Stop daydreaming and start making moves

There’s a look people get when you ask them how their job search is going… and they tell you nothing’s happened. A little embarrassed, a little defensive. 

Because work isn’t so miserable that they have to move on, like, RIGHT NOW. 

Because it’s been so impossible to make time to reach out to their networks and update their portfolios. 

Because with the market so competitive, is it even fair to throw another hat in the ring? Is it even worth it to go through the rigamarole just to get ghosted and rejected like everyone else?

I know people who’ve been saying these things for years now. I worry that they’ll be saying them for years to come. And that when the urgency finally kicks in, they’ll be full of regret. 

If you are one of these people, I beg you: Stop daydreaming and start making moves. 

There are costs to “waiting it out.” In the short term: it feels bad. Resentment, hopelessness, and cynicism all ferment when you’re stuck. Your brain fixates on everything wrong and bad: the people that get under your skin, the projects that languish, the processes that bog down your work. 

That negativity is exhausting—and, over time, it erodes your ability to find goodness, excitement, and inspiration elsewhere. While you stagnate, you think: I bet that other org (or team, or initiative, or opportunity) will be as much of a bummer as this one. Why bother?

Once you’re in that headspace, very little feels motivating enough to try for something new… unless you’re forced to—say, because of a layoff or big org change. And now you find yourself thrust on the job market on someone else’s terms. You’re panicked and rushed. Your confidence is shredded. 

And somehow, in that headspace, you’re supposed to pitch yourself and your experience? Celebrate your contributions? Champion yourself to a new team? HOW?

It’s a deep hole to climb out of. And however safe it feels to settle—it won’t save you from eventually having to do all the things you were avoiding in the first place. 

My advice: Equip yourself for opportunity with the same ferocity you’d use to protect yourself against danger. 

So often, the barrier to change is being unprepared when the right moment appears. Because opportunities are always around us—we just have a hard time seeing them (or seeking them out) when we’re focused elsewhere.

When we’re prepared—when we know what we want and how to talk about it—making moves stops feeling grueling and starts feeling empowering.

It becomes obvious when, say, a job posting lands in your feed and you know right away that it’s a good fit. You can scan it quickly and tell that it checks enough of your boxes—and then pounce. 

Being prepared means your application materials are submission-ready, so you won’t find yourself trying to crank out a brand-new portfolio overnight—or maybe worse, letting the opportunity pass you by because you didn’t have time to get your materials together.

What’s also gone? The guilt and pressure of feeling like you’re supposed to apply to everything that crosses your desk. Because it’s never been a numbers game. But when you don’t know what would make something a YES for you, it’s hard to say no to anything—and your whole life feels like throwing resumes into the void.

Being prepared makes all that relational work everyone tells you to focus on easier, too. It’s less daunting to reach out to your professional network—or to respond in the moment when you run into someone at an event or meet someone new—when you can describe what kind of work you’re looking for or the environment you want to be in. When you can speak to what’s special about you. 

It’s never going to be frictionless—but it doesn’t have to hurt so bad. And it doesn’t have to feel like something so chaotic you want to avoid it at all costs… and end up missing out on something great. 

Because there’s no perfect time. And even if “now” feels scary, I suspect “never” feels even worse. So if you know in your bones you want something else… start now. We’re here to help. 

Get yourself prepared for the opportunities you want by joining us at Career Clarity Days. It’s a two-day program designed to help you stop spiraling about your portfolio or the state of the market—and start positioning yourself in ways that actually work right now. And it’ll be led by me and two other experts on getting hired in design right now: Margo Stern, author of Good Job: Designing Interviews & Interviewing in Design, and Josh Silverman, a design recruiter and career coach.

Over the course of the weekend, you will: 

Early-bird ticket: $359
Now through August 4

Need-based ticket: $149
Limited quantity available