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Josh Bob shared thisThe best hire I ever made was someone who made me feel dumb. Every meeting, she asked a question I hadn't thought of. Every decision I was about to make, she found the angle I'd missed. Every strategy I thought was solid, she poked holes in until it actually was. Some leaders would've felt threatened by that. I felt relieved. Leaders who hire people smarter than them build the best teams. The ones who hire people they can manage build teams that stop growing. Insecure leaders hire down. They want to be the smartest person in the room... so they are. And the room suffers for it. Confident leaders hire up. They want to be challenged. And everyone gets better because of it. So if you're a leader reading this: The next time someone in an interview makes you feel slightly outmatched, pay attention to that feeling. That's not a threat. It might be exactly who your team needs.
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Josh Bob shared thisI'm not ashamed to admit that I cried a little when I read Michael's card. Here's what you can't possibly know: His search was long. Long enough that he didn't write "this means the world to me." He wrote "means the world to me and my family." Read it again... "Patience" is the word you use when it took a while. "The past period of time" is what you write when you'd rather not count the months. That's the part nobody warns you about: A stalled search doesn't stay at your desk. It follows you to dinner. It hangs out at your family events. It climbs into bed with you. Then the offers came in. Not one, but two in a week. The higher of the two was still less than he'd been making in his last role. After a search that long, most people would just sign it. You're tired, your family is tired, and a job is a job. He didn't sign it. Instead, we negotiated another $27,500 onto that offer. That brought him to 10% above his most recent salary. So the offer that was a step backwards turned into a raise. And now he's the Head of Developer Advocacy at a rising company. But that's not the part of the card I keep rereading. At the bottom, he wrote a line to my family: "Y'all rock - thank you for supporting Josh in his work to help folks like me land a new job." He's right. They do rock. And they do support me. I've spent a ton of hours working with Mike and other job seekers, and I can't do it without their love and support. One search. One new job. Two families celebrating. It says so much about someone's character that he takes the time to thank people he's never met. So congratulations, Michael. You earned it, and then some. If your search has stopped moving and it's starting to follow you home, message me.
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Josh Bob shared this"I'm interested! Let's connect!" is not an application. It's noise. I posted a job listing last month. Instructions for applying were in one line at the bottom. It was a simple CTA: "Send me an email." Within 24 hours I had dozens of DMs from people saying "I'm interested! Let's connect!" And a comment section full of the same. So let me save you some time. Here's what hiring managers actually do when they see it: Nothing. Because that comment tells them exactly nothing about you. Not who you are. Not what you bring. Not why you're the right person for the role. It's the professional equivalent of walking into a job interview and saying "I'd like a job please." If you see a role you actually want, here's what to do instead: 1. Read the job description twice. 2. Go to the company's careers page and apply directly. 3. Find the hiring manager on LinkedIn and send a specific message about why this role and why you. 4. Get a referral from someone on the inside if you can. That's it. 4 steps. None of them involve commenting "interested" on a LinkedIn post. Referred candidates get an interview 40% of the time. Cold applicants see offer rates around 2 in 1,000. That gap is the whole game, and none of it happens in a comment section. Remember this the next time you see a job posting you actually want.
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Josh Bob shared thisMy #1 hiring policy: "No A**holes." I interviewed someone a few years ago who spent 10 minutes telling me why his last company was beneath him. He had the skills. He had the experience. He didn't get the job. He'd built some amazing things. But I said "no" because of how he talked about the people he'd built them with. I've sat across from VPs who treated the coordinator scheduling their interview like an inconvenience. Directors who couldn't remember the name of a single person on their last team. Principal ICs who talked about juniors like they were obstacles. Take credit in the interview. You earned it. Just recognize that humility isn't the opposite of talent. So here's what I do: I talk to the coordinator. I talk to the recruiter. I talk to every interviewer, because the policy only works if I ask everyone. It's not always about manners. (I don't care if you bring iced coffee to the interview) How you talk about your last team is sometimes the only free sample I get of how you'll talk about mine. So I use it. Every time. You don't get to decide which parts of the interview process count.
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Josh Bob shared thisI know you’re tired. I know the month is almost over. The bills are real. The silence is loud. But hear me clearly: This is not the end of your story. I’ve seen this too many times. The offer that came “out of nowhere.” The call after weeks of nothing. The email that changed everything. Momentum in a job search is invisible… until it’s not. So if you’re this close to giving up… don’t. Refine your story. Send the message. Follow up again. The right opportunity can still land before this month ends. And when it does, you’ll be glad you didn’t quit. If you’re in the middle of it right now, I see you. Keep going.
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Josh Bob shared thisReferrals are almost worthless these days. I've screened resumes for my own teams for two decades. Referrals used to be a big deal. One would come in, and the recruiter would actually notice it. That person was getting an interview, even if it was just a courtesy. Now, a referral reaches them as one more file in the pile. Think of it as just another application, but with a post-it that says "referred by Jim." When the recruiter has 250 applications to slog through, they don't care about that post-it. (Sorry, Jimbo!) But an introduction is different. When someone I trust puts you in front of me and explains why you fit? That's valuable. It costs your contact more social capital. That's exactly why it works. So the next time someone says "send me your resume," ask: "Who on the hiring team could you introduce me to?" The rest of who to talk to, and in what order, is in this week's edition.
