March 5, 2026 · Andrea Gerson
The Three Most Important Words for your Job Search
Discover the three-word phrase that helps hiring managers understand your scale, context, and impact.
Blog
Insights
Ideas and guidance from the RS Works team on workforce development, hiring, and career support.
February 24, 2026 · Andrea Gerson
What Are We Preparing People For?
As the future of work changes, the most valuable thing we can teach might not be a job function.
March 6, 2025 · Andrea Gerson
What to Do (and Not Do) After a Layoff
Staying connected with your most competent self is key to a successful job search.
January 15, 2025 · Andrea Gerson
100+ Jobs Still Relevant in 10 Years
100 jobs that will be safe from AI and automation in 10 years.
February 29, 2024 · Andrea Gerson
The One Interview Prep Activity You Should Be Doing
Nailing your interview requires more than just "winging it". Here's the most important step you need to prepare for your next interview.
December 8, 2023 · Andrea Gerson
The Vanishing Women
For women in their 50s and 60s, reentering the workforce is no easy feat. Here's how to put your best self forward to get noticed for new opportunities.
May 17, 2023 · Andrea Gerson
The Boundaries We Choose
A stressful encounter en route to the NAWDP conference leads to some reflection.
April 27, 2023 · Andrea Gerson
A Step-by-Step Guide to Translating Past Experience for Career Change
There’s a critical mistake that almost job-seekers make when moving into a new field.
March 9, 2023 · Andrea Gerson
3 Ways Career Pathways Programs May Fail Underserved Communities
Are we pushing our political or economic agendas on communities whose identities have historically been undervalued? In my latest post, I share three ways that career pathways programs may be failing the most vulnerable job-seekers.
February 28, 2023 · Andrea Gerson
How to nail your next interview: 3 simple steps
How to nail your next interview: 3 simple steps to showcase your talents and superpowers.
January 24, 2023 · Andrea Gerson
What We Can Learn From the Rage-Appliers
Rage Applying has fast become the new career buzzword to replace Quiet Quitting. So, what can we all learn from the rage appliers who’ve landed $30,000 raises in their agitated states?
January 17, 2023 · Andrea Gerson
Why This Burnout Feels Different
As a career counselor, one thing I’m always doing is listening for patterns and recurring themes among people I work with and one theme that’s been emerging on all channels is burnout. So what can we do during low periods to cope with the exhaustion and salvage some sense of positivity?
December 27, 2022 · Andrea Gerson
How to keep current in a changing industry landscape?
40% of workers fear their jobs will become obsolete within five years. How can we, as workers, keep our skills current and relevant while still managing our lives, families, and day jobs? How much time and energy should we spend preparing ourselves for a landscape that may not exist yet?
November 15, 2022 · Andrea Gerson
6 Ways to Prevent Panic Despite Looming Layoffs
The past few weeks have been an onslaught of high-profile layoffs, and some say it may get worse before it gets better. While the uncertainty can be paralyzing, here are six concrete steps that you can take to feel more grounded and supported.
October 27, 2022 · Andrea Gerson
It’s time to democratize access to quality resumes.
As a professional resume writer, I’ve been privy to how different segments of workers take ownership and claim credit for successes that they’ve been involved in. I’ve come to notice commonalities associated with gender, education, and social class.
September 27, 2022 · Andrea Gerson
3 Reasons People are Stuck in Low-Paying Roles (and how to address them)
Why are so many people trapped in underpaying roles with little chance at self-sufficiency? We explore contributing factors and methods to mitigate them.
August 17, 2022 · Andrea Gerson
Are Soft Skills Recession-Proof Skills?
Abilities like taking initiative, prioritizing projects, and collaborating with colleagues are super important in any role. And they are absolutely skills that employers want. The key is to showcase them effectively.
August 9, 2022 · Andrea Gerson
Industry Agnostic Resume: What It Is and When to Use It
Last year, over 60% of people who quit their jobs left for an entirely new field. As our clients prepare to venture towards new paths and vocations, we may find ourselves struggling to get them there. This is where an industry agnostic resume comes in.
November 12, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
"How Long Should My Resume Be?"
Rather than a one-size-fits-all career histories approach, I like to think about these 3 things when building a resume.
November 11, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
Does Your Cover Letter Repeat Your Resume?
The resume is where you want to showcase quantitative details, measurable outcomes, impressive clients, and company names. The cover letter is where you can expand on 2-3 qualitative accomplishments.
November 10, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
Tools To Enhance Your Job Search
Huntr.co and Jobscan are tools you can use to enhance your job search.
November 9, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
How Can You Add Meaningful Keywords To Your Resume?
While a Skills/Expertise section isn’t needed for everyone, it can be useful if you’re transitioning to a new field. It’s also great to add if you’re applying online, since you’ll likely encounter Applicant Tracking Systems.
