Villanueva 3:30
Now unemployment, here is an interesting stat here, unemployment seems to be trending up slowly over the last two years, although it’s not that bad. There hasn’t been much of a change.

Chris Villanueva 3:41
So far, maybe a few tenths of a percentage, but we’re seeing essentially that unemployment rate for people 25 And over increased a 10th of a point from March to May, that’s not really significant enough to say that there’s something bad going on with unemployment, the biggest and essentially the only folks who are taking a hit right now and unemployment in their employment status are those with less than a high school diploma.

Chris Villanueva 4:05
So folks who did not graduate high school is the way I interpreted that data. But so far, unemployment is okay. However, something’s going on right now. This is something that’s very strange. Even if you go on LinkedIn for a second, you’ll notice that people are talking about like unemployment as a huge issue and like we’re already in a recession that things are terrible.

Chris Villanueva 4:25
We’re not there yet. And we’ll get there in a second. But something seems to be going on with the job market and how it has shifted over the last two years, open roles, their peak levels two years ago, but they have fallen an eye popping 30% as one article has it since two years ago and HR professionals still face massive workloads to find the right people.

Chris Villanueva 4:47
There just are not the greatest matches out there. Get to the same time those who are applying for jobs are just struggling to get noticed. This is a post from recruiting hell a redditor says in the last few months I’ve applied to At least 100 jobs that I’m more than qualified for. I’ve gotten some interviews that I feel like went really well and then I get ghosted or get a rejection letter.

Chris Villanueva 5:07
A few days later, I noticed a lot of companies demanding a bachelor’s or associate’s degree and offering between 17 and 20 an hour what’s up with that is the market that saturated right now, they also went on to say that they’re not feeling discouraged, but they are feeling rather hopeless right now that everything that they’re doing is not really working.

Chris Villanueva 5:26
So I’m speaking to that person right now. I’m speaking to you. If you feel like that friction is getting tougher and tougher. We’ll get to some positive tips here in a second now, but another person said the competition is extremely fierce out there, it used to be a good candidate would get a job.

Chris Villanueva 5:43
Now with so many good candidates, these need to filter out further for great candidates. Even great is oversaturated now filter out to add a university degree to further eliminate the hire only the top 1%. So let’s take a deeper look at what the actual numbers are saying at the macro.

Chris Villanueva 6:00
I know I’m getting very numbers heavy during this podcast episode, but I feel like I don’t do enough of that. Look at the BLS report and not just what is going on with Reddit nonfarm additions during the beginning of the year, how many positions that are not farming positions, that’s most of y’all I would assume were added month over month we saw 256,000 in January 270,000 In February, and 303,000.

Chris Villanueva 6:27
In March, April was lackluster. April is where things dipped down to a disappointing in my opinion amount down to 165,270 2000. In may compare that to last may even that was 303,000. So if you are going through just feeling like it is a struggle to get noticed right now, there are some indications on just a macro level that it is getting tougher and tougher out there.

Chris Villanueva 6:54
So do not feel bad, you’re not alone and also at the same time, there are things that you can do to elevate your resume and job search games. Let’s talk about those in a second. Let’s take a break here and talk about recession talks and now I put that in the title of the podcast again, not meant to scare you, but I think that’s also something worth considering here.

Chris Villanueva 7:17
As far as the recession goes. There have been talks about it more and more warnings. I personally do not believe that we’re gonna be there anytime soon. However, we’ve seen that the annualized GDP wasn’t very hot in q1 and it doesn’t seem to be going very well also in q2 Nuveen CIO Saira Malik says there are two areas where she’s most concerned that’s consumer and the jobs market.

Chris Villanueva 7:41
Malik says I think consumer unemployment goes together. When you feel secure in your job, you tend to spend more we’re seeing both of those start to break down. My view is that a recession is a when not an IF strategists at BCA research said the US will fall into a recession in late 2024.

Chris Villanueva 8:01
Again, not my opinion, these are just some strategists out there who may be wrong. They may be right, but they say that according to their framework, there was a nonlinear relationship between inflation and unemployment.

Chris Villanueva 8:14
When unemployment is high, firms can hire workers without significantly increasing wages. However, once full employment is reached, companies can grow their workforce by attracting employees from other firms, which trigger a cycle of rising wages and prices. The reason the US avoided a recession in 2022 and 2023 Was that the economy was operating along the steep side of the Phillips Curve.

