Advice for Young Job Seekers: Ditch the Resumes and Embrace Modern Networking

20 May 2025 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:45

A short monologue by TJ Walker advising young job seekers to stop mass-sending resumes and instead prioritize modern networking: use social media (LinkedIn), build relationships with people at target companies, attend industry events, and pursue gig work or start a business if necessary. The speaker frames resume-spamming as outdated, unproductive activity and emphasizes active, in-person and online relationship-building in 2025.

Chapters

I've got a message for young people out there. Job hunting, sending out hundreds of resumes a day. Stop it. Stop wasting your time. You might as well spend eight hours a day looking at Internet porn. Wake up. It's all well and good to make fun of old boomers like me, but why in the world are you sending out resumes like it's 1980? That's a boomer type of activity. That's not how you get jobs in the modern economy. Sure, spend 5, 10 minutes a day sending out resumes, but the rest of your time, you actually have to communicate the way people actually communicate in 2025. You got to connect with people on social media, post interesting thought pieces on LinkedIn, follow the people in the companies you've selected that you want to work for. Build relationships with them. Because this whole resume thing, that only helps you if you've already cultivated relationships and you know people within the company who will become your allies. You've got to listen to the marketplace. If sending out hundreds of resumes isn't getting you any interviews, listen. That means you're doing it wrong. Go out and meet people. Go to industry conferences. Just hang. If you can't afford the admission fee, just hang out in the lobby. Talk to people. Talk to real human beings. Sitting at home in front of your computer, sending out your resumes is pretend activity. And if that doesn't get you a job, go out and start your own business. Find actual paying clients. Gig work doesn't sound glamorous, but it is one way of getting started.