When the Executive Job Search Makes You Sick You Don’t Need Advice, You Need Surgery

If your job search feels like it’s draining the life out of youand your base salary is $250K or more this isn’t a mindset problem. It’s a surgical emergency.

You’ve applied to a lot of jobs. You’ve interviewed minimally and you’ve followed up. You’ve rewritten your résumé so many times that you barely recognize yourself on paper. You’re applying on Applicant Tracking Systems.

You’ve stayed composed and professional even when hope began to feel like denial. Your network is exhausted, your inbox is silent and your confidence is wearing thin. In that silence, doubts start to whisper:

“Maybe I should lower my salary expectations.”

“Maybe community college for Michaela isn’t such a bad idea.”

Let me stop you there.

You’re not too expensive. You’re not the problem.

You’re operating at a level the system wasn’t designed to recognize.

Everyone else diagnoses the job market like it’s a business case. I treat it like trauma and I perform the surgery.

Because once your total compensation exceeds $500K, the oxygen thins. Misdiagnosis becomes routine and no one hands your loved ones, friends and colleagues start to ignore your cries for sympathy.

This isn’t altitude sickness. This is surgical territory.

And resume tweaks? LinkedIn posts? They aren’t treatment. They’re gauze and the blood is seeping through it.

You don’t need visibility. You need precision.

You need the incision.

That’s where I come in.

The Truth About Job Boards and ATS Filters

Let’s make it clear:

• Job boards weren’t created to help you land roles
• Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) don’t recognize leadership

They’re corporate tools built to exclude, discriminate and never elevate. They’re built to discriminate against every type of job seeker. Doesn’t this warrant the question why do they pay the ATS companies? Why do they post their jobs that they pay millions to host on LinkedIn?

According to MIT Technology Review “AI systems used in hiring are only as fair as the data they’re trained on, and often they reflect the same biases companies say they want to eliminate.”

So if you thought the ATS and LinkedIn and Indeed were rough before? Welcome to an entirely new playing field where you’ll lose because it now has AI for every biases and you can’t prove it. Why do these companies even bother?

That’s a blog post for another day which I’ll share soon!

According to Wikipedia:

“A qualified candidate’s resume can be ignored if it is not formatted the proper way or doesn’t contain specific keywords or phrases” This is referred to as resume parsing.

You’re not overlooked because you’re unqualified. You’re overlooked because no algorithm understands executive nuance.

This Isn’t a Résumé Problem. It’s a Surgical One.

At this level, the job search isn’t a game. It’s a broken system. And broken systems demand expertise not guesswork.

I don’t offer motivational speeches. I don’t sell templates. I don’t build personal brands.

I build with high performers their:

• Tailored exit plans
• Private reentries
• Strategic positioning so sharp, that hiring leaders are floored

Interviewing the Wrong Surgeon

Let’s be honest. You’re petrified and you’re in the right spot with me.

That fear is justified. Time, income, and identity are on the line as are your healthcare benefits, your future, your eldercare responsibilities, college, your baby’s day care bills and the list goes on and on.

You’ve reached out to friends. You’ve asked for advice. Now, you’re hearing cricket. Why? They don’t have answers for you. I do.

The majority of people you’ve talked to? They’re not surgeons.

They’re not even resume stylists or beauticians. Those people make your resume look attractive. Sitting on an ATS is not pretty and Hiring managers don’t need pretty. They need impact and their HR teams are preventing them from accessing the resumes rotting on those servers.

The career coaches? They’re ex-HR folks. For the love of the baby George Clooney you want an EX-HR person helping you in your search? They hate humans.

Your family, these folks and most certainly staring at a screen won’t get you hired.

And I’m the one they call when everyone else fails.

If your compensation is over $250K you don’t crowdsource your next move. You don’t experiment. You go straight to the surgeon and you book the surgery.

After the Surgery: Recovery in Power

Here’s what happens after we operate: Your value becomes clear and validated. You take control of your career and your life again.

Recovery doesn’t end with a title. It ends with restored clarity, control and confidence.

If you’re serious about landing a role with a base over $250K and total comp that reflects your worth  don’t wait for another rejection.

Book the operation.

I’m the only one qualified to perform it. This isn’t a second opinion. This is the comeback.

You’re the only one who decides when this toxicity stops.