Episode 311 - Leanne Brannigan spent years hiring. Then she was laid off, and used social media to document her experience job searching while unemployed. Her story exposes how the system treats candidates and what we can do better.

Renata Bernarde (00:21)
when I saw you on TikTok, I started following you. And that is not something I usually do on TikTok because TikTok, see, is my escape. don’t want to…

see anything about work on TikTok, but I found your content really compelling and I’m like, who is this woman? So how about we start with a typical interview question and I ask you to tell me, I mean, tell everyone about yourself and you can give us like a quick snapshot of your career so far.

Leanne Brannigan (00:32)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah, sure. I’m Leanne. I’ve spent the last 13 years working in recruitment. I started out in recruitment agency and quickly after a couple of years, I moved in-house and supported a number of global businesses. Most recently, I’ve worked in tech scale up in a global recruiter role. Earlier this year in July, I was made redundant.

So I’ve been through a job search myself for the first time in a long while. Alongside that, I run Work Life Korea, a platform I started to support career parents, especially working moms with honest insights on job hunting and making work actually work for them. That audience has…

has evolved through sharing my journey of being a candidate in this very difficult and fast changing job market.

Renata Bernarde (01:59)
Yeah. So did work life career start started before your role was made redundant?

Leanne Brannigan (02:06)
Yes, so I started posting content aimed at career parents, helping them make work work for them. And what I mean by that.

Renata Bernarde (02:08)
okay.

Leanne Brannigan (02:17)
is it came from my perspective as a recruiter, but as a parent, I knew inside knowledge that could help people navigate challenges I’d seen both professionally and personally, like navigating flexible working requests or salary negotiations. Think women.

especially women don’t always feel comfortable asking. So for example, in the UK, a study found 69 % of women felt anxious about negotiating pay and many never do. So I wanted this channel to help people see those questions can be asked and that asking is kind of part of like changing that system. But

As I said, when I became a candidate myself, I decided to document the journey to share hope, encouragement, practical advice that I can share as a recruiter. honestly, it wasn’t just about helping others because it turned out to be one of my biggest sources of support for me. It stopped me feeling alone.

It gave me some perspective and the community’s positivity really helped keep my mindset steady.

Renata Bernarde (03:42)
Hmm, I can imagine. Okay, so let’s rewind back to that day. I want to talk about the community and what you’ve done, but I want to start by sharing with others that day where your role was made redundant. Tell me what happened.

Leanne Brannigan (03:49)
So.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. So I got the email first thing in the morning. It was 6 a.m. I have this habit of waking up and jumping onto my mobile phone immediately, checking through Slack and emails.

⁓ It was an invite saying confidential chat, propose structure changes. I sat within the people team. I reported into the director of HR. We had unfortunately been through a number of redundancies throughout the company a few weeks and months prior. So I just knew immediately what that invite meant. I’d be losing my job.

Renata Bernarde (04:41)
Okay. ⁓

you knew. Okay.

Leanne Brannigan (04:44)
And

it made sense to me due to the economic landscape, within HR tech, which was the industry I was in. The business hadn’t been achieving their targets. They are VC backed and my workload was trending down. Recruitment had been put on hold, roles weren’t being replaced. It’s a bad sign for an internal recruiter.

Renata Bernarde (04:54)
Mm-hmm.

Leanne Brannigan (05:13)
Having said that, when it happened, it was a massive shock, even a physical shock whereby I had to call my husband to return home. He was on his way to work because I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t function. I literally couldn’t get my children ready for nursery. And immediately there was this kind of rush that I was losing my identity.

I felt like I have worked so hard for so many years to get to this point and now it’s being taken away from me. So I felt so many emotions, ultimately this kind of brutal stress and deep sadness. In my case,

The consultation was very quick. The consultation meeting is meant to explore alternatives, though in practice I found it more of a formality and knew the outcome would be negative even ahead of this meeting. That was circumstantial because I was the only one performing my role. So you can’t compare it to a collective consultation whereby multiple employees are affected.

Renata Bernarde (06:13)
Mm-hmm.

Leanne Brannigan (06:31)
But for me, I was just sat in that meeting processing shock. I’m sat there trying to take in information about timelines, notice, redundancy pay, while at the same time, all I was thinking was, what does this mean for me? What does this mean for my family? This is awful.

Renata Bernarde (06:52)
Yeah. What support was given to you? Did you get access to outplacement services? ⁓ Anything that you can share with us that could help others think about what to ask as well?

