The Uncommon Career Podcast: Job Search & Transformative Career Coaching

Hiring is evolving: Why clarity, messaging, and your brand matter more than ever | #148

 
Do you feel like the job search is more competitive than ever - even for roles you know you’re qualified for? A lot is changing, from a flood of tech-enabled applications to today's topic, AI tools that are layered into applicant tracking systems. These tools are helping more candidates to be considered, but how can you make sure you are sharing your experience in a way that makes it easy to see the connection, even when more candidates are in the room?
We'll talk about why clarity, relevance, and consistency matter more than just keywords. Understanding how candidates are scored, ranked, and resurfaced helps you stop competing blindly and start positioning yourself more intentionally.
 
You’ll learn:
✔ What hiring systems look for beyond keywords and job titles
✔ Why clarity and consistency now outweigh broad experience
✔ The three most important actions to take to stay competitive going forward
✔ Why past applicants and former employees can now be resurfaced more easily
 
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👋  WELCOME TO THE UNCOMMON CAREER! Here's a few ways we can get to know each other:
📥 Podcast Roadmap - our best guidance for every stage of your search:  https://theuncommoncareer.com/roadmap
📥 90 Days to the Right Offer: https://theuncommoncareer.com/90
 
🔍 Learn about our start-to-finish brand development and job search program: https://theuncommoncareer.com/approach
 
💬 Connect with me on LinkedIn to get targeted resources: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmortega/
💬 Ask me anything and get featured on the podcast:  https://theuncommoncareer.com/ask
📆 Ready to talk through your specific job search? Book a call here: https://theuncommoncareer.com/call
 
 
 
 
 
______________________
Patricia Ortega is known for teaching a strategic, emotionally intelligent approach to job searching that emphasizes clarity over activity, quality over quantity, and positioning over credentials, helping mid-career professionals rise above crowded applicant pools and land aligned roles faster.

We’re Not in Kansas Anymore: The Big Job Search Shift Happening Right Now | #147

 
If the job market feels unfamiliar or "new" to you right now, you're not wrong. Today’s conversation unpacks the shift happening beneath the surface of hiring and how you can think about your materials to bring your best foot forward. 
More importantly, this episode reframes the moment we’re in. When the market shifts, opportunity opens first for those who understand the change early. This is about learning how to position yourself clearly, intentionally, and strategically so you can stay ahead of the curve.
 
You’ll learn:
✔ Why today’s job market feels so different than it did just a few years ago
✔ How AI is changing what hiring systems look for beyond keywords
✔ What “clarity” really means in the modern job search
✔ Why consistency across your resume, LinkedIn, and story matters
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👋  WELCOME TO THE UNCOMMON CAREERHere's a few ways we can get to know each other:
📥 Podcast Roadmap - our best guidance for every stage of your search:  https://theuncommoncareer.com/roadmap
📥 90 Days to the Right Offer: https://theuncommoncareer.com/90
 
🔍 Learn about our start-to-finish brand development and job search program: https://theuncommoncareer.com/approach
 
💬 Connect with me on LinkedIn to get targeted resources: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmortega/
💬 Ask me anything and get featured on the podcast:  https://theuncommoncareer.com/ask
📆 Ready to talk through your specific job search? Book a call here: https://theuncommoncareer.com/call
 
 
 
 
 
______________________
Patricia Ortega is known for teaching a strategic, emotionally intelligent approach to job searching that emphasizes clarity over activity, quality over quantity, and positioning over credentials—helping mid-career professionals rise above crowded applicant pools and land aligned roles faster.

The Perfectionism Cycle: How it’s Sabotaging Your Job Search (And How to Fix It) | #146

 
If the job search keeps dragging on because things never feel quite “ready,” this episode puts a name to what’s happening; perfectionism. Today’s conversation breaks down how perfectionism quietly stalls momentum by pulling attention into small details while the bigger goal slips further away. We'll walk through the cycle perfectionism creates, how it shows up in resumes, interviews, and decision-making, and why it feels productive—even when it’s not.
More importantly, this episode helps you identify where perfectionism is coming from and what kind of shift actually gets you moving again. The goal isn’t to do things perfectly, but to act decisively, preserve energy, and focus on what truly drives results.
 
