Career development

 1h

8 ways to balance job searching and starting a side business


If you're job hunting while trying to build a side business, you're probably familiar with a unique kind of mental tug-of-war. One hour you're tailoring resumes and preparing for interviews. The next, you're brainstorming product ideas, reaching out to potential customers, or tweaking your website. Both pursuits demand energy, optimism, and persistence. Both can feel like full-time jobs.

What... makes this challenge especially difficult is that the goals can seem contradictory. A job search often rewards stability and specialization, while entrepreneurship rewards experimentation and calculated risk-taking. Yet many successful founders started exactly where you are: seeking reliable income while testing a business idea on the side. The key is not choosing one path too early. It's learning how to make both efforts support each other instead of compete for attention.

Here are eight practical ways to balance job searching and building a side business without burning yourself out.

1. Treat your job search like a business function

Many aspiring founders make the mistake of viewing job searching and entrepreneurship as separate worlds. In reality, your job search is a revenue-generating activity. A stable paycheck can provide the runway needed to grow your business without making desperate decisions.

Approach your search with systems instead of emotions. Set weekly application targets, maintain a networking pipeline, and track interview stages the same way you'd track sales leads. This reduces the mental burden of constantly wondering whether you're doing enough. When the process becomes operational, it frees up mental bandwidth for your business.

2. Define different success metrics for each goal

One reason people feel overwhelmed is that they use the same expectations for both pursuits. They expect rapid traction in a new business while simultaneously expecting immediate interview offers.

The reality is that both processes often move slowly. Separate your metrics. For job searching, focus on applications submitted, networking conversations, and interviews secured. For your business, focus on customer conversations, product improvements, or revenue milestones.

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, frequently emphasizes the power of focusing on systems rather than outcomes. That principle applies here. Progress becomes easier to recognize when you measure the activities you control instead of obsessing over results you don't.

3. Use your side business to strengthen your professional story

Many job seekers worry that employers will view a side business as a distraction. In many cases, the opposite is true.

Building something from scratch demonstrates initiative, resourcefulness, and problem-solving ability. If you're learning digital marketing, sales, customer support, or product development through your business, those experiences can strengthen your candidacy.

The key is positioning. Rather than presenting your venture as a competing priority, frame it as evidence that you're proactive and capable of driving results. Hiring managers increasingly value entrepreneurial thinking, especially in startups and growth-oriented companies.

4. Create time blocks instead of constant multitasking

One of the fastest paths to burnout is switching endlessly between interview preparation and business tasks throughout the day.

Research from the American Psychological Association has repeatedly highlighted the productivity costs of frequent task switching. Every transition creates cognitive friction that drains focus.

A simple framework can help:

Your exact schedule may differ, but the principle remains the same. Dedicated focus periods allow you to make meaningful progress without feeling pulled in multiple directions every hour.

5. Prioritize validation over expansion

When founders have limited time, they often spend it on low-impact activities. Designing logos, tweaking websites, and researching software tools can feel productive, but they rarely generate meaningful business traction.

During a job search, your side business should focus on validation first. Talk to potential customers. Test demand. Make sales if possible.

Sara Blakely famously spent years refining and validating her idea before Spanx became a household name. While every entrepreneurial journey differs, the broader lesson remains valuable: proving demand matters more than building a perfect operation.

Limited time can actually become an advantage because it forces you to focus on what truly moves the business forward.

6. Be realistic about your energy, not just your schedule

Many productivity discussions focus exclusively on time management. Entrepreneurs know energy management is often more important.

A three-hour block after a draining interview day may not be ideal for strategic planning or complex creative work. Instead, reserve lower-energy periods for administrative tasks and save your best hours for work that requires deep thinking.

One pattern I've observed among early-stage founders is that burnout often starts when they consistently ignore their natural energy cycles. Ambition is valuable, but sustainability matters more when you're pursuing two demanding goals at once.

7. Let financial realities guide your decisions

Entrepreneurship content sometimes glorifies taking massive risks. In practice, many successful founders made calculated moves based on their financial situation.

If your side business is generating modest revenue but not enough to replace a salary, securing employment may be the smarter short-term decision. That doesn't mean you're abandoning your entrepreneurial ambitions. It means you're protecting them.

According to data from the U.S. Small Business Administration, many businesses begin as part-time ventures before becoming full-time opportunities. Building gradually is far more common than overnight success stories suggest.

A paycheck can buy something every founder needs: time to make better decisions.

8. Remember that both paths create opportunities

It's easy to think of job searching and entrepreneurship as competing options. In reality, each path can create opportunities for the other.

A new role can expand your professional network, expose you to industry challenges, and provide skills that strengthen your business. Likewise, building a side venture can help you stand out in interviews and uncover opportunities you never anticipated.

Some founders discover a business idea through their day job. Others find investors, customers, or future co-founders through professional relationships. The line between employment and entrepreneurship is often much blurrier than people realize.

The goal isn't necessarily to pick the perfect path immediately. It's to keep moving forward on both until one creates a compelling reason to go all in.

Balancing a job search and a side business is rarely easy, but it can be one of the most strategic phases of your entrepreneurial journey. You're building optionality, learning new skills, and creating multiple paths toward financial security. Instead of viewing these efforts as competing priorities, think of them as complementary investments in your future. The founders who navigate this stage well aren't necessarily the ones who work the longest hours. They're the ones who build sustainable systems, stay patient, and give themselves enough runway to make smart decisions when opportunities arrive. more

Marcel Köver


Career development 23h
I had an interview for a junior developer position yesterday. I have experience as QA tester. They grilled me for almost an hour, giving me tasks and tests, but in the end they said they didn't need me because AI could do the job.
I'm still shocked. Were they trying to show me that AI knows more than I do or were they just being rude? Has anyone else experienced something like this?

1   

  • Randall Giancaterino

    3h

    Maybe they had to go through the formality of a hiring process, even though they had planned to use AI. Someday karma will come around, and the... positions of these "unprofessionals," too, may bow to AI. Yes, their comments were uncalled for. more

  • Emmanuel Locham

    10h

    So unfortunate that most jobs nowadays can be done by robots but let's focus on handy skills that can't be done by AI

Load more...

Career development

 5h

My company fired one manager and is doing an 'organizational reshuffling.' Am I in trouble?


'They let go of a pretty high-up manager who they only hired a month ago'

"The executives told us not to panic." (Photo subject is a model.)

Dear Dollar Signs,

This week, my company called a last-minute all-hands meeting. There was an announcement. They let go of a pretty high-up manager who they only hired a month ago. They also said they are doing an "organizational reshuffling."

The... executives told us not to panic and that this was a good thing, but none of us are sure what the "reshuffling" means or is supposed to accomplish. I've worked here for less than two years, so I'm not sure what is normal.

Are layoffs coming? Should I start looking for a new job?

Anxiously Employed

If you're just starting out on your money or career journey and have questions about how to navigate your finances, we want to hear from you. Write to Dollar Signs, MarketWatch's new advice column, at dollarsigns@marketwatch.com.

Dear Employed,

Always be prepared for a layoff. No matter how stable your job feels, take some time every couple of months to spruce up your résumé, schedule coffee catch-ups with old bosses and peruse job listings, if only to get the lay of the land. Don't get discouraged by office gossip.

This ensures you're prepared for a potential layoff and familiar with the state of your industry. Start contributing to your emergency fund a little more aggressively. Have enough saved to cover your expenses for six months to a year. This would be a good time to focus on building that reserve.

Regarding your specific query: One firing typically doesn't signal mass layoffs. But if it's part of a larger pattern of opacity, instability and conflicting messaging, something larger might be coming down the pike.

Reorganizations are not uncommon, especially in large companies. Yes, a "reshuffling" can result in layoffs, but it can also mean a change in reporting structures, consolidation of teams, letting go of a bad hire or recalibrating to stay current with new technology and industry changes.

"If the firing is not performance-related or is paired with hiring freezes, budget cuts, leadership turnover, low transparency or more people quietly exiting, those are stronger warning signs that larger layoffs may be coming," says Matt Berndt, a career strategist at Indeed.

How many times has this happened at your company? If there are constant reorganizations, that's a "red flag," he adds. Pay attention to how attitudes are shifting, both from leadership and your peers. Often, a reorganization happens in waves.

Pay attention to company culture

And if there are bigger problems afoot? "Culturally, you may see declining morale, reduced transparency from leadership or key talent exiting," Berndt says. "If entire functions or business units are suddenly deprioritized, employees in those areas should pay close attention."

But don't jump to conclusions. From what you say in your letter, I'm not sure you're in danger of being let go. Does this "reshuffling" make sense to you? Do you understand the company's goals and what is expected of you? If the answer to those questions is yes, your job may be safe.