Leanne Brannigan (07:05)
Yeah,

there was, there was offer of outplacement.

Personally, I chose not to use an outplacement service. Honestly, from hearing experience from others, felt like outplacement was quite generic and not really in tune with how the job market has evolved. Things like content visibility or networking strategies weren’t part of it from what I could see. So instead, I leaned on my own knowledge as a recruiter

Renata Bernarde (07:11)
Mm-hmm.

Leanne Brannigan (07:41)
and

set up kind of my own system, community, which at that time felt far more practical and current than using a service, but that was offered to me.

Renata Bernarde (07:52)
Yes, yes. Okay. And what did you do then in that week after, immediately after? mean, the day is a shock, right? And then you sort of ruminate and it seems to me from the content you created on TikTok, which is what I followed and found you. And it seems to me like you just…

Leanne Brannigan (08:00)
⁓ No, no, no.

Renata Bernarde (08:16)
got straight into job searching. Is that right?

Leanne Brannigan (08:20)
⁓ yes. Week one for me was all about creating some structure for myself. As you said, almost immediately, ⁓ I took action. I started updating my CV, my LinkedIn, and look, I probably tweaked them three or four times over those first few days. I organized my days like I was still working. You know, I would get up.

Renata Bernarde (08:22)
Okay.

Leanne Brannigan (08:48)
rush around getting the kids sorted and I would get dressed. I would treat this job search as a work day. And honestly, I couldn’t have had it any other way. I couldn’t take downtime. I felt like I couldn’t. I wasn’t able to relax knowing how much I wanted and needed to secure another role. There was a moment, and I think this is really important, where I did press pause. I needed…

Renata Bernarde (08:55)
Mm-hmm.

Leanne Brannigan (09:17)
that time to give myself some head space to evaluate what mattered to me. What did I really want next? What was non-negotiable and what were those things that I could compromise on? And that reflection really set me up. It gave me that direction before I even knew what the market looked like because

I think I’ve been a recruiter. I knew my first steps. ⁓ And that was to reach out to my trusted network recruiters. Some are my friends personally, but others I’ve worked with closely before. think that was powerful. One of them immediately referred me for a role, which quickly turned into an interview.

just sent me adverts or leads that they thought could be suitable. So it wasn’t just about opportunities. Sometimes it was also about that regular contact as you would have in your ordinary work day. Even a quick text, how are you doing? It really meant a lot to me.

What I would like to say is on the flip side, of course, there were a lot of lows to putting yourself out there, especially so quickly. One of those first people I reached out to, a recruiter that I’d previously worked with, set up a call and then didn’t show up for that call. And I followed up with them.

And even since I haven’t heard back, and that was really tough because it comes at such a vulnerable moment. just can’t, only once you’ve gone through redundancy do you understand that the job search feels very different.

Renata Bernarde (11:05)
Yes.

Leanne Brannigan (11:13)
I think it’s because it’s not choice. You’re suddenly looking under time pressure without the luxury of being able to wait for, you know, the right or perfect role. But for me, it felt emotional too. My redundancy, it wasn’t about my performance. I knew that.

Renata Bernarde (11:22)
Mm-hmm.

Leanne Brannigan (11:33)
but it does knock your confidence. So every rejection, no matter how light it is, someone not, you know, being on the call or answering their phone, it feels heavy. And the fact that hiring has changed so dramatically, you know, this ghosting culture and longer processes, was just a completely different experience compared to when I’ve been in the job market on my own terms.

Renata Bernarde (12:01)
Yes.

Oh, wow. Yeah. Now I can only imagine how it must have felt to be on that call just waiting. as you probably as I understood, he or she never reached out to you, which is really awful. I usually recommend my clients and my listeners to take a break before going into job search.

Leanne Brannigan (12:25)
Mm.

Renata Bernarde (12:29)
But I think what you have done is that space that you created to think about what you really wanted, that probably did it for you in terms of getting yourself organized. also, Lee-Ann, you have more resources than most people because you have that network, are in HR and recruitment, and you have connections there. ⁓ If you think about individuals that… ⁓

Leanne Brannigan (12:46)
Exactly.

Renata Bernarde (12:58)
lose their jobs for one reason or another, and they’re really insular. If they work in accounting or if they are engineers, they don’t really have a lot of external connections. If you start your career in one organization as a junior accountant or a junior engineer, and then you carry on developing your network in-house, then you’re…

Leanne Brannigan (13:09)
Mm-hmm.

