unemployed

Hey LinkedIn I’ve been unemployed since the end of August 2020 due to the covid pandemic. Been looking for work since and am still open to work.

Unemployed

Nisbets

Retail Assistant

John Lewis & Partners

Catering Assistant

On A Mission To Help Jobseekers By Networking.

Julia Mc

If you can see this please, please share. 

I wouldn’t usually keep asking BUT: 

This job market has defeated me. 

It’s been a long 5+ years with no job or income since I was made redundant from my full time position as a Retail Assistant in a kitchen shop in August 2020. 

I’ve tried so hard to find work and have applied to 2k+ jobs since. 

I’ve had about 2-3 handfuls of interviews in that time, a ton of rejections and more applications have been completely ignored than ever. 

This experience has made me feel lost and overwhelmed, frustrated and upset. 

I have a dream to start my own online creative business and I AM taking steps towards that, however, I know overnight success is unlikely and therefore, I believe I still need to find work alongside starting. 

I never expected to be unemployed for so long and I’m extremely worried about everything. 

I’ve kept applying to paid jobs even when I’ve felt like giving up. 

I’ve put in the effort. 
I’ve done the interviews. 

And I’ve nothing to show for it… 

So here I am, letting you know that I’m still very much open to work. 

I’m open to WFH positions in social media, community management or admin support for creative start-ups. 

Please, if you can see this, please share. 

And if you’ve made it to this last sentence, thank you for reading. 

PS: Thank you SO much to everyone who has reposted, commented and supported the post like this I posted the other day. I have had some leads but am still looking, so am posting this again - as I know some won’t have seen yet. 

#Jobseeker #HireMe #PleaseShare #SocialMedia #Community #Help

Big dreams of starting my own business. | Looking for paid work: WFH Social Media/Community Management. Not open to UW or direct sales.

Jules wearing a floral top and jeans with a cup of yummy coffee and hair up. 

Pathfinder Coaching

Traditional career advice wasn’t built for ADHDers—especially mid-career professionals navigating pivots, identity shifts, and burnout.

They’re handed rigid frameworks.
Told to “network more.”

They’re left overwhelmed by:

— Tabs.
— Dumb to-do lists.
— Advice that never sticks.

I created the Core 4 Framework™, a system designed for clarity, momentum, and sustainable job search success.

Together, we focus on:

• Clarity – Clarifying strengths and direction
• Cohesion – Building a brand that feels authentic
• Connection – Making networking natural, never forced
• Communicate – Creating original content that builds authority

Wins include:

• 100+ ADHDers coached through mid-career pivots
• LinkedIn profiles that draw leads and recruiter outreach
• Clear personal brands that open doors to roles that finally fit

This isn’t about fitting in—it’s about finally aligning with what works.

📅 Book a free chemistry call: www.pathfinder.coach/connect
✉️ david@pathfinder.coach

Career Coach

White Path Search

At White Path Search I leveraged an extensive network of professionals to help talented executive-level support find their way to the right career path. 

Through building deep relationships with my clients, I helped employers find and connect with top executive-level talent. My recruiting approach was relationship-centric, which was essential for building long-term, trusting, and open relationships.

Executive Recruiter

Green Key Resources

I led Green Key Resource's IT Division and, as Director, assisted in defining the firm's broader strategy for continued growth of the team in NYC.

Director

Career Group Inc.

Vice President, Full Time Division

Strategic Moves

Staffing firm specialized in placing telecommunications professionals with manufacturers, re-sellers, ISPs, and the financial services industries.

Recruiter

Royal Air Force (RAF)

Human Resources

ADHD Career Coach | Founder of Momentum — the 8-week coaching program built to get ADHD brains off the overthinking line and into a rhythm of task execution (even on low-energy days)

Starting was always the hardest part. I could see the work in front of me and knew what needed to get done. 

But getting off the line always felt impossible.

The more tasks piled up, the heavier it got.
I’d stall, not because I didn’t care, but because I wasn’t sure I could finish.
That stall cost me a promotion.

They gave it to someone from the outside.
I smiled through it, but inside, I knew I hadn’t done enough.
I didn’t know how to change it.

I spent 20 years in recruiting and HR. Running a full desk. Building teams. Closing searches from kickoff to offer.

Edtech. Martech. Hedge funds, PE, and asset managers who expected results yesterday.

That pace? I could handle it.
Last-minute scrambling was my superpower.

But longer timelines and steady execution?
Total kryptonite.