"A healthier reorg usually comes with clear communication about company direction, priorities and the rationale behind decisions, along with clarity on expectations, growth paths and how decisions are made," Berndt says.

If your company is investing in its talent, like developing mentorship programs or creating clear pathways to promotions, that is a sign that they are interested in retaining employees. It may be that the recently hired role turned out to not be integral to the company's mission.

Don't let your work slide

When you start suspecting that your position might be terminated, it's easy to mentally check out. While I understand the impulse, I'd advise you to stay focused. Not because working hard will save you from being let go, but because your colleagues can be a resource in your job hunt.

And they are more likely to help if they see you as reliable and talented. Are you hitting your goals? Do you have a good relationship with your manager? Are you a net contributor to your organization? If so, this should give you some peace of mind.

"Keep your work standard high during the day and do light, regular career maintenance outside of that," Berndt says. "That might mean nurturing your professional network, exploring roles selectively or building a financial cushion, without letting your current responsibilities slip."

One firing isn't indicative of larger layoffs. There may have been issues with that manager you are not aware of if they were let go so soon after being hired. But if you sense a pattern of instability and see some illogical decisions being made, it might be smart to apply for other roles.

Write to Dollar Signs at dollarsigns@marketwatch.com.

By submitting your story to Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of MarketWatch, you understand and agree that we may use your story, or versions of it, in all media and platforms.

-Aditi Shrikant

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-12-26 1118ET Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. more

Career development

 6h

Unpack your childhood trauma at Boulder Comedy Festival, or, just belly laugh


If you were to blind-read the résumés of the performers arriving for the Boulder Comedy Festival, it could be reasonable to assume the city was hosting a lifestyle retreat organized by a rather confused booking agent.

The roster features a recently retired psychotherapist of nearly 40 years, a one-time host of an obscure HGTV home makeover show and a former professional mixed-martial artist from... Albuquerque.

These people are not, in fact, coming to the Front Range to unpack your childhood trauma, teach you how to take a punch or renovate your living room. Instead, they're part of the lineup for the 2026 Boulder Comedy Festival. Running Tuesday through June 21, the event places more than 30 comedians across four local venues. Shows will be held at the Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder; Junkyard Social Club, 2525 Frontier Ave., Suite A, Boulder; The End Lafayette, 525 Courtney Way, Lafayette; and, for the first time, Niwot Hall, 195 2nd Ave., Niwot.

During the festival, the lineup includes local and touring comics such as Ren Q Dawe, Peter Liu, Tiel Pearce, Ruth Banks, Sam Doctor, Chip Nicholson, Rebeca Trejo, Jonathan Huynh, Sohile Ali, Gabby Gutierrez-Reed, Janae Burris, John Novosad and Aaron Foster, among others.

Historically, the demographic breakdown of an average comedy club lineup leans heavily in one direction. Festival co-founder and organizer Zoe Rogers actively built a different kind of roster for the event.

"One cool thing about this year is that we have more women than we have men," Rogers said. "As somebody who started out doing festivals where I was one of, like, three women, that is really nice."

Rogers said the breakdown was a pleasant surprise, though not entirely an accident. Looking at a submission pool that usually skewed heavily male, she offered women a discounted application rate, charging 80 cents on the dollar in an attempt to broaden the field.

It worked. Rogers said the festival received more applications from women and a more varied pool overall, including comics she had not seen before.

"It makes me feel like people feel safe coming to my festival," Rogers said. "They might feel unwelcome at other festivals, but they feel welcome in mine, and that means a tremendous amount to me."

The festival is also stretching a little farther into Boulder County this year. A connection from a sponsor led Rogers to Niwot Hall, which will host the festival's Tuesday night opener.

For Rogers, the new venue fits the basic idea behind the festival: People should not have to drive into Denver every time they want to see a good stand-up show, nor should comedy be treated as something that happens somewhere else and occasionally visits.

"You shouldn't have to trek really far to get good comedy and arts," Rogers said. "It should be right there."

One of the comics on the Niwot Hall bill is Priscilla Courtney, a local writer and psychologist who took up stand-up about a year ago, after retiring from nearly four decades as a therapist.

"My opening line is, 'I've been a therapist for close to 40 years, and since I'm retired, the most logical next step is to do stand-up comedy, right?'" Courtney said.

Courtney, 69, had spent enough time being the adult in the room to know that starting as a beginner at anything is unpleasant. Comedy added a few specific indignities: She had to learn how to hold a microphone without getting tangled in the cord, she had to learn the difference between a bit and a sketch, and she had to learn that open mics and comedy classes do not generally cater to people who prefer to be home before 7 p.m.

She also found herself surrounded by younger comics whose material often took a more anatomical focus.

"When I first was going to comedy classes, I realized that a lot of jokes that other comedians tended to make were about penises," she said. "I'm not that uptight, by any means, but that is not what my material is."

Instead of forcing herself toward someone else's version of funny, she built her act around what she actually knows: marriage, parenting, grandparenting and the ongoing mystery of getting Instagram to work.

"My material is life," Courtney said. "Everything from being a parent, being a grandparent, not knowing anything about technology."

Courtney said audiences seem to find that perspective refreshing. For her, the stage has also become a place to practice being seen, something she said feels especially meaningful for women.

"I really don't want to feel ashamed about being on stage and taking up space," she said. "Comedy has helped with that."

Sarina Ochoa arrived at the comedy scene via an entirely different route.

Based in Albuquerque, Ochoa spent years treating mixed-martial arts as what she calls a full-time hobby. She trained for hours each day, had several amateur fights, and, in 2023, had her first professional MMA bout. She lost, decided she needed a break from training and looked for something else to do with her time.

"I eventually worked up the courage to do an open mic and basically never looked back," Ochoa said. "Now comedy is my full-time hobby. And a much less painful one."

Boulder has already played a strange supporting role in Ochoa's extracurricular life -- She once fought a boxing match at the Boulder Theater in 2023.

Her comedy draws from her daily life, which she describes as naturally vulgar, and she often turns to her wife for inspiration.

"I write a lot about my wife," Ochoa said. "She's hilarious and I never get tired of speaking about her on stage."

Ochoa performs Wednesday at Junkyard Social Club, followed by shows on June 18 and June 19 at the Dairy Arts Center. She performed at the Dairy last year during the Colorado Queer Comedy Festival and said she enjoys the formality of a theater, even if her material may not always behave accordingly.

"It feels almost too nice for the things I'm going to say up there, and that is what I'm most excited for," Ochoa said.

Rogers, who also performs on June 21 at the Dairy Arts Center, said the festival's continued growth depends on the same thing most live arts events depend on: people actually leaving the house.

"When people say, 'How do you support people in the arts?' I'm like, buy tickets," Rogers said. "That's how you support people in the arts."

The full Boulder Comedy Festival schedule, lineup and ticket links are available at bouldercomedyfestival.com. All shows are 18 and older. more

Career development

 6h

EnsembleIQ Recognized for Empowering Career Growth and Creating Advancement Opportunities


CHICAGO, June 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EnsembleIQ, North America's leading source of insightful information and actionable connections in retail, healthcare and hospitality, has been recognized by workplace evaluation firm Comparably in its "Best Career Growth" category as a leader in career development and workplace growth. This is the second time that EnsembleIQ has been recognized in this... category.

This honor is based on ratings voluntarily and anonymously submitted to Comparably by EnsembleIQ employees over the past year regarding satisfaction with professional development opportunities.

Jennifer Litterick, Chief Executive Officer, EnsembleIQ said, "We are very pleased to be recognized as a company that fosters employee career growth. Our employees are the foundation of our business success. By investing in our workforce, we have built a strong culture, driven innovation and achieved sustainable results."

EnsembleIQ is dedicated to cultivating a workplace where professional growth and lifelong learning are integral to the employee experience. Through comprehensive development programs and a strong commitment to advancement, EnsembleIQ empowers team members to build meaningful careers. Employees have access to clearly defined career pathways, providing visibility into future opportunities. EnsembleIQ supports continuous development by rewarding employees who achieve goals outlined in their personalized development plans, including completing training courses, leading projects, expanding cross-functional knowledge through job shadowing and sharing expertise with colleagues. In addition, the program recognizes and celebrates key career milestones while enabling employeesto proactively identify and develop the skills, knowledge and experiences needed to achieve professional growth through a structured framework.

Ann Jadown, Chief People Officer, EnsembleIQ added, "I am incredibly proud of our comprehensive career development program. By offering clear career paths across every department, we have given our team a tangible roadmap for future growth. Our program isn't just about the next promotion; it's about empowering our employees to identify the skills they want to grow and the experiences they want to have. And to keep momentum high, we've built in incentives to celebrate those who hit their milestones and share their insights with their peers, fostering a true culture of collaborative learning."