Renata Bernarde (13:23)
are laid off for one reason or another, all of a sudden you really don’t have a lot of connections. ⁓ yeah, for several reasons, I think it’s good to take a break. The brain also goes into shock. I ⁓ actually had a car accident a few days after my role was made redundant because I was so distracted. I just wasn’t paying attention.

Leanne Brannigan (13:47)
Yeah.

Renata Bernarde (13:49)
to my surroundings, I just was really in a weird state of mind. ⁓ And once I took that break, I understood what I actually wanted to do in my career. I also have seen ⁓ amazing, amazing professionals that I knew were absolutely excellent at what they did, walking to conversations with recruiters immediately after losing a job and being quite

Leanne Brannigan (14:02)
Yeah.

Renata Bernarde (14:18)
flustered and weird and not ready for that conversation to take place yet. And I’m like, no, this can’t happen again. I need to make sure that there’s enough of a gap between the trauma of the job loss and you having a conversation where you need to be the top candidate for a role. There needs to be a gap and some preparation in between. So I don’t know, that’s my sort of usual generic advice.

Leanne Brannigan (14:37)
Thank you.

Yeah, I do completely agree with you. You can’t underestimate that emotional impact. It was almost like life paused completely for me for a few days. It had been turned upside down. It was difficult to imagine what everyday life would become. And I found myself, I would take the children to nursery, as I said, and I would come back and sit.

Renata Bernarde (14:51)
Yeah.

Leanne Brannigan (15:14)
at my desk waiting for something to come in. Because you do have to get used to what now looks like. And I know this felt ridiculous, but just talking about those emotions and that complete mix of emotions.

that you are hit with, especially in those early days. It sounds ridiculous, but I also, I didn’t expect this, but I felt some shame and stigma around redundancy still today in 2025. And that really started to hang over me. And I think it’s important during those early days, those kind of days is to start.

to gently talk about that. I found sharing the news really difficult with friends and family, but a weight did lift once I did that. And that’s also how I kind of ease myself into, you know, gently networking and telling people in my inner outer circle what had happened. And there’s never really a good time for redundancy. Like for me,

Renata Bernarde (16:01)
Yeah.

Leanne Brannigan (16:24)
It came at a time when we’d just brought a new house with a bigger mortgage, all of that based on security of employment. You can’t put your life on hold to make every decision, you know, what if this happens? But I’d be lying if I didn’t say I also, alongside the impact.

Renata Bernarde (16:32)
Yeah. Yeah.

Leanne Brannigan (16:44)
the emotions I was feeling, also felt ⁓ a little foolish, like I’d made the wrong commitment at the wrong time that this had happened. So you get, the, you said trauma, I felt a lot of grief, definitely fear. Would I ever get another job as good as this? A lot of doubt crept in, second guessing my skills, my experience, even my career choice. Do I know what I’m doing? Do I know what I’m talking about? But

Also, and especially once I started taking action and having some structure, that hope, encouraging words or little progress that you make from your network or a positive conversation or an outcome from a job application or an interview, but it is a complete roller coaster.

Renata Bernarde (17:36)
Yes, this is amazing. I had no idea you were feeling that way, Leanne, because I found you so confident on your TikTok ⁓ content. How did you, how was that decision to make it public on the work? What is it called? Work life, work, I forget the profile. Work life career profile.

Leanne Brannigan (17:58)
What, what, Life Korea?

Yeah, that’s a really good question. ⁓ And I feel like a lot of the decisions that I’ve made in my career or in life come from having a little fear of putting yourself out there or making this kind of courageous, different decision.

So it did feel scary and it was a gamble and I was truly terrified when I saw the first couple of comments coming in because you have that judgment on an open forum globally. But as soon as actually I started to realize that so many people had been through this themselves and felt very similar, I found a lot of comfort.

in posting, but dipping my toe and making that decision was really difficult. And I felt like I’d already set the channel up.

and I wanted to be true to myself. So how could I keep posting about, you know, talking to your leader about flexible work options when I’m sat unemployed, looking for a role myself. And that’s when I identified I could really truly help people through this experience and they can live the ups and the downs alongside me in kind of real time. And thank you.

Renata Bernarde (19:34)
Yeah.

I loved it. I loved what you did.

