On this episode, Jeff welcomes Loren Greiff who is the founder of Portfoliorocket, where she empowers creatives and marketers to love their work, be valued, AND be well paid. Loren speaks to business leaders and candidates about how to overcome some of the biggest challenges recruiters and job seekers face as we emerge from the pandemic. Jeff & Loren discuss how a crisis of long-term unemployment (LTU) is looming in the U.S. with more than 4 million people or 40% of the total unemployed workforce not finding work even after looking for 6-months or more.

Loren shares with Jeff from her deep knowledge of LTU and ageism. Loren and Jeff talk about the growing population of employers (at least 20 out of the Fortune 50) that are committed to hiring the long-term unemployed not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes business sense. Loren shares how hiring long-term candidates leads to higher retention rates and are less costly for employers to acquire. She shares how LTU job seekers should make the critical shift of applying personal responsibility to their search, which always starts with the mindset. Loren discusses why the best talent isn’t always landing the job, the critical nature of networking, and how the conversation is the relationship.