You’ll learn:
✔ The perfectionism cycle that quietly kills job-search momentum
✔ How to recognize when “refining” turns into avoidance
✔ The three different scenarios perfectionism usually falls into
✔ Why decisiveness creates clarity faster than over-research
✔ How to choose the right support to break the cycle and move forward
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👋  WELCOME TO THE UNCOMMON CAREER! Here's a few ways we can get to know each other:
📥 Podcast Roadmap - our best guidance for every stage of your search:  https://theuncommoncareer.com/roadmap
📥 90 Days to the Right Offer: https://theuncommoncareer.com/90
 
🔍 Learn about our start-to-finish brand development and job search program: https://theuncommoncareer.com/approach
 
💬 Connect with me on LinkedIn to get targeted resources: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmortega/
💬 Ask me anything and get featured on the podcast:  https://theuncommoncareer.com/ask
📆 Ready to talk through your specific job search? Book a call here: https://theuncommoncareer.com/call
 
 
 
 
 
______________________
Patricia Ortega is known for teaching a strategic, emotionally intelligent approach to job searching that emphasizes clarity over activity, quality over quantity, and positioning over credentials—helping mid-career professionals rise above crowded applicant pools and land aligned roles faster.

145. How 9-5 Professionals Start a Business With Less Risk: "The Authority Bridge" with Mitch Matthews

 
In this episode, Patricia interviews Mitch Matthews, a coach, speaker, creator, and host of the top 1% podcast 'Dream Think Do.' Mitch shares his journey from a corporate job to entrepreneurship, discussing his process called the Authority Bridge. He elaborates on the challenges of transitioning from a successful career to starting a new business and offers valuable advice on how to make that shift gradually. This segment covers the importance of continued learning, the value of coaching, and how to manage the fear of failure. 
 
Timestamps
00:39 Mitch's Journey from Professional to Entrepreneur
06:22 The Entrepreneurial Bug and Overcoming Fear
12:02 The Six-Figure Sequence and Scientific Method Coaching
16:58 The Authority Bridge: A Step-by-Step Process
24:16 Encouragement and Final Thoughts
 
About Mitch Matthews
Mitch Matthews is a success coach, keynote speaker, and the creator of the top 1% podcast DREAM THINK DO. Through the podcast and his coaching - Mitch helps high-achieving leaders and entrepreneurs dream bigger, think better, and do more of what they were put on the planet to do. He’s been honored to interview some of the most influential thinkers on the planet - from bestselling authors like Brendon Burchard, Michael Hyatt, and Jamie Kern Lima to Oscar winners, elite athletes, and world-class entrepreneurs.
As a speaker and elite success coach, Mitch has also spent two decades working with leaders from organizations like NIKE, NASA, Disney, and United Airlines - helping leaders clarify their purpose and lead with impact. Mitch is also the creator of The Authority BridgeTM - a high-touch coaching experience that helps seasoned professionals build a coaching and speaking business that’s aligned, strategic, and legacy-worthy.
Mitch lives a highly-caffeinated life in Des Moines, Iowa, with his wife Melissa and they have two wildly creative sons.
Connect with Mitch
Attend the Workshop! 👉 Make Time for Your Next Chapter (Use Code UNCOMMON)
Connect with Mitch on LinkedIn
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Connect with me on LinkedIn
From Zero Responses to Multiple Offers: Download The 5 Essential Steps Checklist
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144. From Tactical to Strategic: 4 Ways to Elevate Your Interview Career Stories

 
If your interviews usually go well but the offers keep falling just out of reach, this episode pinpoints what’s missing. Today’s conversation explores why strong qualifications and polished answers aren’t always enough—and how elevating your career stories from tactical to strategic changes how employers see your potential. We'll break down how to move beyond listing actions and results and instead communicate how you think, plan, and lead.
Using a clear, practical framework, this episode shows how strategic storytelling helps hiring leaders trust not just what you’ve done, but what you’ll do next. When employers understand your thinking, your interviews stop blending in and start influencing decisions.
 