Chris Villanueva 8:37
When the labor supply curve is nearly vertical, weaker labor demand will mainly lead to lower wage growth and falling job openings. In other words, and immaculate disinflation, they added.

Chris Villanueva 8:47
So again, these are just opinions from some sources out there. I personally don’t think that this is going to happen anytime soon. I don’t think it’s something to worry or stress out about. However, I do believe, again, things are getting more competitive, things are getting tighter.

Chris Villanueva 9:04
So now is the time to really amp up your game here. When it comes to your job search and your career. Be proactive, even if you’ve had a stable job for the last 15 to 20 years. I’m not saying you’re going to lose that job. But I highly recommend making sure that your resume is in order, and that you have all of the accomplishments over the last year bullet pointed out so that you can jump into action if needed.

Chris Villanueva 9:30
Let’s move over to a couple of more strategies and recommendations to close this out strongly. I want you to feel well equipped for what’s going on right now.

Chris Villanueva 9:40
Number one, increase your visibility and the strength of your network goes beyond the resume. This comes from me the owner of a resume writing service in that’s like our main focus but visibility and your own strategy. It’s just as important as the actual creative and the documents that you’re coming up with.

Chris Villanueva 9:59
So I just got back a few weeks ago from New York City. And during that trip, I took a big old trip to Cornell University, my alma mater, and shout out to the big red, you are awesome. But there’s just so many opportunities out there for, you know, your own network, whether it be your alumni, or whether it be professional associations that you’ve been a part of personally hadn’t been back to school in years. But this was a great chance for me to reconnect with classmates, and really foster that that human connection that propels us forward as humans.

Chris Villanueva 10:35
So think about your network, think about the things that excite you that people that have made a difference for you who you want to make a difference for in your own world, and reconnect with those people, whether it be just a quick reach out on LinkedIn, saying, Hi, let’s catch up for a cup of coffee, or anything. That means physically fostering a connection, you don’t even have to be in person. But making sure that you are establishing that relationship and reconnecting. That’s so important right now, I would say more than ever.

Chris Villanueva 11:05
Also, staying in touch with industry trends, and market demands, and economic forecasts, these are all things that are going to be really helpful, like, don’t feel afraid to post something on LinkedIn that’s relevant to your industry or something that excites you, I know that there’s a lot going on in the world of technology, a lot going on with how things are shifting. So maybe put your own thoughts out there on LinkedIn, and see you engages with you and continue those conversations and whatever way that you can.

Chris Villanueva 11:35
My other tip, and this is probably going to be my favorite thing, because it’s something that’s been on my mind for the last couple of years here, find a mentor or be a mentor, this is a great chance for you to either learn something new, or give back to people who want to be in the same position as you.

Chris Villanueva 11:54
So not only can a mentor provide encouragement and coaching needed to foster that human connection, that mental health here, but they can actually help you set job search goals and help set career goals. So you can really make sure that you’re ending up where you want to be in the next few years or so.

Chris Villanueva 12:12
So I found a great mentor myself, shout out to JP, he’s actually a past client here. Let’s Eat, Grandma and just an amazing person in the marketing world. And so I’ve been working with JP really tried to boost our branding, and to make sure that I’m personally growing as a small business owner, and as a person in the marketing industry.

Chris Villanueva 12:33
So find a mentor, be a mentor. And this is one of the best things in my opinion that you can do in 2024, when things might be a bit tougher.

Chris Villanueva 12:42
Alright, so let’s talk about what you can do to stand out to get innovative and to make your best resume possible. Now is the time to write a great resume, I would agree with what that redditor said, in that you can’t just have a good resume right now to stand out, you have to have a great resume that stands out, I would say to the top 5%. Don’t worry about being the top 1% I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But I really want you to have the best one out of 20 resumes that gets passed across a hiring manager or recruiter.

Chris Villanueva 13:16
So number one, it’s not enough just to talk about your descriptions about the things that you’ve been doing. The fact that you have been leading marketing teams to boost revenue, or that you have been working as a program manager to launch new innovative solutions, you have to get specific to show people not just tell people that you are the right person for the role. So for example, increasing sales by 20%. Great reducing costs by 15%. Awesome, or what about the fact that you were able to launch an initiative within a three month time span where your deadline was closer to four months?

