Dear Group: Please excuse my ignorance, but I have a question/suggestion for anyone who does freelance work. As a lead up, I think we can safely say that the online job market is broken. So, as we were talking about in Coffee Hour a couple of weeks ago, it can really help sometimes to be able to reach a warm body: an live human being who actually knows you. So, my question for freelancers is: why not reach out to clients with whom you have already worked successfully and let them know that you would be interested in a more permanent arrangement, even if is only on a part-time schedule? I cannot help but wonder whether it might sometimes be easier to get a position through a warm connection than simply applying to places cold, by which I mean applying with no 'warmth' to the connection, no personal relationship. Thank you in advance. Respectfully, John

https://links.morningbrew.com/c/L0_?mbnlid=qLnpYwtazmNmfxKhHL1e87 People are paying recruiters to find them jobs. I have this feeling like there is so much room for being cheated! What do you think? According to recent federal data: - Job searches now last an average of six months. - There were more job seekers than job openings last summer for the first time since 2021. - The economy added the fewest jobs since 2003 last year (outside of recessions). Tomorrow’s January jobs report is expected to revise the tally even lower and show a continued stall in job growth. Why the slowdown? Tariff uncertainty and added costs led some companies to delay hiring. Others are still undoing pandemic-era hiring bonanzas, and some blame layoffs on AI’s productivity. Recent immigration restrictions also mean there are fewer consumers in the US, which can lower hiring needs, per WSJ.

Dear Group: Moderator Jason was kind enough to take my question regarding the focus of this group seriously, so, so encouraged, I am going to pose another question: what would you say is your purpose as a human being? I know this may be a stretch, but I honestly think that this question does impact our careers and job searches, etc. I sometimes wonder whether I would have achieved more financial success if making a lot of money had been my first priority in the first place. But, at the risk of humble bragging, it hasn't been. Please do not get me wrong; I do not dislike money. I depend on it. I feel that I depend on money the way a diabetic depends on the injection needle. But, I do not feel that my passion has been for making a lot of money. My passion has been for helping people. And, I think that that passion has influenced my career moves. I want to be the first to say that that is probably an irrational way to feel. I suspect that the rational approach is that, in this world, if you want to help people - you can do a lot more to help them if you have money. But I am not sure whether my heart, my emotional center, has ever really processed that rationale. But, what do you think? What do you say that your purpose is - and how does that influence what you want out of a career? Thank you very much for your time and attention. Respectfully, John

Parts 1 and 2. Enjoy~ Love to see you all there next time!

Here is an interesting article supporting the notion of writing Medium articles. "Your Resume Doesn’t Matter in Tech" What Actually Gets You Hired in 2026: Writing about your work publicly where people can judge you. Thanks to Jason, I am busy with my first Medium article.