You’ll learn:
✔ Why traditional STAR stories often fail to create differentiation
✔ How to reveal your strategic thinking—not just your past actions
✔ Four shifts that instantly elevate your interview responses
✔ How to show future potential, not just past performance
✔ What makes employers trust your outcomes aren’t a one-time fluke
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯👋  WELCOME TO THE UNCOMMON CAREER! Here's a few ways we can get to know each other:
📥 Podcast Roadmap - our best guidance for every stage of your search:  https://theuncommoncareer.com/roadmap
📥 90 Days to the Right Offer: https://theuncommoncareer.com/90
 
🔍 Learn about our start-to-finish brand development and job search program: https://theuncommoncareer.com/approach
 
💬 Connect with me on LinkedIn to get targeted resources: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmortega/
💬 Ask me anything and get featured on the podcast:  https://theuncommoncareer.com/ask
📆 Ready to talk through your specific job search? Book a call here: https://theuncommoncareer.com/call
 
 
 
 
 
______________________
Patricia Ortega is known for teaching a strategic, emotionally intelligent approach to job searching that emphasizes clarity over activity, quality over quantity, and positioning over credentials—helping mid-career professionals rise above crowded applicant pools and land aligned roles faster.

143. Leaders, Use This Tool to Create Buy-In Without Over-explaining, with Rebecca Gutner

 
If communicating goals to your team ever feels harder than it should, this segment offers a cleaner, more human approach. Our conversation today breaks down how leaders can move beyond beautiful but forgettable presentations and instead deliver messages that actually land, motivate, and drive action. This episode explores how clarity, intention, and structure transform goal-setting from a one-time announcement into an experience your team understands and rallies behind.
Through a practical framework shared by leadership advisor Rebecca Gutner, you'll be walked through how to connect company vision to team priorities, individual contribution, and ongoing momentum—without over-explaining or overwhelming your audience.
 
You’ll learn:
✔ Why most goal presentations fail to create true buy-in
✔ How to connect company vision to individual motivation
✔ The role clarity plays in helping teams take ownership
✔ What to include so goals turn into action—not confusion
✔ How to keep teams engaged beyond the kickoff meeting
 
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About Rebecca Gutner:
Rebecca Gutner is the Founder and Chief Executive Advisor of Luminary Leadership Advisors. With more than two decades of experience across technology, marketing, and non-profit sectors, she brings deep expertise as a certified executive coach and business advisor. Her work spans start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, guiding professionals to develop leadership approaches that are both strategic and authentic. 
Rebecca specializes in coaching executives in revenue-driven roles where growth, performance, and team development intersect. Her approach combines proven management frameworks and coaching methodologies to strengthen strategic clarity, influence, and communication—ultimately driving measurable business results.
Connect with: Rebecca on LinkedIn
📂 Download Luminary's Communication Guide Here
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👋  WELCOME TO THE UNCOMMON CAREER! Here's a few ways we can get to know each other:
📥 Podcast Roadmap - our best guidance for every stage of your search:  https://theuncommoncareer.com/roadmap
📥 90 Days to the Right Offer: https://theuncommoncareer.com/90
 
🔍 Learn about our start-to-finish brand development and job search program: https://theuncommoncareer.com/approach
 
💬 Connect with me on LinkedIn to get targeted resources: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmortega/
💬 Ask me anything and get featured on the podcast:  https://theuncommoncareer.com/ask
📆 Ready to talk through your specific job search? Book a call here: https://theuncommoncareer.com/call
 
 
 
 
 
______________________
Patricia Ortega is known for teaching a strategic, emotionally intelligent approach to job searching that emphasizes clarity over activity, quality over quantity, and positioning over credentials—helping mid-career professionals rise above crowded applicant pools and land aligned roles faster.