Chris Villanueva 13:56
These are the things that I’m talking about where you have to show that you are an achiever, and a person that truly made a difference for your past companies. I don’t care whether you’re laid off now or you’re feeling like you’re down in the dumps right now you have great things to share with the world and you have these gifts that you gave to your past company. This is something that I want you to brag about in your resume not feel like you are being pompous or anything like that you have to show not tell when it comes to your resume.

Chris Villanueva 14:27
Additionally, highlight the things that make you different from every other program manager, marketing manager, senior executive, whatever it may be, showcase those things front and center on your resume because more than likely, they’re not as obvious as you think that they are.

Chris Villanueva 14:45
Listen, I just did an audit for my own website and I thinking oh gosh, I have the best website in the world that gets so many compliments about the yellows and the the images as well as the brand and the humor, but I realized after doing some souls searching and realizing how hard and how competitive if you didn’t get for resume services, that we’re not doing enough to show the special things, the reason why someone would pay so much money to order our service, because we’ve done things out there that are of value.

Chris Villanueva 15:15
So looking at those things identified that customer reviews, referrals, as well as our personal human touch, were those three things that needed to stand out. So those are the things that I want to put at the very top of my webpage. Those are the things that I want to scream about from the mountaintops, and make sure that people see first, when they are truly evaluating whether or not we’re a good fit.

Chris Villanueva 15:39
The same thing goes for you as a job seeker. What are those top three things that you can bring to the very top of your resume to show that you are going to be different than every other resume that goes across the desk of the hiring manager.

Chris Villanueva 15:55
So think about those three things and let’s find ways to include those in an obvious way. The other thing that I want to bring your attention to, in order to get innovative, you have to be Uber, Uber, Uber targeted for the exact positions that you want, don’t just say I’m creating a resume, for a general position out there within marketing, I like marketing.

Chris Villanueva 16:20
So I’m gonna apply for some marketing positions, we have to get more specific than that, and talk about how you’re going to attract the right types of companies the right types of roles for you, what exact position titles are you applying for, can I get that exact position title three to five times on my resume to make sure that the ATS picks up on the exact match, you’d have to get super targeted when it comes to your resume.

Chris Villanueva 16:47
Now more than ever, because recruiters and hiring managers have more choices. Now it’s getting more competitive out there. So you have to stand out in that top 5%. So this concludes today’s podcast episode.

Chris Villanueva 17:00
Again, my goal is to be that beacon of light in a tough situation out there, whether you’ve been laid off, or you are just more stressed out and anxious than ever about the current job market, I want you to know that you’re not alone, and that there are things that you can do out there to really improve your life and just to boost your own job search out there, keep trying keep reevaluating what’s going on right now and keep moving forward.

Chris Villanueva 17:24
That’s my message to you today. Again, a reminder, if you submit your name or a friend’s name to letseatgrandma.com/podcast/, you will be eligible for a free resume package, this is a giveaway. The recommendation that tip I would give there is put in the questionnaire, there’s like one little question you can answer about your current situation, make sure that you put some details about the layoff and your current situation and it will make us look at you a bit closer.

Chris Villanueva 17:50
So thank you so much for tuning in. We have some great content coming up. So make sure to subscribe to us on Apple or Spotify. We’re also reviving and boosting our YouTube content out there. There’s a video of me smiling and looking at the camera right now. So I would love to connect with you in that way. Just go to YouTube and find the Let’s Eat, Grandma channel and you’ll see these episodes posted in little tidbits.

Chris Villanueva 18:15
Alright, Career Warriors. This wraps up episode 332 of the Career Warrior Podcast. I’ll see you next time.

Chris Villanueva 18:21
Career Warrior Podcast. And before you go remember, if you’re not seeing the results you want and your job search, our highly trained team of professional resume writers here at Let’s Eat, Grandma can help head on over to letseatgrandma.com/podcast/ to get a free resume critique and $70 off any one of our resume writing packages.

Chris Villanueva 18:41
We talk all the time on the show about the importance of being targeted in your job search and with our unique writing process and focus on individual attention. You’ll get a resume cover letter and LinkedIn profile that are highly customized and tailored to your goals to help you get hired faster. Again, head on over to letseatgrandma.com/podcast/. Thanks and I’ll see you next time.