Comfortably Uncertain

Tag: career

  • Why Your Network Is the Most Underrated Job Search Tool You Have

    Why Your Network Is the Most Underrated Job Search Tool You Have

    I’ve been in my field for over a decade.

    In that time, I’ve held a lot of jobs. And all but two of them came from a referral — someone I’d worked with before, stayed in touch with, or had simply taken the time to know.

    Not my resume. Not a job board. Not a recruiter cold email.

    A person who thought of me when an opportunity came up.

    That’s what a network actually does when you’ve built one with intention.

    People hire people they know and trust.

    Job postings are public. Your competition on any given application is enormous.

    But a referral skips the line entirely.

    When someone vouches for you, you walk into the process with credibility already attached. The hiring manager isn’t starting from zero — they’re starting with a reason to believe in you.

    That’s an advantage no resume formatting tip can replicate.

    Your network is already working for you — or it isn’t.

    Here’s the thing most people don’t realize: your network is active whether you tend to it or not.

    If you’ve stayed in touch with former colleagues, shown up for people, and been someone worth remembering — it’s working for you right now, even when you’re not job hunting.

    If you’ve gone quiet, stayed siloed, and only reached out when you needed something — it’ll feel like starting from scratch every time.

    The key is consistency.

    You don’t need a big network. You need a real one.

    Don’t start collecting LinkedIn connections like trading cards.

    A handful of people who genuinely respect your work will open more doors than five hundred lukewarm follows ever will.

    Think about the people you’ve worked with who saw you at your best. Former managers. Colleagues who became friends. People whose work you admired. Those relationships — even the ones that have gone quiet — are worth rekindling.

    Most people are glad to hear from someone they once worked well with. You’re probably overthinking the reach-out.

    And if you’re starting from scratch — that’s okay.

    Not everyone has a decade of connections to lean on. Some people are switching industries. Some are early in their careers. Some are moving to a new country and rebuilding everything from the ground up.

    A network isn’t something you either have or don’t. It’s something you build — one conversation, one connection, one genuine interaction at a time.

    Start where you are. Comment thoughtfully on posts in your field. Show up in online communities. Reach out to people whose work you respect — not to ask for anything, but to say something real.

    The best time to build your network was yesterday.

    The second best time is right now — before you need it.

    Stay present. Stayed generous. Stay in touch.

    These relationships will pay you back 100 fold.

    Comfortably Uncertain,

    Krista

  • The 5 Things You Must Have Before You Can Get a Remote Job

    The 5 Things You Must Have Before You Can Get a Remote Job

    Remote work isn’t a trend anymore. It’s just work.

    But that doesn’t mean everyone gets access to it. The market is competitive, the bar is real, and “I want to work from home” is not a qualification.

    You’re here because you want in — and you want to know what’s actually standing between you and a job that doesn’t require pants or a commute.

    The internet is full of advice that amounts to “be good at things and apply.”

    Groundbreaking. This isn’t that.

    These are the five things that actually move the needle — the ones that separate the people who land remote roles from the ones who are still refreshing LinkedIn six months later.

    1. A LinkedIn profile that doesn’t look like a graveyard

    If your last update was three jobs ago and your headline still says “Seeking New Opportunities,” you’re already losing.

    Remote hiring moves fast. Recruiters aren’t detectives — they’re not going to piece together your potential from a sparse profile.

    Your LinkedIn needs to be active, specific, and optimized for the kind of role you want. A headline with keywords. A summary that sounds like a human wrote it. Recent activity that signals you’re engaged.

    Visibility is currency in remote job hunting.

    2. A skill set you can actually demonstrate

    “Hard worker” and “team player” are not skills.

    Neither is “proficient in Microsoft Office” — unless it’s 2003, in which case, hello, time traveler.

    Remote employers need to trust you can do the work without someone looking over your shoulder. That trust starts with proof.

    A portfolio. A case study. A GitHub. A body of writing. Whatever your field calls for — you need something tangible to point at.

    Telling people you’re good at something is a lot less convincing than showing them.

    3. A home setup that actually works

    Nobody’s expecting a broadcast studio.

    But a chaotic background, an echo-y room, and internet that drops every 20 minutes will sink you — especially in the interview stage.

    Remote companies hire for remote readiness. If your setup signals that you haven’t thought this through, that’s the message they take into their hiring decision.

    A clean, quiet space and a reliable connection aren’t perks. They’re the price of admission.

    4. The ability to communicate in writing — and do it well

    In a remote environment, most of your work happens in writing.

    Slack messages. Emails. Project updates. Async feedback. It’s all text.

    If your written communication is unclear, slow, or easy to misread, you will struggle. Full stop.

    The candidates who write clearly and concisely stand out immediately — because a lot of people genuinely cannot.

    5. A positioning strategy — not just a resume

    A resume is not a strategy. It’s a document.

    The people who land remote jobs intentionally are the ones who’ve thought about who they want to work for, what problem they solve, and how they show up across every touchpoint.

    Resume. LinkedIn. Portfolio. Outreach. All of it needs to point in the same direction.

    Spray-and-pray applications rarely work in competitive remote markets. Clarity of direction isn’t just motivating — it’s a tactical advantage.

    None of this is complicated. But all of it requires intention.

    Remote work doesn’t come to people who are passively hoping for it. It comes to people who’ve done the work to be ready for it.

    If you’re not sure where to start, start with whichever one on this list made you wince the most.

    That’s your answer.

    Comfortably Uncertain,

    Krista