Additionally, EnsembleIQ was previously was honored by Comparably in the Best Leadership Teams category, as a Best Place to Work in Chicago and Canada's Best Employers for Recent Graduates.

To learn more about EnsembleIQ, click here, and view open positions at EnsembleIQ here.

About Comparably

Comparably (a ZoomInfo company) is a leading platform for workplace culture insights and compensation data, empowering employees and job seekers to make more informed career decisions. With 20 million anonymous employee ratings across nearly 20 core culture metrics, covering 70,000 companies, Comparably provides one of the most comprehensive datasets on workplace culture, salaries, and leadership. Trusted by employers and job seekers alike, Comparably is the go-to resource for employer branding and workplace culture. For more information, visit www.comparably.com.

About EnsembleIQ

EnsembleIQ is the premier resource of actionable insights and connections powering business growth throughout the path to purchase. We help retail, technology, consumer goods, healthcare and hospitality professionals make informed decisions and gain a competitive advantage. EnsembleIQ delivers the most trusted business intelligence from leading industry experts, creative marketing solutions and impactful event experiences that connect best-in-class suppliers and service providers with our vibrant business-building communities. To learn more about EnsembleIQ, visit ensembleiq.com.

Media Contact

Nicola Tidbury

Senior Director, Marketing

EnsembleIQ

[email protected] more

Career development

 7h

What The Changing Entry-Level Job Market Means For UK Tech Career-Changers


Kirsten has worked in career development, recruitment, and people-focused roles for several years. She knows what it's like to navigate career change and to search for a role that's more aligned with your goals; she's proud of the work she does to help our customers develop the tools, mindset, and confidence to land jobs they're proud of.

The First Step Into A New Field Has Changed

The latest... government entry-level hiring snapshot highlights that roles are moving with the wider labour market. Hiring has slowed down across the board. In summary, "entry-level" no longer means "basic".

Employers still hire people starting in a field, but they want clearer evidence that career starters are equipped with the right foundational skills.

The report found that 30 of 38 tracked entry-level occupations were declining in April 2026, while eight were growing. These roles - in areas like sales and business development - show that people-facing, commercially useful skills such as communication are extremely valuable. This is unsurprising as the line between "technical" jobs and "people" jobs has "collapsed entirely" over the past decade.

AI And The Entry-Level Job Decline

Although AI is a key part of the conversation, the report stays realistic about its impact. AI is changing entry-level hiring for roles with a lot of monotonous tasks - the data does not prove that AI is the primary cause of the overall decline. Employer selectivity, looser labour markets and skills mismatch are all pulling in the same direction.

The market is no longer just asking, "have you studied this?", it's questioning, "can you step into this work stream and add value quickly?".

Employers Want Specific Skills, Not Just Potential

One of the most significant findings is the skills mismatch.

In selected occupations - including data analytics - the government found zero overlap between the top 10 skills employers struggled to find and the top 10 skills candidates most commonly offered. Candidates often lead with broad analytical skills, general knowledge or transferable experience. Employers are asking for specific operational capability.

That could mean using the right tools, understanding delivery processes, working with data, protecting systems, managing projects, or applying AI responsibly inside a role.

The Skills England Annual Skills Report 2026 points in the same direction. More than a quarter of vacancies are hard to fill because of skills shortages. Priority occupations in key sectors like tech, construction and defence are projected to grow by around 1.8 million jobs by 2035, a 24% rise from 2025.

Significant reskilling is essential to tackling this, with around two-thirds of new entrants into priority occupations being expected to need Level 4+ qualifications.

Top 10 skills in shortage vs surplus

(Source, GOV.UK, 2026)

Career-Changers Need Proof, Not Permission

For career-changers in the UK, this gives a clearer idea of what skills you should develop for a more successful job search.

"Your past experience absolutely still counts. Communication, problem-solving, commercial judgement and resilience all matter. But they need to sit alongside job-ready skills that employers can recognise quickly: the correct balance of hard skills and soft skills is essential.

That is where vocational qualifications, practical projects and career-focused learning earn their place. They turn from a mere interest in tech or project management, into "I can analyse data, support a project, secure a system, or build with the tools employers use."

Build Skills Employers Can See

Our courses allow career-changers to build recognised qualifications in IT, cybersecurity, data analytics, coding and project management, backed by career support, to help you evidence your skills clearly to prospective employers. Speak to a Career Consultant to kick-start your new career. more

Eliot Feldman
Career development 5d
How do you proactively manage your career development to ensure you are consistently moving toward your goals?

  • Eliot Feldman

    2
    7h

    One of the things I discuss with my clients is to define what FORWARD actually means.

  • Samuel Obina

    2d

    By being constructively conscious of the level you are in, regularly building on your knowledge base trough research and extensive reading

Load more...

Career development

 7h

EnsembleIQ Recognized for Empowering Career Growth and Creating Advancement Opportunities


Named by Comparably as a Best Career Growth Company

CHICAGO, June 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EnsembleIQ, North America's leading source of insightful information and actionable connections in retail, healthcare and hospitality, has been recognized by workplace evaluation firm Comparably in its "Best Career Growth" category as a leader in career development and workplace growth. This is the... second time that EnsembleIQ has been recognized in this category.

This honor is based on ratings voluntarily and anonymously submitted to Comparably by EnsembleIQ employees over the past year regarding satisfaction with professional development opportunities.

Jennifer Litterick, Chief Executive Officer, EnsembleIQ said, "We are very pleased to be recognized as a company that fosters employee career growth. Our employees are the foundation of our business success. By investing in our workforce, we have built a strong culture, driven innovation and achieved sustainable results."

EnsembleIQ is dedicated to cultivating a workplace where professional growth and lifelong learning are integral to the employee experience. Through comprehensive development programs and a strong commitment to advancement, EnsembleIQ empowers team members to build meaningful careers. Employees have access to clearly defined career pathways, providing visibility into future opportunities. EnsembleIQ supports continuous development by rewarding employees who achieve goals outlined in their personalized development plans, including completing training courses, leading projects, expanding cross-functional knowledge through job shadowing and sharing expertise with colleagues. In addition, the program recognizes and celebrates key career milestones while enabling employees to proactively identify and develop the skills, knowledge and experiences needed to achieve professional growth through a structured framework.

Get the latest news

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Sign up for The Manila Times newsletters

By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Ann Jadown, Chief People Officer, EnsembleIQ added, "I am incredibly proud of our comprehensive career development program. By offering clear career paths across every department, we have given our team a tangible roadmap for future growth. Our program isn't just about the next promotion; it's about empowering our employees to identify the skills they want to grow and the experiences they want to have. And to keep momentum high, we've built in incentives to celebrate those who hit their milestones and share their insights with their peers, fostering a true culture of collaborative learning."

Additionally, EnsembleIQ was previously was honored by Comparably in the Best Leadership Teams category, as a Best Place to Work in Chicago and Canada's Best Employers for Recent Graduates.

Advertisement

To learn more about EnsembleIQ, click here, and view open positions at EnsembleIQ here.

About Comparably

Comparably (a ZoomInfo company) is a leading platform for workplace culture insights and compensation data, empowering employees and job seekers to make more informed career decisions. With 20 million anonymous employee ratings across nearly 20 core culture metrics, covering 70,000 companies, Comparably provides one of the most comprehensive datasets on workplace culture, salaries, and leadership. Trusted by employers and job seekers alike, Comparably is the go-to resource for employer branding and workplace culture. For more information, visit www.comparably.com.

About EnsembleIQ

Advertisement

EnsembleIQ is the premier resource of actionable insights and connections powering business growth throughout the path to purchase. We help retail, technology, consumer goods, healthcare and hospitality professionals make informed decisions and gain a competitive advantage. EnsembleIQ delivers the most trusted business intelligence from leading industry experts, creative marketing solutions and impactful event experiences that connect best-in-class suppliers and service providers with our vibrant business-building communities. To learn more about EnsembleIQ, visit ensembleiq.com. more

Career development

 7h

Mass Client Communication Has Changed Completely. Too Bad Many Professionals Are Still Using the 2016 Playbook - Slaw


Ten or fifteen years ago, the professional who sent a newsletter, mailed a holiday card, and maintained an updated LinkedIn profile was considered ahead of the curve.

The bar was low. Showing up, in almost any form, was enough.

Today, that communication strategy blends into the background. This is not because newsletters stopped working, direct mail disappeared, or LinkedIn became oversaturated.... It was because client expectations changed, attentions changed, the way we build trust changed. The shift was gradual, then sudden, and now permanent.

