You've done the hard work: you’ve built a great profile, identified the right people, and started a promising chat on LinkedIn. Now comes the single most important step in the entire process, the one that separates passive networking from proactive career building: The Ask. This is the pivotal moment where you transition the conversation from digital text to a real-life call. Nailing this step is how you build genuine connections that lead to referrals and bypass the application black hole. 4 Simple Ways to Make "The Ask" Your goal is to make the invitation feel like a natural, low-pressure next step. Here are some simple phrases you can adapt: ⭐️ “I’ve really enjoyed our back-and-forth here. Would you be open to a quick call sometime? I’d love to hear more about your work and what’s been on your radar lately.” ⭐️ “You’ve got a really interesting perspective on ____. If you’re open to it, I’d enjoy setting up a short chat to trade ideas and learn more about your career path.” ⭐️ “Since we’ve had a chance to connect here, I’d love to continue the conversation live. No agenda, just curious to hear more about your work.” ⭐️ “If you’re open to it, I’d enjoy hopping on a short call—nothing formal, just a chance to hear more about your work and exchange ideas.” How to Nail the Conversation Once they say "yes," keep these simple rules in mind for the call itself: ✅ Stay Curious, Not Demanding. This conversation is about them. Your goal is to listen and learn. Ask about their career path, a new project at their company, or a topic you were already chatting about. Avoid transactional phrases like "Can I pick your brain?" or "Can you help me get an interview?" ✅ Listen More Than You Talk. Think of this as an information-gathering session, not a sales pitch. The insights you gain will be invaluable if you do end up interviewing with their company. The more you listen, the more you learn, and the stronger the connection will be. ✅ Mention Your Search, But Don't Overplay It. Towards the end of a positive conversation, you can gently pivot. Try something light like, "From everything you've shared, your company sounds like a great place to work. Are you the right person to speak with, or is there someone else you'd recommend I talk to about potential opportunities?"

Free communities have the challenge that there is low participation. I want to create a community that has value and where people will want to participate. One way to do this is to start charging so I have turned on pricing and it will be $47 a month. The knowledge that you will get is worth much more. In fact I charge $5,000 for a career coaching package that provides the same information. It is my understanding that if you have signed up on the free account you will continue to have full access at no charge for life. Add your comments and questions below.

We now have 4 coaching meetings scheduled each week. Feel free to join any or all of the sessions to get your job search questions answered. Monday - 11:00 AM US Central - Resumes Tuesday - 2:00 PM US Central - Ask me Anything Wednesday - 11:00 US AM Central - Making new connections Thursday - 2:00 PM US Central - Ask me Anything Join meetings by clicking on the calendar item and then a new window will open with the meeting link. There is also a button to add the meeting to your calendar.

AI can only do so much in the hiring process. It ranks your resume and a few other tasks, but eventually a person takes over the hiring process. The way around AI is to have conversations with people. Who can you reach out to today?

The AI job market is flooded with confusing and overlapping titles, and this article offers a “decoder ring” to make sense of them. Many titles are created by combining a few recurring modifiers (like Applied or Forward Deployed), domains (AI, ML, or Gen AI), and suffixes (Engineer, Scientist, Researcher). The distinctions matter: Applied AI Engineers build products using AI models, Forward Deployed Engineers work directly with customers to implement solutions, and “Researcher” or “Scientist” titles often blur between academic-style exploration and product-driven work. The piece also notes that “Generative AI” is becoming less useful as a term as LLMs are used for more than text or image creation, and that “AI Engineer” is emerging as a broad umbrella for those applying AI in real-world systems. Overall, the guide helps professionals and job seekers navigate the shifting jargon and better understand what these evolving roles really mean. Read the full article.