It’s a challenging time to be active in the job market. According to the 2025 year-end report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, job cuts rose 58% over the previous year, reaching their highest level since 2020. According to the ADP National Employment Report, private sector professional and business services lost 57,000 jobs in January 2026. As companies have grappled with the rise of AI and changing economic conditions, workers have had to navigate new landscapes.

The February virtual event “From Uncertain to Empowered: NYWICI Office Hours for Career Transitions,” addressed the current climate, inviting members to discuss the big questions and emotions that can arise when transitioning into and out of roles. As part of NYWICI’s mission to create a community where women can be supported through every age and stage of their careers, the gathering provided the opportunity to ask questions, share insights, and open up about individual journeys, as transitions often impact our sense of who we are and who we want to be. Singleton Beato, NYWICI’s Chief Strategy Officer, and Annie Lohmeyer Riva, Principal, Corporate Affairs at Korn Ferry, offered encouraging conversation and strategies for those entering the workforce for the first time, exploring career pivots, and navigating layoffs.

Here are five takeaways from the conversation:

Customize your resume for each opportunity.

Most hiring processes require a resume and Riva advised creating a few different versions or “tracks” that can be used to target different positions. Tailoring allows you to align your experience more closely with the job description. If you’ve done a variety of different jobs that might seem disparate from one another, Riva recommended looking at themes within your experience. Likewise, if your previous work was in a different discipline and you want to move into communications, find a way to draw a connection. For example, if you come from a journalism background, highlight your writing expertise; if you come from academia, talk about your work developing content. The resume is a way to connect what you’ve already done with what you would do in the new role.

Put yourself in the recruiter’s shoes.

Recruiters are seeing hundreds of applications, and they want to find the right candidates. It’s helpful to ask yourself, where can you add value to the team? Your resume and cover letter are where you can answer this, and where you can proactively answer the hiring manager’s questions by showing how your experience directly relates to their company. If you come from more of a non-traditional background, you might emphasize your people skills, citing customer relations, navigating issues with transparency, and working with stakeholders. Highlighting where these skills apply will make it easier for the recruiter to understand your resume.

Make LinkedIn work for you.

LinkedIn can be a useful tool for finding connections to companies and hiring managers. When it comes to using the platform for applying to jobs or using the “Easy Apply” option though, Riva suggested taking on a broader strategy and using your time to apply to jobs in other ways. In an employer’s market, where opportunities are competitive, it will take more than a button click to stand out.

Recruiters may review your LinkedIn, so keeping your profile up to date and using the “about” section to explain, contextualize, or highlight your experience is a wise idea.

The real key is still networking.

At the end of the day, person-to-person interactions are incredibly valuable. LinkedIn can be a jumping off place for finding a hiring manager or recruiter, but an authentic personal connection will get you closer. Reaching out to colleagues and utilizing organizations like NYWICI can help expand your network and reveal new opportunities.

Make it easy for people to help and to say yes.

When it comes time to ask someone for an introduction or a connection, make the ask as low lift as possible. You can even say, “I’ll draft it for you,” provide some brief text, your resume and bio, and make it easy for your contact to forward the message. Riva expressed that you shouldn’t feel weird about it now — but know that you’ll pay it forward for someone else in the future.

Recap:

• Tailor your resume to the job you’re applying for.
• Highlight how you can uniquely add value.
• Use LinkedIn to showcase expertise and make connections.
• Activate your network.
• Make it easy for people to say yes to giving you an introduction.