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Nike just told employees it's cutting jobs, but it won't say who or where until next year. Meta gave its people a month to wait on news of a 10% cut, about 8,000 jobs. Starbucks and Disney have done the same. The Wall Street Journal calls it "the era of the looming layoff": announce early, share details later.

For job seekers over 40, that limbo is risky. One Meta engineering manager called it a "death march." If your name lands on the list, you're searching in a low-hire market where senior roles barely open up. People who wait to see what happens end up stuck in the Executive Wasteland. People who use the warning time end up with options.

On this week’s podcast, JT will give you the playbook for the limbo period, so a layoff memo never catches you off guard.

Join us Wednesday, October 14th at 2 pm ET.

Here's something recruiters will never say to a job seeker, especially those over 40: they decide whether you're overqualified in about six seconds.

And if you're using what I call the “Jack or Jill of all trades” resume, you're probably getting tossed because of it.

What Is the “Jack or Jill of All Trades” Resume?

This type of resume has everything you've ever done, a fancy opening summary that tries to sound as impressive as possible, and pages of bullets. To fit it all, the margins are shrunk to half an inch, and the font is dropped to 9.5.

I also call it the narcissistic resume, because it's all about showing how much you've done instead of showing the recruiter what they need to see.

I get why people do it, and it’s okay if your resume currently looks like this. Somewhere along the way, you were told that the more you put on there, the more doors will open. But in reality, that’s just not the truth anymore.

Why Recruiters Toss It in Seconds

Recruiters spend somewhere between 6 and 13 seconds skimming a resume. Their eyes move in a Z pattern, across the top, diagonally down, then across the bottom. In that tiny window, they're asking one question: does this person have the basic criteria to do the job?

How easy or hard you make it to answer that question decides what they think of you.

When they open a Jack or Jill of all trades resume, they see a wall of text before they read anything. The immediate visual impression is "overqualified and expensive." You're out. They never even get to the good stuff. And when you're over 40, that impression lands harder, because the assumptions about your salary and your age are already hanging in the air.

The More Successful You Get, the Narrower Your Resume Should Be

This is the part people push back on; with more experience, why should your resume be narrower? It’s because of something I call the wisdom tax. The higher you climb in your career, the more niched down your resume needs to be, not less.

Study after study shows that when you niche down your resume over 40, you look like a basic fit for the role much faster. And then something great happens. The recruiter thinks, "Okay, I need more information. Let me get them on a call."

Your resume's job is to get the phone call, not explain every detail about your career.

Niche Down, Not Dumb Down

Let me be really clear, because someone always hears this wrong. I'm not telling you to dumb down your experience. I'm telling you to niche down.

That means simplifying the text so a recruiter's eyes can move through it in that Z pattern and land on one clear message: this person has a specialty. You have a thing you're known for, and everything else can wait for a real conversation.

Pick the lane, make it obvious, and cut what doesn't support it. Fewer words, more white space, a clear focus. It might feel like you're leaving money on the table, but you're not. You're making it easy for someone to say yes.

Stop Chasing Jobs. Let Recruiters Chase You.

Once you're over 40, applying online is mostly a waste of your time. You need the recruiters coming to you. The way you do that is by optimizing your personal brand, and one of the biggest places that happens is LinkedIn.

So here's what I want you to do today. I built a free tool called the PRO VOICE Score. It evaluates your LinkedIn profile to tell you whether you're findable by the recruiters who could be hiring right now. It'll show you exactly where you're vulnerable, and it takes just a few minutes.

Then take a hard look at your resume. It might be time to niche down.

Go get ‘em!

J.T. O’Donnell

If you're a professional who's tired of feeling invisible or undervalued, J.T. O’Donnell’s new book PRO VOICE: Turn What You Know Into What You Earn is for you!

It’s time to stop relying on resumes and start building real visibility, credibility, and income.

Inside, J.T. shares her G.L.O.W. Method™ for showcasing your expertise online, building a trusted personal brand, and monetizing your knowledge through content, coaching, speaking, and more.

This isn’t about going viral—it’s about getting visible to the people who matter most. If you're ready to future-proof your career and finally earn what you’re worth, this book is your roadmap.