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.
When Failure Becomes Opportunity
In your career, turning failure into success is less about avoiding mistakes and more about how you respond. Treat failure as feedback, not a dead end. Act quickly to correct the course. Heed lessons, document mistakes, and avoid mishaps in the future. Leverage your failure for innovation. Take calculated risks and celebrate learning….
Don’t Fall into a Heuristic Trap
Heuristics are mental shortcuts that our brains use to make decisions quickly. Rather than carefully analyzing a situation, we rely upon past experiences, core beliefs, and patterns to come to a quick conclusion. These solutions may not be optimal, but given the limited time and information available, they are incredibly useful. People use this sort of intelligent guesswork, trial and error, process of elimination, and experience to solve problems or chart a course of action. In a world that is increasingly complex and overloaded with big data, heuristic methods simplify and accelerate decision-making through shortcuts and good-enough calculations. Without leveraging heuristics, our brains would suffer cognitive overload….
The Language of Limitation
Language is one of the most powerful tools a leader possesses. The words chosen shape culture, signal priorities, and influence how people perceive change, risk, and possibility. Effective leaders understand that language is not just a medium for communication—it’s a mechanism for motivation, trust, and alignment. Using words that inspire curiosity creates an environment where people feel empowered to contribute ideas and take ownership of outcomes. Language doesn’t just describe an organization’s culture. It builds it….
Create a Culture of Data Literacy
“Data is the new oil” is an overused metaphor that describes the potential value of data in the modern economy. Like oil or any other commodity, data doesn’t become truly valuable until it is refined and processed. Data on its own is neither good nor bad, but it is undoubtedly useless. It must be collected, cleaned, analyzed, and interpreted before it can be applied to a business problem. In the current oil boom that is the data-driven economy, companies that wish to be disruptive and innovative must intentionally foster and instill a culture of data literacy throughout their organizational DNA….
Common Advice to Job Seekers That Misses the Mark: “Just Start Your Own Business”
The idea that an individual can rise from humble beginnings and achieve greatness and success through determination, hard work, and ingenuity is a deeply ingrained component of the American Dream. Anyone can make it here! All you need is the drive, the gumption, the risk appetite! Look at all these entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley! In this precarious job market, a common piece of advice repeated ad nauseam online, in career journals, and at networking meetings is some version of “You should just start your own business.”….
Be Bold, Brash & Audacious and Stay on the Air
When you stay ready, keep showing up, and hold fast to your standards, you position yourself to seize the moment that can change everything. The world may not believe in your vision at first, but conviction paired with audacious execution can turn even the boldest idea into history….
Ridiculous Demands from Hiring Companies
This job market is tough, and the job descriptions and requirements are becoming more absurd. There seems to be a pervasive attitude among some hiring companies and managers that the best way to source talent is to insult, degrade, belittle, and humiliate candidates via their inane processes and demands. A visit to the /antiwork or /recruitinghell subreddits will enlighten the casual reader on the craziness that is out there. And “crazy” doesn’t even begin to describe some of what’s going on. Companies wanting 10 years of experience with software that’s been around for 5, demanding 5 years of experience for entry-level roles, and insisting that candidates must work unreasonable hours are nothing new. But we have now reached a new level of incongruity. Here are some real-world examples of what is happening out in the trenches….
Experienced Professionals and Long-Term Unemployment
The current job market is a tough one. Across many industries, most noticeably the tech sector, hiring has slowed, and employers are prioritizing skills over credentials. Candidates face fiercer competition, especially for mid- and senior-level roles, and protracted job searches. As of August 2025, about 25.7% of all unemployed persons in the U.S. had been jobless for 27 weeks or longer. For seasoned professionals who have spent years, even decades, building careers, long-term unemployment presents a significant challenge and a severe blow to the ego….
Optimize Your Resume for AI
It is a fact of corporate life that, when applying for jobs, we must engage with ATS systems. They are the gatekeepers between candidates and employers, and they can scan resumes to filter candidates based on keywords, formatting, and relevance within seconds. To improve your chances of getting noticed, it’s essential to understand how they work and optimize your resume accordingly….
AI Bots in the Interview Process
Imagine this. You’re invited to a virtual interview. You log on, the interviewer appears on screen, and begins asking questions. But something seems off. The questions are standardized and seem scripted. The exchange feels impersonal. You are unable to read body language. The cadence of the interviewer’s voice is odd. The interview itself seems highly structured and time-boxed. You may not be interviewing with a person at all; instead, you might find yourself on the other side of the screen from an AI bot….