Where We Were Five to Ten Years Ago

In the mid 2010s, most mass communication followed a fairly predictable formula. Law firms, accounting firms, consultants, and professional service organizations typically relied on:

* General monthly or quarterly newsletters sent to the full contact database

* Direct mail pieces included as holiday cards and firm updates

* LinkedIn profiles served primarily as online résumés

* Email blasts with identical messaging sent to every contact

* Websites that acted more as digital brochures than business development tools

At the time, this worked reasonably well. Inbox competition was lower. Search driven content strategies were still uncommon in many professional sectors. Most importantly, clients were not overwhelmed by content.

The Pandemic Accelerated Everything

COVID did not create the communication shift but it accelerated it dramatically. In person networking disappeared overnight. Conferences stopped. Client lunches stopped. Informal relationship building became difficult or impossible.

Professionals who had invested in digital visibility and consistent communication suddenly had a major advantage. Their clients already knew them. Their networks continued hearing from them. Their visibility remained intact.

Clients became far more selective about what they paid attention to, and that shift never reversed.

What Actually Works in 2026

Fast forward a few years and the communication environment today is not necessarily more complicated, but it is far less forgiving. Generic communication gets ignored. Relevance matters more than volume. Consistency matters more than polish.

Newsletters Have Become Narrower and More Useful

Clients no longer want six unrelated updates bundled into a single email written in institutional language. Most do not have time for it. What performs better today is:

* Short emails focused on one issue

* Clear relevance to a specific audience or industry

* A recognizable human voice

* Commentary and perspective, not just information

* Consistent cadence without overproduction

In many cases, the highest performing emails barely resemble traditional marketing pieces at all. They read more like informed notes from an expert. The distinction matters.

LinkedIn Is No Longer Optional

For professionals, LinkedIn has evolved from a résumé platform into a visibility and credibility platform.

Clients check profiles before meetings, often before they read your website biography. Referral sources observe activity over time. Prospective clients form opinions long before direct contact happens.

The firms and professionals performing well on LinkedIn are usually not the loudest but they present, consistently.

What is trending:

* Sharing practical observations and informed opinions

* Engaging in conversations

* Publishing consistently rather than sporadically

* Speaking to client problems, not internal accomplishments

What is missing the mark:

* Award announcements as the primary content strategy

* Corporate sounding posts with no perspective

* Publishing only when there is something to promote

* Trying to sound overly polished or overly strategic

Interestingly, much of this is the same advice I would have given ten years ago. The difference is that today it is no longer optional.

The most important part of social media is "social." The media platform is simply where the interaction happens. Once you have figured that out, you are ahead of the game.

Direct Mail Is More Intentional

Digital overload has made thoughtful physical communication more valuable again.

Mass printed newsletters and generic holiday cards still don't work. However, highly targeted, timely outreach does.

A handwritten note tied to a client milestone, industry announcement, referral, or meaningful interaction can stand out precisely because so little communication feels personal anymore.

The key difference is thoughtfulness. It is easy to say "congratulations" on LinkedIn - LinkedIn practically does it for you. It takes effort to write a note, stamp it, and mail it and that is why it matters more.

Search Visibility Quietly Drives Business Development

One of the biggest shifts over the past decade is how professionals are discovered. Clients increasingly search before they reach out. They search for answers to specific problems. They search for industry expertise. They search for professionals who appear active, knowledgeable, and visible.

This is one of the biggest conversations I am having with clients right now. Many organizations are sitting on years of expertise, insight, and institutional knowledge that never becomes visible externally. Meanwhile, competitors who communicate more consistently are shaping perception in the market.

The Bigger Shift Behind All of This

The real evolution is not technology, it is behaviour. Professional communication used to be largely one directional. Today, communication is far more relationship driven.

Clients want to know how professionals think, not just what services they offer.

The Professionals Winning Attention Today

The professionals standing out in 2026 are rarely doing one dramatic thing differently. Most are doing several small things consistently. They publish useful insights regularly. They engage with their network. They communicate with specificity. They have a recognizable voice and sound like themselves. They understand that visibility compounds over time.

Most importantly, they recognize that communication is no longer separate from business development or relationship management.

What Happens Next

The next shift is likely not about producing more content. Artificial intelligence makes it easier to generate articles, emails, posts, and video content. That does not necessarily mean communication will improve, there will just be more of it. As content generation becomes easier, judgment, perspective, and strategic thinking become more valuable.

In a marketplace increasingly filled with automated communication, the professionals who will stand out over the next five years will be the ones whose communication feels informed, thoughtful, recognizable, and human.

They are the ones saying something worth paying attention to. more

Career development

 8h

How to manage your first Salary: 6 Essential financial habits for young professionals


After years of studying, side hustles, internships or job hunting, there's finally money landing in your account with your name on it. You've probably spent years imagining that moment. Then it arrives and disappears almost immediately.

Suddenly you're expected to know how to budget, build credit, save for the future, invest, manage debt, help family if needed, and somehow still have enough left... over to enjoy your life. The reality is that while school and university prepare you for a career, they don't always prepare you for the financial decisions that come with earning your first salary.

It's no surprise that many young South Africans feel overwhelmed by money decisions in the early years of their careers. And while most focus on budgeting, saving and investing, many overlook one of the most important financial building blocks of all: protecting their income and future earning potential. Recent ASISA research found that South Africans under 30 have just 32% of the disability cover they need and just 12% of the critical illness cover required to adequately protect themselves financially.

The good news? Getting your financial life on track doesn't require a massive salary. It starts with a few smart habits from your very first payslip.

Here's a six-step playbook for making better money moves, right from the start.

1. Think Ahead

"It's difficult to imagine our future selves, so we tend to take care of our present selves instead," says Farzana Botha, Communications Manager at Sanlam Risk & Savings. Neuroscientists call this the Stranger Effect: brain imaging shows that when people think about themselves in 10 years' time, the same neural networks activate as when they're thinking about a complete stranger. This makes financial planning difficult... and it makes it a lot easier to spend money on instant rewards.

But Botha says that it's not about making a choice between buying things for Today You or investing in Ten Years' Time You. "The best advice you could get as a young person is to lose that either/or mentality," she says. "It's about doing both, buying the things you need today, while making a contribution - however small - to long-term goals like investment and insurance."

2. Start Small

Let's be real: young people don't avoid buying insurance because they don't want it; they're underinsured because they think they can't afford it. Botha has a practical solution. "Do 10 small things, rather than doing one big thing and neglecting the other nine," she says. "Break your salary down into small chunks, and work towards each of your financial goals. Make small contributions towards savings, investment, short-term insurance, life cover, and so on. Even if your contributions are small to start with, you'll still be putting yourself in a better position in the long run. And the good news is, as a young person, you can often get great deals on insurance cover."

3. Ignore The Influencers

Social media, advertising, and peer pressure all reinforce the idea that success looks like travel, luxury, beauty, and curated lifestyles. "This creates a subtle but powerful pressure to 'keep up'," warns Afua Darko, Business Head at Sanlam Credit Solutions. "And it drives your spending decisions, which are sometimes supported by easy access to credit. The result is a focus on matching external expectations, rather than building long-term financial security."

4. Manage Your Credit

Speaking about credit... While it can help with important "adult" purchases (like a car or a home), if credit is not managed well, it can turn into debt that must be repaid. "Credit itself is neither good nor bad," says Darko. "When used responsibly, it can be a powerful enabler."

Darko also encourages first-time earners to sign up for a free credit report through a reputable provider and review it regularly. "Your credit report gives you visibility into your credit score and helps you track how you're managing debt over time," she explains. "It's also one of the easiest ways to spot early warning signs before they have a bigger impact on your financial future."

The problem arises when credit is treated as an extension of income, rather than a short-term financial instrument. "Many young earners fall into the trap of using credit to sustain lifestyles they cannot yet afford," Darko explains. "Ultimately, the goal is to shift the mindset from using credit for consumption to using it with intention. Credit should support building a stable financial future, not compromise it. That starts with a critical foundation: protecting your income and your financial base first. Without that safety net, even well-intentioned credit decisions can quickly become financial risks."

5. Learn

The youth insurance gap is also an education gap. "Many young people simply haven't been taught how to think about risk, protection, or long-term financial planning," says Darko. "These are not concepts that are consistently taught in schools, and in many cases, they're also not modelled at home - not out of neglect, but because previous generations may not have had access to the same knowledge or tools."