Then in my 50s, I got diagnosed with ADHD.
And suddenly, everything made sense.

Once I stopped trying to “just focus” and started building around my brain, everything shifted.

✅ Timers
✅ Systems
✅ Boundaries
✅ Automation

Not hacks. Just stuff that works.

Now I coach mid-career professionals with ADHD who are stuck at the starting line.

That’s why I built Persona™ — the world’s first AI job search engine for ADHDers.

It takes 80% of the work off your plate so you can get off the line, into motion, and all the way to completion.

For most of us, the real stall isn’t starting. It’s the dread of not finishing.
That fear is rooted in past failures and impostor syndrome.

Persona changes that. 

It builds in structure and support to see things through.
Small wins stack up, the dopamine hits, and finishing becomes the new normal.

And here’s the part that matters most. Persona is built around your actual speaking voice.
Everything you touch — your resume, LinkedIn profile, comments, content — it all sounds like you.

By the time interviews roll in, they already know what it’s like to talk to you.
You’re not walking in cold.

Through my 8-week Momentum program, I combine Persona with one-on-one coaching to help you get clear, get visible, and off the line — without burning out or pretending to be someone you’re not.

Because ADHD isn’t a flaw.
It’s just a different operating system.
Once you learn how to run it, momentum feels possible.

📩 DM me "Momentum" if you’re ready to stop staring at the starting line and finally move forward.

David Hannan

I keep coming back to this photo.

I almost didn't take it.

— Last summer
— Olivia's first day of kindergarten
— I was just focused on getting her through the door

I was 48 when I became a dad.

— Older than expected
— Less apologetic than I imagined
— Already more at peace with it than I realized

People didn't say it outright.

They rarely do, but the message was there:

— It's selfish
— You won't keep up
— She'll graduate before you retire

I didn't debate it.
I just carried on.

Last year, at 53, I walked my daughter Olivia into her first day of kindergarten.

— Her hand in mine
— Purple backpack bouncing
— That half-skip kids do when they're excited

That's when it landed: if I'd listened to them, this moment wouldn't exist.

And while that decision was playing out at home, I was watching the same pattern play out at work.

I've spent years watching people edged out after 50.

— Resumes stop getting traction
— "Too experienced" turns into a liability
— "Not a fit" says everything without saying anything

Translation: ageism in disguise.

Here's the part that's stayed with me since.

That same stretch of life is often when things click.

That was true for me.

In my early 50s, I was diagnosed with ADHD.

— A clearer view of my patterns
— A new way of working with my brain
— A reframing of everything that came before

It forced me to strip away the noise.

— Better systems
— Cleaner decision-making
— Fewer obligations I never agreed to

I grew more in my early 50s than I had in decades before.

We're sold a neat timeline:

— Career first
— Family on schedule
— Progress in orderly stages

Real life doesn't follow that script.

Some of the most important things arrive once you stop racing the clock.

I turn 54 next month.

I don't feel late.
I feel settled.

And when someone quietly decides I've missed my window, I don't feel the need to correct them.

I know what opened once I stopped believing in that clock.

P.S. A lot of people already have a "late" moment behind them.
They just haven't given it credit yet.

Helping high-performing leaders get clear on their next move and show up with confidence | Founder of Momentum | Former $4M full-desk recruiter

I don't post things like this a lot, but it feels like the right time to say it out loud.

I'm deeply grateful to be here.

LinkedIn has become something I didn't expect when I started coaching in 2021, and it's given me a place to talk honestly about job search.

Building Pathfinder has stretched me in ways I didn't expect, and I'm very aware of the trust people place in me.

The relationships and conversations here have played a big role in that.

It's helped me grow the business, sharpen how I work, and stay grounded in why I'm doing this at all.

Knowing that the way I show up here helps people feel a little less alone when they're in the thick of a career decision or a stalled search still gets me.

I don't forget it.

Heading into the holidays feeling thankful and steady, and excited about what's ahead in 2026.

Thanks for being here with me.

See you on the 5th.

My client, a Head of Marketing in EdTech, recently received a $265K offer because of this:

We'd been working 1:1 to get clear on her next step after feeling stuck for months—riddled with overwhelm and imposter syndrome.

Before then, she had no clarity on what role she wanted next.

Her resume and LinkedIn profile told two different stories.

Every rejection felt personal, feeding her imposter syndrome and making it hard to keep going.

Networking felt overwhelming and random (which is fine, but not effective).

So what changed?