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Josh Bob shared thisReferred candidates get hired at roughly 10x the rate of cold applicants. But you're not asking for one because you're worried it'll get weird. I've also been on the receiving end of that message for 20 years. I remember about none of the senders. It's only weird when you skip the steps before the ask: ✅ Build the relationship first. 2 genuine interactions before you ask for anything. A comment. A message. A shared connection who introduced you. Be a person first. ✅ Ask for a conversation, not a referral. "I'd love to hear about your experience at X. Would you be open to a 15-minute call?" That's it. The referral comes after trust is built. Not before. ✅ Make it easy to say yes. "If you felt our conversation went well, I'd be grateful for a referral. I'll send my resume and a 2-sentence note. Just forward it if it makes sense." You're doing the work for them. ✅ Give them an out. "No pressure at all if the timing isn't right." That line removes the pressure that makes people say no. ✅ Close the loop no matter what. Got the role or didn't - let them know. They put their name on the line for you. That deserves a message. Which step do you skip? Be honest. (I already know it's the first one.)
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Josh Bob shared thisSome of you are sitting at tables that don't deserve you. I know, because I spent 6 months at one. Company leadership openly bad-mouthed their team members during the interview process. I should never have said yes, but I did. Maybe yours looks different. You took the offer below your number because the search dragged on. You stayed in the role that stopped growing you years ago because leaving felt too risky. You got small in interviews because somewhere along the way you started believing the market's version of you instead of your own. Stop for a second. You know what you've accomplished. The problems you solved. The teams you made better. Some of those results are still running right now. That's a track record. It deserves a table that can see it. Not every one will. Some will lowball you. Some will look past you. Some will make you feel greedy for knowing your own number. Those aren't your tables. Be so sure of what you bring that you'd rather eat alone for a while than sit at the wrong one. The right one for you is out there. The people at it are going to wonder how they ever got along without you. Don't give up before you find them.
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Josh Bob shared thisBefore we'd had a single call, K had already decided what she was worth. After? She landed $20K above her own ceiling. When we started working together, K had a number in mind that felt like a reasonable ask: About 20% over what she was making at her last role. Here's the problem: When you pick your number before you know what the market pays, you've negotiated against yourself. And usually, you're doing that because you're telling yourself that's all you're worth. So we didn't start with the number - we started with her story. How she talked about her impact. What the hiring manager would see her delivering, not just where she'd been. Then the offer came, and she asked for more. Clearly, with the evidence behind it. Why her prior work meant she would rock their world from day 1. They believed her, and said yes to her first ask. 35% over her old salary. $20K a year she'd have left on the table. And they told her she's already on the list for a promotion. She did the reps. She did the asking. I gave her the system and she made it look easy. Congratulations, K. You're worth every dollar of this and much more. (and double congrats on your engagement - everything's coming up K!!) If you've already picked your number and it feels "reasonable," message me. Let's find out what the market actually says.
Josh Bob commented on a post
32m
THIS POST IS GOLD, MIKE ROSENBERG!! 🚀✨
Such a powerful reminder that authenticity isn't just a buzzword — it's a strategy.
In today's fast-paced digital landscape, it's easy to get lost in the noise, MIKE ROSENBERG. My key takeaway: Boundaries + Vibes = Engagement
What's one strategy that YOU use to keep your comment section authentic? Drop it below!
#authenticity #ThoughtLeadership #AI #Engagement #Slop #Slop #Sloppy #Sloppiest #Sarcasm
Josh Bob replied to a comment
5h
Pamela Adams Right, room to push back is one of the most valuable things a leader can give.
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Josh Bob reacted on thisJosh Bob reacted on thisFive years ago, Daniel Botero was a LinkedIn connection. Today, I finally got to meet him in person. ❤️ And somehow, this feels much bigger than a photo. Exactly 3 years ago, Daniel invited me onto his How to Get a Job podcast. Here's that episode: https://lnkd.in/gEBvhiQq At the time, we had never met in person. We connected through LinkedIn, stayed in touch, and kept supporting each other because of our shared passion for career coaching and helping people build better careers. Fast forward to October 2026… I’m standing beside Daniel in his hometown of Orlando, Florida. Same smiles. Different setting. A very different chapter. What a full-circle moment. And what a beautiful way to begin a new month. I’m in Orlando for Daniel’s inaugural Career Coaches Live, surrounded by some of the most incredible career coaches across North America. I’ll be spending the next few days learning, sharing, laughing and connecting with Reno Perry, Adam Broda, Prashha Dutra, Richa Bansal, Pavi Theva, Mukhtar Kadiri, Dominic Imwalle, Giselle Moratin, MBA, Josh Bob, Marina Petrović, Alexander Harlan, Ana Maria Michelsen, Michael Daleo, Mariana Franco, SHRM-CP, Debra Shaw and so many others. I’m also incredibly excited to learn from Sanket Khanwalkar and Sedat Akkus from CoCareer, who have built a mind-blowing AI-powered platform specifically for career coaches. I feel incredibly humbled and grateful to be part of this room. Because sometimes, the best thing LinkedIn gives you isn’t a job lead, a client, or a follower. It gives you people. People who start as strangers. Then become connections. Then collaborators. And eventually, friends you get to hug in real life. Here’s to full-circle moments, meaningful friendships, and a beautiful October ahead. 🙏❤️
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