Botha agrees. "A lot of young people are coming out of school without financial education, and coming out of varsity with debt," she says. "If you don't know what to do, that pressure can lead you into making bad financial decisions. But if you know what the consequences of your decisions will be, then you'll be able to operate with clarity and confidence - taking care of your present, building towards your future, and protecting yourself against the things you can't see coming."

6. Speak to an adviser

According to Sanlam's 2025 Financial Confidence Index, 45% of young South Africans already have financial planning through a bank or financial adviser. Make sure you're not part of the 55% who don't.

Access to information has never been greater, and the Internet is breaking down traditional barriers to financial education... But Fintok and Finfluencers will only take you so far. You need personalised advice that's relevant to you and your circumstances - and that's where a financial adviser comes in. No matter how young you are, how small your salary is, or how modest your savings are, a financial adviser can help you find the right solutions for your budget.

"The opportunity now is to make financial protection just as aspirational as lifestyle spending," Darko concludes. "It's not a grudge purchase; it's a smart, empowering choice." more

Hussaini Abdulhaleem
Career development 1w

i am a computer science graduate for upto two years now i dont have a job, i have been applying and applying, but nothing has come out of it🤦🏾‍♂️

  • Aluonzi Emmanuel

    9h

    Perfectly said! My friend I trust that if you simply take the necessary steps above, your actions will yield fruits with faith in God who blesses work... of our hands.
     more

  • Tony Briscoe

    6
    1w

    Tech is challenging. I work at a university. If you don’t have AI under your belt I highly recommend you take the free classes by Anthropic. It will... get you started and you can leverage your book knowledge to create a solution. As an engineer, don’t think about working for anyone. You have the ability to solve problems. Start small business solutions, do some volunteer work to build your experience. Work on getting your first two to three clients and you will expand from there. more

    1

Career development

 9h

Influential Women showcases Vanessa M. Perez, MBA, CPRW: founder advancing educational equity and career access.


PUEBLO, CO, UNITED STATES, June 12, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Doctoral Scholar and Nonprofit Founder Champions Workforce Development, Adult Learning, and Economic Mobility for Underserved and Nontraditional Learners

Vanessa M. Perez, MBA, CPRW, is a corporate marketing analyst, workforce development researcher, nonprofit founder, and doctoral scholar whose work focuses on expanding access to... meaningful educational and career opportunities for individuals facing significant barriers to employment and economic mobility. Through her professional, academic, and community-driven initiatives, she is dedicated to advancing workforce equity, strengthening career readiness systems, and improving long-term outcomes for nontraditional learners.

Raised in Pueblo, Colorado, by a single mother who did not complete high school, Vanessa grew up in poverty and developed an early awareness that opportunity is not equally distributed. At just sixteen years old, she became a teenage mother -- an experience that profoundly shaped her determination to break generational cycles through education, perseverance, and service to others. These lived experiences continue to inform her work and fuel her commitment to creating pathways for individuals who face systemic and personal barriers.

Vanessa's academic journey reflects her dedication to growth and educational achievement. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Colorado State University Pueblo and later completed her Master of Business Administration at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. She is currently completing her Doctor of Education in Applied Educational Sciences at the University of Miami, where her research focuses on workforce development, adult learning, and improving career outcomes for nontraditional learners. Her academic interests include educational equity, workforce access, and systemic barriers affecting adult learners, first-generation college students, military-affiliated students, and justice-impacted individuals.

Professionally, Vanessa's background spans workforce development, higher education, career services, and corporate marketing. In her current role as a Corporate Marketing Analyst, she supports strategic marketing initiatives through research, analytics, and data-informed decision-making that contribute to organizational growth and engagement. Her work focuses on transforming data into actionable insights that enhance communication strategies and support organizational objectives.

Before transitioning into corporate marketing, Vanessa worked in higher education career services, where she developed and implemented career readiness initiatives designed to support students and alumni as they transitioned from education into the workforce. In this role, she worked directly with hundreds of individuals navigating complex career pathways, helping them build confidence, identify opportunities, and develop professional skills essential for long-term success.

As a Certified Professional Résumé Writer (CPRW), Vanessa has also designed and facilitated workshops on résumé writing, interviewing, networking, LinkedIn optimization, and professional branding. Her efforts have focused on equipping adult learners and nontraditional students with the tools and strategies needed to successfully compete in today's evolving job market. Through this work, she has emphasized empowerment, confidence-building, and practical workforce preparation.

In addition to her professional and academic accomplishments, Vanessa is the Founder of VMP Career Pathways, a nonprofit organization dedicated to career readiness, mentorship, and workforce development support for at-risk youth and women rebuilding their lives after domestic violence. Through this initiative, she works to expand access to education, career development resources, and sustainable employment pathways for underserved populations. Her organization is grounded in the belief that opportunity, when made accessible, can transform lives and communities.

Vanessa's work is deeply rooted not only in academic research but also in lived experience. Having personally navigated adversity, she approaches her professional and community engagement with authenticity, empathy, and a strong belief in the transformative power of education, resilience, and opportunity. These guiding principles continue to shape her mission and inform her approach to workforce development and advocacy.

Faith plays a central role in Vanessa's life and professional outlook. She attributes much of her success to her Christian faith, which has provided strength and stability through some of the most challenging periods of her life. Growing up in poverty, becoming a mother at a young age, and navigating personal and professional obstacles required resilience that she believes was strengthened through her spiritual foundation.

Her faith has instilled in her values such as perseverance, humility, compassion, and service to others. These principles continue to guide her work today, particularly in her efforts to support individuals who may feel discouraged or limited by their circumstances. Vanessa's goal has always been to use her opportunities to help others recognize their potential and build better futures for themselves and their families.

Faith has also shaped her perspective on success, teaching her to remain grateful even during difficult seasons and to view challenges as opportunities for growth. She believes success is not measured solely by personal achievement, but by the positive impact one has on others. Ultimately, she attributes her accomplishments not only to hard work and education, but also to the guidance, strength, and perspective provided through her faith.

One of the most impactful pieces of career advice Vanessa has received is to focus less on titles and more on purpose. Early in her career, she was encouraged to pursue meaningful work and prioritize service to others, with the understanding that opportunities and recognition would follow naturally. This guidance has remained central throughout her professional journey.

Rather than focusing on external validation, Vanessa has consistently prioritized creating meaningful impact in the lives of those she serves. Her work centers on supporting individuals facing significant barriers, including first-generation college students, adult learners, veterans, and individuals rebuilding their lives, by helping them develop confidence, skills, and access to meaningful career pathways. She has learned that when work is grounded in purpose and service, success becomes a natural byproduct.

Vanessa encourages young women entering education, workforce development, or public service fields to remain committed to their purpose, even when the path becomes challenging. She emphasizes that meaningful careers require resilience, patience, and continuous personal growth.

She also advocates strongly for education and personal development as tools for empowerment. According to Vanessa, knowledge, preparation, and discipline not only create opportunity but also equip individuals to advocate for themselves and their communities.

Most importantly, she encourages women not to allow their background or circumstances to define their future. Having faced significant obstacles herself, she understands the importance of persistence and self-belief. She emphasizes that growth comes from continued effort, reflection, and alignment with core values.

Vanessa also highlights one of the most pressing challenges in workforce development and higher education today: the disconnect between academic preparation and employer expectations. Many graduates enter the workforce without sufficient practical experience or career readiness training, making the transition more difficult than it should be.

At the same time, nontraditional learners -- including adult students, first-generation college students, veterans, and working adults -- often face additional barriers related to time, financial responsibility, and competing life demands. These factors can significantly impact persistence and completion rates.

Despite these challenges, Vanessa sees tremendous opportunity for transformation. She believes that stronger partnerships between educational institutions and employers can bridge the gap between education and workforce needs. By creating more flexible, practical, and inclusive pathways, society can ensure that talent and potential -- not circumstance -- determine opportunity.

The values that guide Vanessa's personal and professional life include faith, integrity, perseverance, and service to others. Her Christian faith continues to shape her leadership style, encouraging humility, compassion, and gratitude in all areas of her life.

Integrity remains central to her approach, as she believes in honesty, accountability, and consistency in all actions and decisions. Whether working with students, colleagues, or family members, Vanessa strives to ensure that her values are reflected in everything she does.

Service to others is the foundation of her career. Much of her work has been dedicated to helping individuals overcome barriers and access opportunities they once believed were out of reach. She considers this work both a responsibility and a privilege, as it allows her to contribute to meaningful, long-term change in people's lives.

Outside of her professional and academic pursuits, Vanessa has been married for eighteen years and is the proud mother of two children and grandmother to her young granddaughter. Her family remains a constant source of inspiration and motivation in her work, reinforcing her commitment to building a meaningful legacy of advocacy, empowerment, and service.

