Blog
Debra Wheatman, President of Careers Done Write, provides expert insight to the job search process that puts your career in gear with tips for interviewing, networking, job search strategies and how to create a winning resume and cover letter.
Are you doomjobbing? Here’s how to avoid the burnout.
The modern job hunt can feel less like a career transition and more like a psychological endurance test. If you have ever found yourself awake at 2:00 AM, eyes glazed over, mindlessly clicking the "Easy Apply" button on LinkedIn for roles you barely qualify for or even want, you aren't just job hunting. You are doomjobbing….
Mind the Gap
We all know that the current job market is an employer’s market. We hear stories of candidates who go through multiple rounds of interviews, submit work for free, and create presentations as part of the recruiting process only to receive a curt “thanks, but no thanks” email from the recruiter. It can be a harrowing, soul-sucking endeavor. The labor market is particularly tight right now, and it is not unusual to see professionals who have been out of work for extended periods. Employers know this, but many are still fixated on “gaps in employment….”
Perishable Code, Enduring Minds
This week, Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, was booed as he delivered a commencement address to the University of Arizona’s graduates. He told graduates that AI would "touch every profession" and urged them to embrace it, famously saying, "When someone offers you a seat on the rocket ship, you do not ask which seat. You just get on." To a stadium full of roughly 10,000 graduates facing an incredibly daunting entry-level job market, the message was widely criticized as tone-deaf "AI cheerleading." Students felt the billionaire tech investor was minimizing very real economic anxieties about automation, eliminating the exact jobs they had just spent four years training for….
The Myth of Meritocracy
The term “meritocracy” has undergone a radical and perhaps tragic linguistic evolution. Coined not as a goal to be achieved but as a warning to be avoided, the concept originated in Michael Young’s 1958 satirical novel, The Rise of Meritocracy. Young’s dystopian vision of a future Britain was organized by a rigid social formula: Intelligence + Effort = Merit. In this world, social status was no longer determined by the circumstances of birth or aristocracy, but by objective metrics like IQ. Yet, this shift did not create a more just society; instead, it created a more arrogant one. Young’s primary thesis was that meritocracy is not a solution to inequality, but a more sophisticated way of justifying it….
The Downfall of Betamax and Why “Best” Is Subjective
Our story begins in the early 1970s, when several electronics companies were experimenting with ways to bring video recording into ordinary households. Before videocassette recorders, consumers had little control over television viewing. Programs could only be watched when they aired unless someone had access to expensive professional recording equipment….
The Strategic Advantage of Pre-Interview Prep
The primary argument for pre-interview preparation is equity. Candidates, even highly skilled ones, can be prone to intense interview anxiety. When a nervous candidate is forced to scramble for a specific example while sitting in a sterile room, their cognitive load skyrockets. They are no longer demonstrating their professional problem-solving skills; they are struggling with memory retrieval and social anxiety….
Managing Your Career within the Paradox of Productivity
The history of technology is often defined by a frustrating lag between innovation and economic realization. In the late 1980s, the economist Robert Solow famously remarked that the computer age was visible everywhere except in productivity statistics. Today, we are witnessing a digital déjà vu. According to a recent Fortune magazine study that surveyed nearly 6,000 CEOs and executives, approximately 90% of firms report that AI has had no measurable impact on productivity or employment levels over the past three years. For a professional looking to future-proof their career, this productivity paradox is not a sign of AI’s failure, but rather a blueprint for how to remain indispensable in an era of work-slop, which is what happens when people use generative AI to increase their output without applying human oversight….
Kairos: Use the Force to Land Your Next Job
The ancient Greeks defined three primary modes of persuasion: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, which focus on the speaker's credibility, the audience's emotions, and logical facts, respectively. Aristotle argued that a truly effective argument does not rely on just one of these pillars, but rather a balanced integration of all three. Beyond these primary modes, the Greeks emphasized Kairos, the opportune moment to deliver a message. While the three primary pillars provide the substance of an argument, Kairos acts as the glue that ensures an argument succeeds by being delivered in the correct context….
From Desks to Toolbelts
For decades, the American Dream followed a linear script: graduate high school, secure a four-year degree, and climb the corporate ladder toward a corner office. Skilled trades—plumbing, electrical work, HVAC, and carpentry—were often framed as "Plan B" options for those who weren't cut out for academia. However, as we move through 2026, a cultural and economic shift is underway. Prestige is no longer found in the cubicle or on a Teams call; it is being rediscovered on the job site….
Chasing the White Whale: How Corporate Jargon and the Myth of Perfection Stifle Innovation
The corporate landscape is often described as a “fast-paced, agile environment,” yet anyone who has sat through a 90-minute steering committee meeting knows the reality is frequently the opposite. While technological aspects of business may have accelerated, a secondary, self-imposed weight has begun to grind the gears of industry: corporate jargon. Far from being a harmless linguistic quirk, the proliferation of buzzwords such as synergy, digital ecosystem, and disruptive alignment acts as a cognitive tax. Recent research and organizational observations suggest that excessive jargon is not just a nuisance; it is a primary driver of sluggish decision-making and can serve as a convenient mask for incompetence….