I was so impressed by you and you came across with a lot of confidence and I remember you being really upfront and honest about what had happened and what was happening throughout your job search. Did you develop a strategy for the content that you created or was it very organic? Just whatever you were feeling, were sort of recording.

Leanne Brannigan (20:04)
It was completely

organic because you can’t prepare yourself how you’re always going to feel or act on that day. So whilst I had that kind of framework in place that would set me up every day, actually you do have these waves of all of these different emotions that can be deeply affected by the actions of others during your search. So I never really knew or could prepare myself for this journey. So I just

shared ⁓ some of these moments, you know, more widely on my page, others, and maybe that’s something for me to reflect on, you know, more of the down and the more difficult times and the feeling of rejection and how this redundancy can feel so personal. I didn’t always share because my purpose is

to build helpful resources. So on the more positive side of the search.

Renata Bernarde (21:06)
Yeah.

But I remember there was one instance where ⁓ you went for a couple of interviews and then you received the Dear John letter, as I call it, you know, like a rejection letter after physically being in front of people. And you were very, you know, I think you were very professional about it, but you made your point that this is not the way to treat candidates that…

Leanne Brannigan (21:20)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Renata Bernarde (21:36)
have invested time and energy in preparing for those interviews that you as a candidate deserved better and you deserved a phone call at least to say the reasons why you were not progressing. ⁓ And that is an experience that I think a lot of people listening to this podcast will relate as well. have clients that have gone through this and some of them have given feedback like you, I believe you gave feedback as well.

That’s such a terrible marketing mistake because I know amazing brands that my clients have applied and interviewed for that have made the most horrible mistakes in terms of career marketing by not treating the candidates well through the recruitment and selection process.

I really valued the content that you created because it then normalizes the experience that a lot of people go through alone. And they usually don’t cross check with others to see if this is happening to them as well.

Leanne Brannigan (22:37)
Mmm.

Yeah, I think that’s what surprised me most being a candidate and it’s deeply disappointing being, you know, a recruiter myself. The silence after applications was the first thing that really shocked me. I have a job tracker. ⁓ I looked through it only yesterday to make sure I got this right.

Renata Bernarde (22:50)
Hmm.

Leanne Brannigan (23:13)
I never heard back from 20 % of applications I made. So they just went into an ATS black hole. And as a recruiter, maybe it hit even harder because I actually know how easy it is to send a simple template rejection from an application, which is something that I would expect. And I understand certainly at this time with the volume of applications to get a thank you, but it’s not, you know, you’re not quite right.

And you hear a lot about this type of behavior in the job market, but I think it gets even worse when it’s beyond the application stage because you start investing even more of your time, energy and hope into interviews. So being ghosted or having to keep chasing for feedback, is deeply personal. And I had this terrible experience. It was three rounds of interviews. So was four hours in total.

But behind the scenes, hours more in my preparation. It was one of the interviews was in person, so that included a two hour round trip and travel. And then after the final interview, there was silence. I chased up a couple of times and a few days later I got just a generic rejection email. A type of email I would expect from an application, not.

after all of those rounds of interviews. So as I shared on my TikTok, I gave constructive feedback about the experience and they responded with another template email saying it was their company policy not to give feedback.

What I didn’t share on my TikTok and what made things even worse is that I know the managing director of that company. I’ve worked with him previously. He was my main stakeholder for three years. Someone I thought I knew and that I respected. I met him as part of the process.

So shortly after I got that second generic rejection email, I contacted him, I reached out to explain, of course I understood and respected the decision, but I just wanted to flag that candidate experience and the importance of that. And the result was silence. I never heard back from him. He’s completely ignored that too. And this is happening.

Renata Bernarde (25:21)
Wow.

Leanne Brannigan (25:50)
widely. And I think it hits, it hits harder because you’ve been made redundant. For me, I knew the company, knew the MD had invested that time, that trust and that total absence of acknowledgement.

is incredibly frustrating, but it hurts. And I’m not alone. So through Worklife Career Channel, I’ve heard hundreds of stories. I get so many comments about ghosting, this endless ATS black hole, the vague rejections. I did have a little look into it and Greenhouse did a survey last year and they found 61 % of job seekers have been ghosted by a business.

there is a real sense that candidate experience is at a low point right now. And I’ll be honest, I’ve been in two minds about how much to share publicly because, and I feel like this is what a lot of job seekers would feel like this, you don’t want to come across as bitter.

