Hey Reader,

Welcome to issue #001 of The Next Chapter. Thanks for joining me on this journey to bring some calm to the career chaos.

Let’s be real: the world is a weird place right now. It seems like everyone I talk to is feeling uncertain about something, especially the LGBTQ+ community. If you’ve found yourself taking a hard look at your career path in the past couple of years, you’re not alone.

This newsletter is for the queer career questioners. I hope it will offer you the resources, guidance, and clarity you need to move forward with confidence.

You deserve it.

Find an LGBTQ-inclusive workplace

Amidst the anti-trans legislation in the U.S. and the corporate retreats from public support of LGBTQ+ inclusion, people are worried about whether their next workplace will meet their needs.

Earlier this year, Jennifer Laurie and I saw an opportunity to support folks in the community using our combined experience across HR, Recruiting, and DEI. So we created a free guide to help job seekers make more informed decisions about where to work.

This guide helps you go beyond surface-level details and evaluate whether an employer truly prioritizes LGBTQ+ support and inclusion.

It includes:

• Positive and negative signals for LGBTQ+ inclusion
• Questions to ask prospective employers
• Resources to support your job search, legal, and mental health needs

Can you really “beat” the ATS?

In this less-than-stellar job market, the humble applicant tracking system (ATS) has been catapulted into the spotlight. Job seekers are worried about “getting past” it, and now people on social media are claiming they have strategies to trick the system.

I worked in recruiting operations at three companies, where I spent the majority of my day inside Greenhouse alongside recruiters, hiring managers, and interviewers. Here’s the truth:

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a digital filing cabinet with some bells and whistles. It helps hiring teams stay organized so they can make better hiring decisions. It’s not a supercomputer that auto-rejects you if you don’t include 70 invisible keywords in the footer of your resume. You can’t “beat” it.

My friend dani herrera recently introduced me to an excellent video by Farah Sharghi, who debunked 5 myths about the ATS that I regularly address in my coaching sessions.

So what do you do? You need to make it easy for someone to see how your experience makes you the best candidate to solve an employer's business problems. That means:

• Applying where you meet the core requirements (at a minimum)
• Using language that maps to the job description
• Leading with impact, whether quantitative or qualitative
• Keeping formatting simple and scannable for human eyes
• Following the application instructions

Community is the way forward

I live in San Francisco and go to a lot of local events for LGBTQ+ professionals. Over and over again, I find that people are craving real connection with fellow queer folks.

At one of those events earlier this year, I had the opportunity to meet the wonderful founders of Hey Famm, a social network for LGBTQ+ professionals and business owners. Cat Perez and Marianna Di Regolo have invested a tremendous amount of time and energy in creating a digital space for our community to connect and uplift one another.

If you’re looking to build your network, give it a shot.

Tell me what’s on your mind

I want this newsletter to be community-driven. It’s meant for you, so it should be valuable to you.

Future issues will look different and cover different topics. I’ll be experimenting and collecting feedback along the way, so don’t be shy about hitting the ‘Reply’ button.

Tell me what you’d love to see—it might just end up in the next issue.

See you next week.