Through her research, leadership, nonprofit work, and corporate contributions, Vanessa M. Perez continues to champion equitable access to education and career mobility. Her work reflects a lifelong commitment to ensuring that individuals from all backgrounds have the opportunity to achieve stability, purpose, and economic independence.

Learn More about Vanessa M. Perez:

Through her Influential Women profile: https://influentialwomen.com/connect/Vanessa-Perez

Influential Women

Influential Women provides a platform where women from all backgrounds can connect, share their perspectives, and create content that empowers themselves and others. Through storytelling, thought leadership, and creative expression, Influential Women amplifies voices that inspire change.

Editorial Team

Influential Women

email us here

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability

for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this

article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above. more

Career development

 19h

Jobberman equips Ondo youths with labour skills


Jobberman, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, has equipped young people in Ondo State with employability and career development skills aimed at preparing them for the changing demands of the labour market.

According to a statement, the initiative formed part of the Ondo edition of Jobberman's Career Clinic, held in Akure under the theme "Blueprint for Success: Building Skills for the... Future of Work".

The event brought together students, graduates, job seekers and career development experts to discuss career opportunities, workplace trends and strategies for professional growth.

Speaking at the event, the Country Head of Programmes at Jobberman Nigeria, Olamide Adeyeye, urged young people to approach their career development with purpose and clear planning.

According to him, the future success of Nigeria depends largely on the preparedness and contributions of its youth.

"The time has come for deliberate policy reforms that will strengthen Nigeria's reputation in the global workforce ecosystem. We must create an enabling environment that gives young Nigerians equitable access to opportunities, empowers them with the skills required for the future of work, and positions them to compete confidently and successfully on the international stage," Adeyeye said.

He also called on the federal and state governments to implement policies that would create more opportunities for young people and eliminate barriers that hinder their participation in the labour market.

Delivering the keynote address, a Senior Human Resources Professional at Johnvents Industries, Pamela Elekwachi, urged participants to be intentional in designing their career paths and personal development plans.

"Financial instability does not affect only the individual; its impact often extends to family, friends, communities and the wider society. This is why young people must intentionally position themselves for growth and sustainability," Elekwachi said.

She identified continuous learning, upskilling, networking, mentorship, relationship-building and volunteering as critical factors for career success.

Elekwachi added that employers increasingly seek candidates with practical skills, adaptability and relevant experience in addition to academic qualifications.

"Success becomes easier when you learn from those who have successfully navigated the path before you. Jobberman has demonstrated expertise in career development and can provide the guidance young professionals need to build and execute a strong personal blueprint for the future," Elekwachi said.

Participants at the event described the programme as impactful and beneficial, with ThankGod Friday declaring that the training had changed his perception of career development and employability.

"This programme has changed my perspective on career development and employability. I have learnt practical skills that will help me position myself better in the labour market. I appreciate Jobberman for creating this opportunity for young people like me," he said.

Another participant, Rebecca Akinadewo, said the session on writing a professional curriculum vitae was particularly useful: "The session on writing a professional CV was my favourite because it exposed me to mistakes I had been making and showed me how to present myself better to employers. I am leaving this programme more confident and prepared for future opportunities."

Highlights of the career clinic included fireside chats on personal branding, job search strategies, artificial intelligence and digital tools for career growth. Participants also took part in career counselling sessions, networking activities and interactive discussions with industry professionals.

The event attracted representatives of the Ondo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, the Ondo State Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, professional bodies and other stakeholders in youth empowerment and workforce development. more

Jozef Alexi


Career development 2d
I'm a student looking for a part-time job as a waiter in a cafe. On my first day they told me to work for free so they could see if I was good enough for the job. I worked 10 hours.
The next day the same thing happened. I worked another shift and still didn't get paid.
Now it's the third day in a row. They want me to work another free shift and say that if everything goes well, they'll... officially hire me on Monday.
But I don't really trust them. Maybe this is their trick - they keep bringing in new people, make them work for free for a few days, and then replace them with someone else without paying. What do you think?

 more
3   

  • Douglas Converse

    22h

    Tell then you don't work for free. You must be paid for your time.

  • Collette J

    1d

    i can offer u your request reach out to me

Load more...

Career development

 22h

What looks like stability in today's workforce may actually be caution | Federal News Network


Terry Gerton Matt, I'd like to start with you. This new research out for the Economist Group talks about the quit rate. We talk about the unemployment rate, we talk about a lot of labor metrics. What is the quit-rate, and why should we be paying attention?

Matt Terry Yeah, so the quit rate is the rate of people quitting their jobs basically. And that rate has actually fallen to a low that it's... been the lowest in probably the last decade. So workers are not leaving their jobs as frequently. They're kind of job hugging is what we've called it in the research at unprecedented levels. And it's not always because they love their jobs. We see economic turbulence going on right now, hiring freezes, increased redundancies with the rise of AI. There's just a lot of uncertainty going on and people are increasingly opting for predictability in their employment, stable incomes and stable benefits. So, people are opting increasingly for predictability, stable income and stable benefits over potentially promising prospects at a new job. So they're less likely to jump from job to job and more likely to just hold on to what they've got. We found in our survey that 62% of respondents said in that sort of trade-off, they would choose long-term job security over higher pay. So we really see kind of a trend setting in that we've labeled the 'Great Stay' where people are just sticking in their jobs.

Terry Gerton In a healthy labor market, what would you expect that quit rate number to be?

Matt Terry It's traditionally been a little bit higher than it has been. I don't have the exact figure with me right now, but I think it's around 2% right now. So quite low. And one thing we find is that in the last five years, our respondents have stopped job searching, specifically due to the fear of losing that security. So we found 30% have reported stopping their job searches and half say they have done that within the last 12 months. So rising insecurity is really kind of on the increase and happening across the board.

Terry Gerton Brendan, what thoughts do you have about the quit rate?

Brendan McCarthy We definitely see it here, you know, as a hiring manager and a competitive industry, I'm always trying to recruit top talent. And sometimes I'm successful. And a lot of times lately people do not want to leave their their job security. And I think some of that has to do with, if you think of the environment that we came out of -- so we're, I don't know what we are, five or six years now out of the pandemic. And that was a major shift and a lot of people took career risks during the pandemic and some of it, you know, they might've gotten used to what was a virtual environment for a short time being that came back to normal. And I think we all probably know of people that took a major career change back then. A lot of those might not have paid off in the long term, you know, so I think a lot us know people that might've been displaced and then try to re-enter a thriving economy, but also in an inflationary period with increasing costs of living and may have ended up in a difficult position financially, and I think a lot of people, you know, are trying to avoid that now. So, I think that that plays in a little bit to the psyche of employees that they really do value job security. They will pass up on a greater opportunity to go into a new firm, just if they feel secure and comfortable in their job and they know their paycheck is dependable. They are a lot of times passing on opportunities and just staying where they feel comfortable and secure.

Terry Gerton Well, Matt, let me come back to you, speaking about uncertainty and job security. Let's talk about the subset of your respondents that are from the federal government. Those folks have gone through a lot of uncertainty over the past 18 months or so. What does the data tell you about how they're perceiving job security, mobility, and their quit rate?

Matt Terry Yeah, so we don't have a quit rate statistic, I don't think, for government employees specifically, but our survey was conducted late 2025, so, you know, right at the tail end of a lot of federal layoffs and a lot of uncertainty going on there. And we did see strong trends among government workers for prioritizing job security. We asked a question of them: what keeps them working in government? What are the biggest factors for why they stay? And job security was the number one on that list. I think 60% of respondents marked that among their top choices. So it is top of mind, although at the same time, government employees do express some of the least fear of losing job security. Perhaps that's just the nature of their work and the jobs that they're in. But yeah, some interesting trends there definitely in the data.

Terry Gerton I'm speaking with Brendan McCarthy, he's the head of retirement investing for Nuveen, and Matt Terry is research manager for the Economist Enterprise. Brendan, let me come back to you because there's some data in this survey about retirement planning. So, we're talking about job security, but in this turbulent kind of environment, you mentioned inflation, some other things, are people delaying retirement? And if so, what are they thinking about when they're thinking about retirement planning?