142. Are You on the Right Track? The Two Paths I See Most Often

 
If the job search feels confusing when rejections come with zero feedback, this episode unlocks to what’s actually happening beneath the surface. Today’s conversation breaks down the two paths professionals most commonly find themselves on and explains how to tell which one you’re on. Often, the solution isn’t about doing more, but about recognizing whether a simple tune-up is needed or if the foundation itself needs attention.
Clarity around direction, value, and communication changes everything - from how employers respond, to how confident you feel showing up. When the mystery lifts, momentum follows, and decisions start to feel easier, cleaner, and more aligned.
 
You’ll learn:
✔ The common symptoms that signal a lack of clarity in your search
✔ Why slowing down briefly can lead to faster, stronger results
✔ The early signs that confirm you’re finally on the right track
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯👋  WELCOME TO THE UNCOMMON CAREER! Here's a few ways we can get to know each other:
📥 Podcast Roadmap - our best guidance for every stage of your search:  https://theuncommoncareer.com/roadmap
📥 90 Days to the Right Offer: https://theuncommoncareer.com/90
 
🔍 Learn about our start-to-finish brand development and job search program: https://theuncommoncareer.com/approach
 
💬 Connect with me on LinkedIn to get targeted resources: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmortega/
💬 Ask me anything and get featured on the podcast:  https://theuncommoncareer.com/ask
📆 Ready to talk through your specific job search? Book a call here: https://theuncommoncareer.com/call
 
 
 
 
 
______________________
Patricia Ortega is known for teaching a strategic, emotionally intelligent approach to job searching that emphasizes clarity over activity, quality over quantity, and positioning over credentials—helping mid-career professionals rise above crowded applicant pools and land aligned roles faster.

141. Spot The Hinge That Turns Your Job Search On and Gets You Back in The Game

Our conversation today walks you through the turning point, the "hinge, "that shifts a search from exhaustion and second-guessing into clarity, momentum, and real traction again. Through a story that mirrors what so many professionals experience, this episode explores how awareness, presence, and one focused action can completely change the pace and direction of your search.
This space is all about helping you understand where things stall, why motivation dips, and how small but intentional shifts reignite genuine confidence. If the goal is to move from “going through the motions” to feeling fully back in the game, this episode gives you the roadmap.
 
You’ll learn:
✔︎ The three checkpoints that reveal job search issues
✔︎ Where your search is getting stuck
✔︎ What “the hinge” looks like and how to find yours
✔︎ How one action can create momentum that leads to the offer
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯👋  WELCOME TO THE UNCOMMON CAREER! Here's a few ways we can get to know each other:
📥 Podcast Roadmap - our best guidance for every stage of your search:  https://theuncommoncareer.com/roadmap
📥 90 Days to the Right Offer: https://theuncommoncareer.com/90
 
🔍 Learn about our start-to-finish brand development and job search program: https://theuncommoncareer.com/approach
 
💬 Connect with me on LinkedIn to get targeted resources: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmortega/
💬 Ask me anything and get featured on the podcast:  https://theuncommoncareer.com/ask
📆 Ready to talk through your specific job search? Book a call here: https://theuncommoncareer.com/call
 
 
________________________
Patricia Ortega is known for teaching a strategic, emotionally intelligent approach to job searching that emphasizes clarity over activity, quality over quantity, and positioning over credentials—helping mid-career professionals rise above crowded applicant pools and land aligned roles faster.
 