4 things:

1. Clearer, more specific career direction
2. Cohesive resume and LinkedIn branding
3. Targeted engagement/networking strategy

But #4 has been the wildest unlock of them all ↓

4. Consistently posting authority-building content

Once her approach changed, she not only landed conversations with key decision-makers…

But she built real momentum and started drawing the right roles without overthinking every step.

Before, her job search efforts looked like this:

— Applying to roles without tailoring outreach
— Sending connection requests with no purpose
— Hesitating to engage out of fear of being judged
— Never sharing her insights or perspective publicly

Now, her strategy looks like this:

— Clear direction on the role she wanted
— Cohesive resume and LinkedIn throughline
— An engagement strategy that built real visibility
— Posting original content weekly to build authority

See the difference?

❌ Less guesswork
✅ More intentionality

But that's not all.

We got crazy specific about her LinkedIn content:

— The exact topics she wanted to align with
— The companies that should be paying attention
— The decision-makers she wanted reading her posts
— The exact message she wanted to communicate
— The clear value her expertise demonstrated

This works because your content shapes who pays attention and what happens next.

It's like a magnet.

Attract the right people and the right conversations, and it's just a matter of time before you get that offer.

Get it wrong though?

You're left wheel-spinning.

P.S. If you're feeling stuck and:

➝ struggle with focus challenges or overthinking
➝ have zero clarity on what you want to do next
➝ have a confusing resume and LinkedIn profile
➝ want a strategy that plays to your strengths

I'm opening up 4 more spots to work 1:1 with US-based senior leaders to help them do just that.

DM "Momentum" if you want to see how this works.

In 2013, I left a job I loved. Nobody understood why.

Losing a parent changes you.

I'd just lost my dad to cancer.

We weren't really close. He left when I was young.

Even so, I always thought that one day I might meet him as an adult and finally understand who he was.

When he died, that door closed for good, and I didn't expect how hard that would affect me.

I was riddled with regret and didn't really know what to do with any of it.

Around that time, I'd gotten back into backpacking after a long break. 

Being outside helped. 
Being alone helped. 
Not talking helped.

I was living in New York, 9 years deep into my recruiting career, and everything looked fine. 

But I needed to be away from all of it for a while.

So when the idea of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail came up, it didn't feel dramatic, it just felt right.

On March 19, 2013, I got on a train to Georgia, and the next day I started walking north.

I planned to hike longer, but ended up backpacking 524 miles before missing home enough to stop.

Thru-hiking alone forces you to slow down. 

After a few weeks, it's less physical, more mental.

One thing became clear out there fast: on-trail, there's no hiding from your demons.

That turned out to be true.

I cried. I thought. I slowed down. I learned what I could handle and what I didn't need to run from.

That time on the AT didn't fix my life.

But it gave me the space to process my dad's passing and the guilt that had built up over time. 

And that mattered to me.

Years later, I see how nervous people get about having to explain any gaps in their employment. 

I get it. The fear is real.

But most gaps exist for a reason.

- Someone dies.
- A parent needs special care.
- Life catches up and you need to step back.

That gap I had wasn't some flaw I was carrying. 

It was a human response to something real.

I wish more employers understood that, and I wish more people felt allowed to share their truths about those seasons without having to apologize for them.

You don't need to dress it up or defend it. 

A clear, honest story goes a long way.

I'm grateful for every mile I walked that year.

It made me more patient and a calmer thinker, and helped me learn how to be with myself again.

I still carry that time with me.

And I always will.

PS: Ever struggled to explain an employment gap?

2025 David: What I got wrong (and what actually worked):

1. Every tough year means something is broken.
↳ Last year stretched me.
- It also sharpened the business.
- Some things worked. Others needed rebuilding.
- Both were true at the same time.

2. Growth required grinding harder each year.
↳ That belief aged poorly.
- Revenue stabilized when systems replaced urgency.
- Fewer calls, better containers, clearer expectations.
- Momentum came from consistency, not exhaustion.

3. More availability meant better service.
↳ Wrong math.
- Being always on blurred boundaries fast.
- The work improved when I protected my time.
- Clients got a calmer version of me. Family did too.

4. Recruiting expertise alone would be enough.
↳ Half true. Half naïve.
- I knew hiring systems inside out. 
- I underestimated the impact of identity loss.
- Execution followed once people felt steady again.

5. Transparency would land the same for everyone.
↳ That was projection.
- My ADHD diagnosis reshaped how I work and talk.
- I assumed everyone shared the same openness.
- Meeting people where they are built trust.

