Secrets of the Career Game

Job search strategy for 2026: more applications are not creating better odds. AI made generic applying effortless, recruiters are drowning in identical resumes, and qualified people are getting ignored. Here's what actually earns interviews.
👉 Improve your self-advocacy: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-my-promotion-guide-now
Kendall Berg sits down with Andrew Seaman, LinkedIn's Editor at Large for Jobs and Career Development, to break down why the numbers game most job seekers are playing has stopped working, and what to do instead.
Andrew leads LinkedIn's Get Hired franchise, translating labor market shifts into practical guidance for job seekers. In this episode, he explains why the 2026 job market is better than the headlines suggest, why broad positioning hurts your job search, whether LinkedIn Easy Apply actually works, and whether AI belongs anywhere near your applications. You'll also learn how to turn transferable skills into a competitive advantage, and how many jobs you should actually be applying to each week. Kendall shares the interview return rate her clients get from 2–5 quality applications a week versus mass applying.
If you've been applying for months and hearing nothing back, this is the episode that shows you it isn't you. It's the strategy.
What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?
About Your Host: That Career Coach, Kendall Berg
Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.
☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move.
Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up
Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?
Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_
Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/

Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_
 About Andrew Seaman
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewmseaman/

As LinkedIn's Editor at Large for Jobs and Career Development, I lead the Get Hired franchise, which is a multi-channel ecosystem that shepherds people through the complex intersection of AI literacy, career resilience and skills-based hiring. My work focuses on translating macro-economic shifts, such as unemployment data and sudden industry pivots, into actionable strategies for job seekers at every level. Additionally, I serve as an informal ombudsman between the world's professionals and employers.

Cold applications are broken. As AI floods ATS systems, referrals are the only way to reach a hiring manager. Learn how to build your referral network before you need a job.
⭐️ Get My Networking Guide Now https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-my-networking-guide-now-yhvpak6i 
Cold applications are broken. As AI job search tools flood ATS systems, referrals are the only way to reach a hiring manager, so build your referral network before you need a job.
On Secrets of the Career Game, That Career Coach, Kendall Berg shares how relationships from one five-week project led to two jobs. She breaks down her always-on networking rule: how to get a job referral without making it transactional, how to use internal and LinkedIn networking to uncover better roles, and how to make former coworkers referral connections when you need them.
If you're planning a career move, this is how to make networking authentic, AI-proof your job search, and turn connections into offers.
What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?
🎯 Take the full Level Up Leadership Course: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-started-with-my-play-the-corporate-game-course
About Your Host: That Career Coach, Kendall Berg
Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.
☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move.
Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up
Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?
Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_
Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/

Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_

You're not disorganized — you're using the wrong systems. These 9 apps get every task, deadline, and commitment out of your head so you can stay on top of work, family, and business without the mental drain.
FREE webinar: Your Difficult Boss Survival Guide https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/managing-up--even-when-theyre-impossible
Your productivity isn't the problem — your systems are. Kendall Berg shares the 9 productivity apps she relies on to get every task, deadline, and recurring commitment out of her head and into a system that actually works.
As a corporate executive, business owner, and mom of two, she tests these tools against a genuinely overloaded schedule. In this video she walks through her full stack — reMarkable for distraction-free planning, A Note and Any.do for recurring tasks, Notion for project management, Trello and Monday.com for team visibility, plus HoneyBook and Stan Store for running her business.
If you're constantly holding your to-do list in your head and feeling drained by it, this is the digital planning system to help you get organized and stay on top of your time — without relying on memory.
What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?
About Your Host: That Career Coach, Kendall Berg
Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.
☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move.
Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up
Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?
Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_
Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/

Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_

Time management for high achievers fails when every available hour becomes another opportunity to take on more.
My Ideal Weekly Schedule Guide Now https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-my-ideal-weekly-schedule-guide-now
High achievers often confuse capability with capacity — then wonder why their demanding workload leaves them exhausted. On Secrets of the Career Game, Kendall Berg asks Sade Kelly how ambitious professionals can stop planning around available hours and start planning around energy, priorities, and realistic capacity. Sade reframes time management for high achievers: why completing more tasks doesn't equal meaningful productivity, and why burnout often comes not from doing too much, but from spending too long on work that feels misaligned. Kendall and Sade break down a weekly planning system, themed days, and three core routines — a productivity system built to protect your energy at work, build high performance habits, and keep you productive without burning out.
What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?
About Your Host: That Career Coach, Kendall Berg
Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.
☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move.
Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up
Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?
Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_
Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/

Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_
About Sade Kelly: 
I'm Sade Kelly, the CEO & Founder of The Fire Inside, a high-performance coaching company that helps high-achieving women reclaim 10+ hours a week to grow their careers and businesses, stay consistent, and make space for what matters most—without burning out.
Website: https://thefireinsidesade.com/ 
Instagram: @sadekelly_

Is your calendar telling the truth about your workload — or are you silently drowning in invisible tasks?
My Ideal Weekly Schedule Guide Now  https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-my-ideal-weekly-schedule-guide-now   
Most professionals plan their day as if eight hours equals eight productive hours. It doesn't. That mismatch is why capable people keep overcommitting, drowning in meetings, and fearing that saying "no" makes them look weak.
On this episode of Secrets of the Career Game, Kendall Berg sits down with time-management strategist Kelly Nolan, creator of the Bright Method — a calendar-first system that makes invisible work visible, protects your focus time, and gives you the data to push back strategically.
"If it doesn't fit in the hours of the day, you are objectively trying to do too much. And that's just the end of it."
In this episode:
How to measure your real capacity (hint: your calendar is lying to you)

Why an eight-hour workday rarely holds eight productive hours

How to tell your boss you have too much work — without looking incapable

The meeting audit that frees up hours of focus time every week

Why saying no, backed by data, is leadership — not weakness

What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?
About Your Host: That Career Coach, Kendall Berg
Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.
☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move.
Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up
Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?
Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_
Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/

Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_
 
About Kelley Nolan:

Website: https://kellynolan.com/ 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_kellynolan_/