Brendan McCarthy Yeah. And unfortunately, people are delaying retirement. We're seeing delays in retirement, even in the government sector that we just talked about. People are delaying retirement up to three years. It's four years or longer in the private sector. So they're delaying in retirement because they are seeing this as a couple of major contributing factors. One is this increased cost of living. So they're seeing the increased cost of living. But to add to that, they're living longer. So if you take a 65-year-old today, which is the number you should be looking at, you shouldn't be looking at general U.S. Life expectancy, you should looking at 65-year-olds. A 65-year-old today has a 25% chance of living to age 95 or longer. So in fact, a 65- year-old couple, there's a 46% chance that one of the two of them will live to age 90 or longer, so now people are living 30 years or longer in retirement and unfortunately what's happened is guaranteed income has all but gone away in the private sector. So, a generation ago, go back 30, 40 years ago, 70% of American workers who had access to a workplace retirement plan in the private sector were in a DB or pension plan. Those have gone away, that number's down to 11% today. So most are in a 401k plan and we have this new generation of workers retiring predominantly without any form of guaranteed income other than their social security, which we know is not enough. And so they're feeling very insecure approaching retirement. And as such, you're dealing with this new, It's a common term out there, the reluctant retiree. That, you know, for corporations in particular, that can have a heavy toll on the bottom line because you are increasing, it's a dramatic, you can talk to any CFO, it's a very dramatic effect on workforce costs when people delay their retirement one, two, three, three years and longer. So it's not great for the company, it is not great for the individual either. You want them to be able to retire on time and not feel like they should be able to work up and through their expected retirement date. That all comes down to retirement security. You know, I'll go on for this just a quick, you know, what do they do? There is fortunately, this is heavily recognized down in Washington. So there's a lot of work going on in Washington to bring guaranteed income back to retirement plans. And there's been a number of bills passed already. And in fact, there's a number of them floating around that will propose actually requiring retirement plans to have a guaranteed income option for employees so that the American worker can now work up to their retirement and then feel that they have a secure retirement. You can actually get that pension, you can get that guaranteed income that is associated with a pension, which has gone away for most Americans. You can now actually get through your 401k plan. So there's products that have come to market and there's legislation that's been passed that enable your workplace to find contribution plan, whether it's a 401k, 457 or 403b, it can now have an option of guaranteed income. So what was historically a savings, just a retirement savings plan, can now also be a retirement income plan for the American worker.

Terry Gerton Matt, let me come back to you. You mentioned a term up at the beginning of this conversation, job hugging. It used to be sort of an article of faith that if you wanted to progress in your career, you were eventually gonna need to move somewhere, take a different job, maybe change companies. If people are hugging their current job and they're not making those kinds of moves, what's the long-term implication for that in terms of career advancement, increased salaries, job progression?

Matt Terry Right, no, it's definitely a big concern. Obviously with people less likely to jump from job to job, pursue those traditional career development pathways, there is a risk for them that they kind of remain locked into certain situations. And so it's a trend that we're keeping a close eye on in the research. I mentioned a stat earlier that 60% of government employees are prioritizing job security at the moment as one of the reasons why they stay where they are. Along with that, just 22% said that opportunities for professional development or training are keeping them in their jobs. So it's much lower on the priority list and maybe an area that should be looked into a little bit more as something that can be implemented to help these workers who need those career opportunities.

Terry Gerton Brendan, let me come back to you. Let's think about policy lessons that you take from this data. You talked about one, which is recreating the opportunity for more fixed income structure in retirement. Are there other policy lessons you'd want folks to take from the data in terms of workforce management or workforce incentives or the benefit compensation structure?

Brendan McCarthy You know, I think the key thing is benefits matter, you know, and they're mattering. The pricing on benefits has changed. They matter more now to employees than they did a generation ago. We are seeing all sorts of signs of workers choosing jobs for lower pay because of a better benefit package. And I think, you know, primarily amongst the benefit package is the retirement plan. If you think of government sector, we talked about that being one of the most insulated sectors, historically. we talked about job security, which was key. You know, people feel secure in government jobs, or historically have, I should say. They also knew their retirement. So they knew they worked a certain amount of years because government jobs historically have had pensions. They knew what was coming to them in terms of retirement and that provided them with security. And that, unfortunately for the private sector, that has gone away. So I think in terms policy reform, there has been an unprecedented amount of retirement policy reform already. There was the Secure Act of 2019 and then there was the Secure 2.0 Act a couple of years ago. There is already work on a version of Secure 3.0 going on down in Congress. So you're going to continue to see that retirement policy reform, but a lot of it is geared towards. In particular, that fact that pensions have gone away in America for the majority of American workers, guaranteed income is no longer something they can count on in retirement. And Washington wants to see that come back. I've seen estimates of upwards of three or four trillion that would fall back onto social services if, you know, we have this volume of people, which EBRI -- I'll give you one statistic. The Employee Benefit Research Institute is now estimating that upwards of 40 percent of American households are at risk of running out of income in retirement. So it's a real risk and Washington's aware of it and it is one of those issues that does fortunately have bipartisan support and they have been moving on it and I think you'll continue to see that retirement reform so that for the American worker in the future and a lot of it is starting now. A lot your companies can get these products now but Washington will help mandate. You know, we feel that Washington's heading towards a where they will require your workplace retirement plan to provide you with that option of guarantee, easily converting that hard-earned retirement savings into guaranteed income.

Terry Gerton And Matt, last question to you, does this data change what's maybe been the conventional wisdom about the federal worker willing to settle for lower pay because of a better benefits package and a dedication to the mission? Does this tell us they're getting more salary sensitive?

Matt Terry It's possible. There are some signs in our data that show government workers are maybe more likely to prioritize pay in certain cases. So times are changing. The stability that was once, you know, very common in government jobs may not be as common anymore. But yeah, it just goes to show that workers have very changing priorities.

Terry Gerton I'm most interested, this administration seems to think that hiring government workers is a very elastic labor market. And I think that's kind of counter to conventional wisdom, like, oh, well, if we lose 300,000, whenever we want more, we can just hire more.

Matt Terry Yeah, I don't wanna speculate too much on what the administration's doing, but there are obviously a lot of risks in making big workforce decisions like that that affect a lot people. People feel a tie to their jobs and they need some baseline level of security. And if they don't get that, we definitely see their willingness to prioritize benefits, prioritize different things that they need to fit their changing situations. more

Edward Tim
Career development 1d

I got employed last month after about 5 years of freelancing. We work in an open office, and I am surprised that employees have shouting battles with the management as we watch. When I asked around, I was told that this is normal. I don’t know how to evolve to this environment, as in my previous formal employment, challenging the management would lead to dismissal.
3   

  • Randall Giancaterino

    27
    1d

    Sounds more like a family than a workplace. Although, I was in the newspaper business, and the atmosphere, actions, attitudes were open, unrestricted,... and emotional, as you described. more

  • andrew wedeck

    3
    1d

    very strange. Are they union employees?

Load more...

Career development

 1d

Why English Communication Skills Are Becoming Essential in Modern Recruitment


Preparing for a job interview is stressful in any language. When the interview is in English, the pressure can feel even higher. You may worry about grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, listening, confidence, or whether you will understand the interviewer's questions. The good news is that you do not need perfect English to have a successful interview. You need clear communication, strong... preparation, and the ability to explain your skills with confidence.

Learning English for job interviews is different from studying general English. In daily conversation, you may talk about hobbies, the weather, travel, or family. In an interview, you need to describe your experience, explain your strengths, answer behavioral questions, ask professional questions, and show that you are a good fit for the role. That requires a more focused type of preparation.

A strong interview performance comes from knowing what to say, how to say it, and how to handle unexpected questions. With the right practice, you can sound more professional, organized, and confident even if English is not your first language.

Understand the Job and the Company

Before practicing your English answers, make sure you understand the job. Many candidates focus only on language, but interview success also depends on preparation. Read the job description carefully and identify the most important skills, responsibilities, and qualifications.

Look for keywords related to:

➔ Technical skills

➔ Communication skills

➔ Leadership

➔ Problem solving

➔ Customer service

➔ Teamwork

➔ Project management

➔ Industry knowledge

Then, research the company. Visit its website, read the "About" page, look at its products or services, and review recent news or updates if available. Try to understand what the company does, who its customers are, and what problems it solves.

This helps you answer questions more effectively. Instead of giving general answers, you can connect your experience to the company's needs. For example, instead of saying, "I am good at communication," you might say, "In my previous role, I communicated with customers every day, which would help me support your client service team."

Learn Common Interview Questions in English

Most job interviews include a few common questions. You should prepare answers before the interview, but do not memorize them word for word. Memorized answers can sound unnatural. Instead, prepare key points and practice saying them in different ways.

Common English interview questions include:

➔ Tell me about yourself.

➔ Why are you interested in this position?

➔ What are your strengths?

➔ What is one weakness you are working on?

➔ Why should we hire you?

➔ Tell me about a time you solved a problem.

➔ Describe a challenge you faced at work.

➔ How do you handle pressure?

➔ Where do you see yourself in five years?