6. One unified workspace would solve everything.
↳ Spoiler: it didn’t.
- Persona worked for strategy and layered thinking.
- Content suffered when context got too crowded.
- Custom GPTs restored clients' voices fast.

7. More structure always equals more progress.
↳ I learned this one the uncomfortable way.
- Granular milestones worked for me.
- Clients experienced the same system as overload.
- Fewer steps created more follow-through.

Here’s what I know for sure:

☑ Clarity compounds faster than effort.
☑ Systems fail quietly before people do.
☑ Protecting your energy is part of the work.

Grateful for the clients who trusted me through the experiments and the resets.

2026 gets a cleaner version of everything.

P.S. What’s one shift from last year that stuck?

——
Hi, I’m David. I help high-performing leaders get clear on their next move and show up with confidence.

If time off didn’t shift the direction question, it probably wasn’t ever about energy.

I keep noticing this in the first week back. 

People get a bit of distance over the holidays. 

Quieter mornings. Fewer meetings. 

Just enough space to breathe and think that once the noise drops, things will probably feel clearer.

And then you make it to Friday.

You’ve been back in it long enough to tell what actually changed and what didn’t. 

The same career question’s still there. 
The same next role that isn’t quite defined. 
The same sense that the story still isn’t clear.

Even though you really hoped it might be by now.

Nothing really shifted. 

It’s not heavier, but it’s not lighter either.

From the hiring side, this is usually the part people don’t clock straight away.

It’s rarely about motivation, or effort, or a reset.

What lingers tends to be quieter than that. 

It’s the part where what’s next still feels fuzzy, where every option can still be justified. 

Where the story sounds fine in your head but wouldn’t quite land in a real conversation yet.

That’s the stuff a few days off doesn’t touch.

I don’t think that moment gets talked about much. 

That realization in the first week, when the calendar’s filling back up but the direction still hasn’t locked.

You’re left sitting with the same unanswered question you parked a couple of weeks ago.

It tends to just sit there for a bit, whether you’re ready to deal with it or not.

Some questions just take longer than a break.

The hardest roles to leave are the ones you're stuck explaining why you stayed.

I was sixteen years into a recruiting career. 

It wasn't bad, it just wasn't right anymore.

I remember this one Friday night, dinner done, sitting on the sofa half-watching Dexter, phone in my hand.

And there it was again, that question, the one I'd been carrying around for months but kept putting off because there was never a good time to deal with it.

I wasn't stressed or spinning, and to be honest, my week had been fine, which was the weird part.

When things are bad, you have a reason to move.

But when deals are closing, and big commission checks are rolling in, you start wondering why you're still thinking about leaving at all.

I sat there for a bit, finished my tea, and went to bed.

Woke up the next morning, same commute, same desk, same pipeline to work, and that question was right there with me like it had been the whole time.

I didn't do anything about it that week. 

Or the week after.

But it didn't go anywhere either.

P.S. Ever had one of those moments?

——
Hi, I'm David. I help high-performing leaders get clear on their next move and show up with confidence.

People are losing their minds over autistic Barbie.

Grown adults. Full comment wars.

All over a plastic doll.

- Some people are furious.
- Some people are applauding.
- Everyone seems sure this is the hill.

Meanwhile, I’m sitting here thinking how weird it is that a toy has become a stand-in for every unresolved argument on the web.

So I made an ADHD Ken.

- Not to educate.
- Not to raise awareness.
- Mostly to make fun of myself.

I’m not here to weigh in on who’s right or wrong.

I’m just noticing how quickly we pour real emotional energy into things that don’t actually touch our lives.

If a doll sparks a debate, fine.

But if it turns into an identity crisis, maybe log off for a minute.

There’s a lot more life happening off-screen.

PS: Curious what your Barbie or Ken would look like.

You don't need a perfect story to start a job search.

But most senior leaders act like they do.

That usually means:

- Waiting until the story feels "tight"
- Believing every chat has to go somewhere
- Pressure to sound confident before you feel clear

At senior levels, you're carrying identity, reputation, and expectations into every single conversation. 

That's a lot of weight. 

No wonder it feels exhausting.

Here's the reframe most leaders need:

A search is a private, low-pressure exploration phase.

The goal is just to gather information:

- What energizes you now
- What you don't want anymore
- What trade-offs you're willing to make

Clarity doesn't come 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 you start.

It comes 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 you start.

taplio

The Battle

Julia Mc

David Hannan

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The Battle

Julia Mc

David Hannan

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Julia Mc's LinkedIn Performance

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