November 8, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
Should You Include Gender Pronouns Or Vaccination Status On Your Resume?
When it comes to resume writing and job searching, your priority is to appeal specifically to the organizations and roles that will be a great fit for you.
November 5, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
Nurture Your Network - Especially During The Pandemic!
We think that people won’t want to hear from us, perhaps feeling like we don’t bring anything to the table. To top this off, most of us are more sensitive to feelings of rejection when we’re depressed or isolated. So it takes an extra dose of bravery to reach out to others.
November 4, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
If You've Done It, Elevate It!
If you’re interested in working with a certain tool, platform or process and have some familiarity with it, it’s critically important that you highlight that information in your resume.
November 3, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
Thinking About A New Field?
If you’ve been contemplating a career pivot, starting a volunteer gig is a solid way to test the waters. VolunteerMatch a great site for finding local – and virtual - volunteer opportunities. You can search by organizational mission, role type or location.
November 2, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
Are You Due For A Career Change?
If you’re feeling a little lost or directionless on the job hunt, career aptitude assessments are a great way to clarify what your unique talents are. Here are some great, free tools to check out.
November 1, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
“Nobody wants to work anymore”
I just finished reading an interesting article by former NYT contributor Charlie Warzel. In it, he explores a sentiment that’s currently very common among many workers – particularly those under 30. It’s an overt rejection of how central work has been to our sense of self and worth.
September 17, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
A Recruiter’s Perspective on Job-Seeker Mental Health
A conversation with Amy Wheeler, a Technical Recruiter who sources candidates for companies like HP. She shared how mental health issues have been coming up much more frequently since the pandemic started. She offers tips on how to notice these issues right off the bat, even if our clients may not initially disclose them. She offers insights on how to guide our clients as they return to work.
June 8, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
“I want a better job that has flexibility!”
Millions of unemployed people are coming out of a pandemic, and most of them are looking forward to a summer of calmness and joy after the year we’ve all had.
May 21, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
The Hard Work of Parenting
Have you noticed a sudden prevalence of Parenthood being listed as a job title in your contacts’ LinkedIn profiles? Over the past week, there’s been a major push to support – and encourage – the inclusion of parenting as an actual job on the resume.
April 28, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
Client Spotlight: Matthew Parker
From 30 arrests, 8 felonies and heroin addiction to teaching at UC Berkeley. Matthew was in his mid-forties when he started college. He’d been sidetracked: Eleven years were eaten up by serving time in various county jails, state penitentiaries, and federal prison. He’d been arrested more than 30 times, racking up eight felonies in a crime career that began at age thirteen, when he started dealing pot.
April 22, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
Are our clients languishing?
You may have read the article that’s been circulating on social media, about an emotional state called languishing. It’s that blah feeling that’s become the defining emotion of 2021. Not flourishing, not depressed. A general feeling of apathy and a lack of motivation. An absence of well-being.
March 26, 2021 · Andrea Gerson
From jobless -> $85,000/year
Hi there! I’m Andrea Gerson, the founder of RS Works, a digital platform for workforce development professionals. Our mission is to help job counselors position their clients for higher-paying, self-sustaining employment.
December 4, 2020 · Andrea Gerson
How to Address a Resume Gap Due to Covid (Or Anything Else)
COVID has affected your client’s career path. Perhaps they’re managing their kids’ education, or maybe they personally have been sick and unable to work. Financial concerns aside, how can you frame this in your work with them and address the gap in their resume to help them market themselves when the time comes?
October 30, 2020 · Andrea Gerson
3 Tips for your COVID Career Change
Looking for a new job is an opportunity to both reflect and set goals for where your career would go. We can help candidates who were previously unsatisfied with their work look for something even better.
September 4, 2020 · Andrea Gerson
How to Write a Career Summary
A clear professional summary sets your resume up for success–sounds pretty great right? It works because it immediately engages your audience and frames the story you want to tell.
August 26, 2020 · Andrea Gerson
The Right Way to Convey Hobbies on Your Resume
The recent trend of graphic resume designs has encouraged more jobseekers to use their hiring materials as a form of self-expression, often including a section dedicated to their personal interests and hobbies. The risk with this approach is that this space could be better utilized to demonstrate the candidate’s professional experience and transferable skills. Hobbies and interests are also subjective in nature and could potentially isolate a potential employer and hinder job prospects. Fortunately, there are some low-risk ways to insert your personality while highlighting your qualifications.
August 19, 2020 · Andrea Gerson
2 Top Resume Tips
As a career counselor, you need to create great resumes fast. After all, the more quickly you help each client, the more people you can serve. But of course, you never want to sacrifice quality.