 
 
 
 
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140. How to Stand Out When 500+ People Apply: 3 Surprising Job Search Advantages No One Sees

 
If the job market feels overwhelming right now, you’re not imagining it.
Layoffs, hundreds of applicants, AI tools everywhere...it’s enough to make you wonder if you’re doing something wrong or if you need to start over.
In this episode, I’m walking you through three opportunities hiding inside today’s competitive job market. We’ll talk about why competition isn’t actually the biggest problem, how to use AI without losing your voice or value, and why applying to fewer roles (more intentionally) leads to better results.
If you’ve been applying, getting little traction, and feeling stuck or discouraged, this episode will help you see what’s really going on, and what to do differently next.
 
I'll share:
✔︎ Why the job market isn’t the reason you’re stuck✔︎ How to use AI without sounding generic or replaceable✔︎ The small shift that makes employers actually notice you
 
If you want to move your job search forward with more clarity and less second-guessing, this conversation will help you recalibrate.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯👋  WELCOME TO THE UNCOMMON CAREER! Here's a few ways we can get to know each other:
📥 Podcast Roadmap - our best guidance for every stage of your search:  https://theuncommoncareer.com/roadmap
📥 90 Days to the Right Offer: https://theuncommoncareer.com/90
 
🔍 Learn about our start-to-finish brand development and job search program: https://theuncommoncareer.com/approach
 
💬 Connect with me on LinkedIn to get targeted resources: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmortega/
💬 Ask me your question or get featured on the podcast: https://theuncommoncareer.com/ask
📆 Ready to talk through your specific job search? Book a call here: https://theuncommoncareer.com/call
 
 
 
 
________________________
Patricia Ortega is known for teaching a strategic, emotionally intelligent approach to job searching that emphasizes clarity over activity, quality over quantity, and positioning over credentials—helping mid-career professionals rise above crowded applicant pools and land aligned roles faster.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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139. Women, Work, and Voice: Unlearning Silence to Grow Your Career, with Elaine Lin Hering

 
In this episode, explore the concept of unlearning silence with Elaine Lin Herring, a faculty member at Harvard Law and a bestselling author. Elaine discusses her book 'Unlearning Silence' and shares the toll of societal and personal expectations on our lives, particularly for women and immigrants. She delves into the importance of finding one's voice, understanding personal needs, and making intentional choices for a more aligned and fulfilling life.
Through personal anecdotes and professional insights, she offers practical advice for overcoming self-doubt, utilizing our unique talents, and creating a life that's truly yours.
 
Timestamps
01:14 The Burden of Expectations & Breaking Free from the Past
07:41 Rediscovering Your Voice, the Power of Self-Expression
14:56 The Journey to Unlearn Silence
27:37 Navigating Life's Uncertainties & Embracing Possibilities Amidst Challenges
30:06 Reevaluating Career Paths & The Importance of Market Awareness
31:55 Balancing Gratitude and Ambition, Exploring New Opportunities
40:10 Strategic Silence and Intentional Choices
 
About Elaine Lin Hering
Elaine Lin Hering is a speaker, facilitator, and former Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. She works with organizations and individuals to build skills in communication, collaboration, and conflict management. She has worked on six continents and facilitated executive education at Harvard, Dartmouth, Tufts, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. She has served as the Advanced Training Director for the Harvard Mediation Program and a Managing Partner for a global leadership development firm.
She has worked with coal miners at BHP Billiton, micro-finance organizers in East Africa, mental health professionals in China, and senior leadership at the US Department of Commerce. Her clients include American Express, Chevron, Google, Nike, Novartis, PayPal, Pixar, and the Red Cross. She was named a Thinkers50 global management thinker to watch and is the author of the USA Today Bestselling book Unlearning Silence: How to Speak Your Mind, Unleash Talent, and Live More Fully (Penguin).
Connect with Elaine
Connect with Elaine on LinkedIn
Subscribe to Elaine's Newsletter
   _________________________________________________________________
Connect with Me
Connect with me on LinkedIn
From Zero Responses to Multiple Offers: Download The 5 Essential Steps Checklist
Click here to learn about coaching