Career Advice That Actually Holds Up
Whether you are just starting out or making your tenth career move, the fundamentals are the same. Present yourself accurately, get in front of the right people, and understand how the hiring process actually works.
14+ years placing leaders across Michigan, Indiana & Ohio
We have been placing people in new roles for a long time. In that time we have seen every version of a job search, the ones that work and the ones that don’t. Most of what separates a productive search from a frustrating one comes down to a handful of things that are entirely within your control.
None of this is complicated. But it is easy to skip when you are busy, stressed, or just hoping the right opportunity shows up on its own.
What Actually Works
Get your resume to tell the truth about what you actually did
Most resumes list responsibilities. The ones that get responses describe results. There is a meaningful difference between “managed a team of six” and “rebuilt a team of six after high turnover and reduced time-to-hire by half.” Both are accurate. Only one tells a hiring manager something useful.
Go through every role and ask yourself: what changed because I was there? What did I build, fix, improve, or prevent? If you can answer that, you have the raw material for a resume that works. If you can’t, that is worth thinking about before your next role, not after.
Your LinkedIn profile is always on, even when you are not looking
Recruiters, hiring managers, and potential clients look at LinkedIn constantly. If your profile is a copy of your resume from four years ago, it is doing nothing for you. If it is blank below the job title, it is actively working against you.
You do not need to write essays. A clear summary of what you do and what you are good at, a current photo, and an accurate employment history is enough to make you findable. The people who get called are almost always the ones who made it easy to find them.
Most good opportunities are not posted on job boards
Companies fill a lot of roles before they ever hit a job board. They ask around, they call people they trust, and they work with retained search firms who have already done the legwork. If you are only looking at job boards, you are seeing a fraction of what is actually available.
This is not a secret strategy. It is just how hiring works at most companies, especially smaller and mid-sized ones where there is no formal HR process. The fix is simple: stay connected to people in your field, let them know you are open to conversations, and make sure your information is current and easy to find.
Networking is just staying in touch with people you already know
A lot of people hear “networking” and picture awkward events with name tags. That is not what moves careers. What moves careers is a former colleague thinking of you when something opens up, or a manager you impressed five years ago recommending you to someone they know.
You do not need a strategy for this. You need to stay in reasonable contact with people you have worked with, be genuinely helpful when you can, and not disappear entirely between jobs. That is it.
Understand the difference between types of recruiters
There are two main types. Contingency recruiters get paid only if they place someone, which means they are often working multiple candidates and multiple companies at the same time, hoping something sticks. Retained search firms are hired exclusively by a company to fill a specific role. They are paid to find the right person, not the fastest one.
When a retained firm reaches out to you, there is a real assignment and a real client behind the call. It is worth taking seriously. When you get a mass email from a recruiter you have never heard of, that is a different situation and deserves a different level of engagement.
Be honest about what you want, not just what you think you can get
A lot of people talk themselves into roles that are not right for them because the title sounds good or the money is slightly better. A year later they are searching again, and now they have a short tenure to explain on top of everything else.
Before you start a search, get clear on what you actually want out of your next role: the kind of company, the kind of work, the kind of culture, and what success looks like. That clarity makes every conversation more productive and makes it much easier for a recruiter to know when something is genuinely worth putting in front of you.
How RFT Fits Into This
RFT is a retained search firm. We work with business owners across Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio to fill mid-to-senior leadership roles, primarily in manufacturing, distribution, professional services, finance, industrial and construction, and insurance. Those are our most common areas, not a closed list.
When we refer a candidate to one of our clients, we stand behind that referral. Our model includes a multi-year replacement commitment to the companies we work with, which means we only put people forward when we are genuinely confident in the match. We are not in the business of filling a slot. We are in the business of making a placement that holds.
If your background fits something we are working on, we will reach out. Submitting your resume means we know where to find you when something relevant comes up.
Stay Connected
Follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook to see what we are working on. Submit your resume to get on our radar. And if there is something open right now that fits your background, you will find it in our current opportunities.