➔ Do you have any questions for us?

When studying English for job interviews, focus on questions that are likely for your role. A software developer may need to explain technical projects. A salesperson may need to describe results and customer relationships. A manager may need to discuss leadership, conflict resolution, and team performance.

Prepare a Strong "Tell Me About Yourself" Answer

"Tell me about yourself" is often the first interview question. It is not an invitation to share your full life story. It is a professional summary of who you are, what you do, and why you are a good fit for the job.

A simple structure is:

➔ Your current role or background

➔ Your most relevant experience

➔ One or two key strengths

➔ Why you are interested in this opportunity

For example: "I have three years of experience in customer support, mostly helping small business clients solve account and billing issues. In my current role, I handle customer questions by phone, email, and live chat. I am known for staying calm under pressure and explaining solutions clearly. I am interested in this position because I want to use my customer service experience in a company that focuses on long-term client relationships."

This answer is clear, professional, and focused. It also gives the interviewer a reason to continue asking about your experience.

Use the STAR Method for Behavioral Questions

Many interviews include behavioral questions. These questions ask about real examples from your past. They often begin with phrases like "Tell me about a time..." or "Give me an example of..."

The STAR method can help you organize your answer:

➔ Situation: What was happening?

➔ Task: What was your responsibility?

➔ Action: What did you do?

➔ Result: What happened because of your action?

For example, if asked, "Tell me about a time you solved a problem," you could say: "In my previous job, our team received many customer complaints about delayed responses. I was responsible for helping improve our reply time. I created a shared tracking sheet so we could see urgent messages more easily. I also suggested short response templates for common questions. As a result, our average response time improved, and customers received answers faster."

The STAR method helps you avoid long, confusing answers. It also makes your English sound more organized and professional.

Build Interview Vocabulary

A job interview requires specific vocabulary. You should be comfortable using words that describe experience, achievements, teamwork, and goals.

Useful interview words and phrases include:

➔ Responsible for

➔ Experienced in

➔ Skilled at

➔ Strong background in

➔ Worked closely with

➔ Improved

➔ Managed

➔ Developed

➔ Supported

➔ Resolved

➔ Increased

➔ Reduced

➔ Collaborated

➔ Led a team

VMet deadlines

➔ Learned quickly

➔ Adapted to change

It is also useful to practice phrases that show confidence without sounding arrogant:

➔ "One of my strengths is..."

➔ "I am especially proud of..."

➔ "I learned a lot from that experience."

➔ "I would describe myself as..."

➔ "I believe I would be a strong fit because..."

➔ "In my previous role, I had the opportunity to..."

Try to use vocabulary that matches the job description. If the posting mentions "client communication," use that phrase in your answers. If it mentions "data analysis," prepare examples that include those words.

Practice Speaking Out Loud

Thinking about answers is not enough. You need to practice speaking them out loud. Speaking activates different skills than reading or writing. You need to pronounce words clearly, organize ideas quickly, and sound natural.

Practice in these ways:

➔ Record yourself answering common questions.

➔ Listen for unclear pronunciation or long pauses.

➔ Time your answers so they are not too long.

➔ Practice with a friend, teacher, tutor, or language partner.

➔ Repeat answers using different words so you do not sound memorized.

➔ Practice smiling and speaking with calm energy.

Most interview answers should be between 45 seconds and two minutes. Very short answers may sound weak. Very long answers may lose the interviewer's attention. Aim for clear, complete, and focused responses.

Improve Pronunciation and Clarity

You do not need a perfect accent for a job interview in English. You do need to speak clearly enough that the interviewer can understand your message. Pronunciation practice can help you sound more confident and professional.

Focus on:

➔ Important words in your industry

➔ Your job title and previous company names

➔ Numbers, dates, and achievements

➔ Common interview phrases

➔ Words that are difficult for you to pronounce

➔ Sentence stress and pacing

Slow down slightly if you are nervous. Many English learners speak too fast during interviews because they want to sound fluent. Speaking too quickly can make pronunciation harder to understand. A steady pace is better.

You can also use short pauses to organize your thoughts. It is acceptable to say, "That is a great question. Let me think for a moment." This sounds professional and gives you time to answer.

Prepare Questions to Ask the Interviewer

At the end of the interview, you will usually be asked, "Do you have any questions for us?" Always prepare questions. Asking thoughtful questions shows interest, confidence, and professionalism.

Good questions include:

➔ "What does success look like in this role?"

➔ "What are the main priorities for this position in the first few months?"

➔ "How would you describe the team culture?"

➔ "What are the biggest challenges the team is currently facing?"

➔ "What opportunities are there for learning and growth?"

➔ "What are the next steps in the interview process?"

Avoid asking only about salary, vacation, or benefits in the first interview unless the interviewer brings them up. Those topics are important, but your first questions should show interest in the role and company.

FAQ About English for Job Interviews

Do I need perfect English for a job interview?

No. You need clear, professional communication. Employers usually care more about your skills, experience, attitude, and ability to explain your ideas.

What should I do if I do not understand a question?

Politely ask for clarification. You can say, "Could you please repeat the question?" or "Do you mean that you would like an example from my previous job?"

Is it okay to pause before answering?

Yes. A short pause is natural and professional. You can say, "Let me think about that for a moment," before giving your answer.

Should I memorize interview answers?

No. Prepare key points, but do not memorize full answers. Natural answers sound more confident and authentic.

How can I sound more professional in English?

Use clear structure, polite phrases, strong action verbs, and specific examples. Avoid slang and overly casual language.

What if I make a grammatical mistake?

Keep going. One grammar mistake will not ruin the interview. Focus on communicating your idea clearly.

How long should my answers be?

Most answers should be about 45 seconds to two minutes. Use enough detail to answer the question, but stay focused.

Final Interview Preparation Tips

The day before your interview, review your notes, but do not overload yourself. Practice your most important answers, check the interview time, prepare your clothes, and test your technology if the interview is online.

Before the interview, review:

➔ The job description

➔ Your resume

➔ Your strongest achievements

➔ Your STAR examples

➔ Your questions for the interviewer

➔ Key vocabulary for the role

If the interview is virtual, test your camera, microphone, internet connection, and background. Keep a copy of your resume nearby and have a glass of water ready. If the interview is in person, plan your route and arrive early.

Most importantly, remember that an interview is a conversation. You are not only being tested. You are also learning whether the company and role are right for you.

Final Thoughts

Preparing for a job interview in English takes more than studying grammar. You need to understand the job, prepare strong examples, practice common questions, improve your speaking clarity, and learn professional vocabulary. The more you practice, the more confident you will feel.

English for job interviews is a practical skill. You can improve it with focused preparation and real speaking practice. You do not need to sound perfect. You need to sound prepared, clear, and professional. When you know your message and can explain your value, you give yourself a much better chance of making a strong impression. more

Charlotte Baker


Career development 4d
I work at a small company where everyone goes to the pub on Friday evenings with their husbands or wives. I don't go very often, and I never bring my boyfriend because I don't really want to be part of that whole family-style group. Lately, though, my coworkers have been asking if I even have a boyfriend and seem annoyed that I don't join them. How can I get them to stop asking and leave me alone... about these Friday pub outings?

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2   

  • Tony Briscoe

    1d

    People are human. Sounds like a personable company where people have a sense of care for one another. With that said, they must respect your choice to... keep your private life private. If they are insistent upon asking then set a boundary and choose not to go to the outings. more

  • Jim Nicholson

    2d

    Simply tell them you have other plans. (Work-out, shopping, meeting OTHER friends, family obligations, etc.)

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Ralph Lee


Career development 1w
At our company we never get raises or bonuses. Instead, the boss gives us company mugs, bags and notebooks. After a successful deal or project he buys us pizza. I know I'm getting paid what we agreed on, but it would be nice to get some kind of reward once in a while. That never happens.
What do you think? Should I hint that money would be more appreciated than getting a fifth mug with the... company logo on it?

 more
4   

  • B Cause

    1d

    You mentioned the word never twice. But you don't mention how long you've been with this company. 10 years without ever getting a raise is a big... difference from one year without giving a raise. If you have been with the company more than two years and you have not gotten a raise you can set up a time to meet your employer and ask for a raise yourself. List the reasons you think you deserve one, including the cost of living, projects you've worked on, and things you have done to generate the company more money. If it's 3 years, no raise, and the boss is not willing to negotiate with you, then look for a new job. more

  • Sheila Milburn

    3d

    Truth is you shouldn't get rewarded for performing the job they pay you to do. Monetary awards should come from going above and beyond. Ex., saving... the company a large amount of money or bringing in new clients.  more

    -1
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Career development

 1d

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