Renata Bernarde (26:44)
Mm.

Mmm.

Leanne Brannigan (27:01)
But that’s not the point. What I really want to try and do is encourage candidates to talk openly about their experiences, know, preferably on LinkedIn or even, you know, Glassdoor, because it serves two purposes. It helps job seekers realize they’re not alone. And it shines a light for employers to see the impact of their processes.

Renata Bernarde (27:30)
Yes.

Leanne Brannigan (27:31)
And I think only with this transparency can we actually drive change. As I said, I’m still in two minds about what I’m gonna do with my experience. you know, there’s a list of organizations, brands that’s a couple, you know, I use every day. ⁓ But if we, yeah, I fear if we don’t talk or keep talking about it, then we’re never gonna see any real change.

Renata Bernarde (27:36)
Mm.

do.

Leanne, it’s totally doable to change it. I was ⁓ having this discussion in another episode, which is the one before you. ⁓ As we record our episode, this episode I’m going to talk about is out now. The name of the guest is Nick Waterworth, and he has a recruitment, global niche recruitment company called Ambition. They have a team in London. ⁓

Leanne Brannigan (28:01)
Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Renata Bernarde (28:27)
two teams in Australia, Melbourne and Sydney, a team in Hong Kong, a team in New York. And he said, it’s inexcusable. There is no reason why we can’t give feedback and ⁓ have a good communication strategy with candidates. And from a recruiter’s perspective, like Ambition, it’s actually a bad business because those candidates

Leanne Brannigan (28:34)
Mm-hmm.

Renata Bernarde (28:56)
can potentially be clients. And if not clients, they can say, you know, what they went through to their employee and then the employees say, okay, let’s not work with this recruitment company, let’s work with this other recruitment company. And, you know, the word of mouth is so powerful. You know, it’s a mistake that I think needs to be fixed. So especially somebody like you who…

Leanne Brannigan (29:11)
Okay.

Renata Bernarde (29:23)
who works in talent acquisition and human resources. I don’t know where you’re going next, but I’m assuming it’s still in sort of that sort of area. Then there’s so much hope for us, you know, ⁓ with your voice. But you mentioned something and I want to tap into that, Lianne, because you were very open and daily, you know, updates on TikTok, but I did not see you on LinkedIn during that time.

Leanne Brannigan (29:29)
.

Renata Bernarde (29:51)
Tell me why you decided not to post on LinkedIn.

Leanne Brannigan (29:54)
I’ve never really posted on LinkedIn.

Renata Bernarde (30:00)
Right.

I noticed. ⁓

Leanne Brannigan (30:05)
I felt honestly on TikTok more protected because I already have this cohort of followers that provide me with support and encouragement and have experienced what I’m going through. And on my LinkedIn,

I didn’t want to show that vulnerability. I think it’s quite a disingenuous place.

I find maybe with my crowd of connections, it’s all about high performance and positivity, how well people are doing, they’re growing their own businesses or having multiple promotions or traveling the world. And I didn’t want to be that person that comes in and sets the tone of reality of what I’m going through.

Renata Bernarde (31:17)
Mm-hmm.

Leanne Brannigan (31:17)
I didn’t want people to feel sorry for me or because I haven’t posted before, feel like I may be desperate because I’ve started posting on LinkedIn. That’s completely honest. That’s the reason, like those are the reasons why a number of them, because there were so many times where I thought that I would, I actually did do a post.

Renata Bernarde (31:33)
Yep.

Leanne Brannigan (31:45)
within those first few days of being redundant to let people know that that had happened to me. And I deleted it after a few days because that panic set in of looking desperate on LinkedIn. think if I had contributed more regularly with my posts, then it would have felt more natural. But because I hadn’t utilized that channel for that purpose, it didn’t feel like the right thing, the right time to do that.

Renata Bernarde (32:05)
Mm-hmm.

Lianna, I 100 % understand what you did. And I think that there is a tone that you can have on TikTok, which is more open and frank and honest and brutal. and it’s more ⁓ forgiving as well. You can say things and be a bit controversial on TikTok and that’s fine. ⁓ But on LinkedIn, there is a way for you to advocate that

That will be really important if you want to do that in the future. I would love to see you engaged on LinkedIn. What I’m going to do after we finish is send you a couple of talent acquisition professionals and recruiters that do really great work advocating for better recruitment practices who are posting on LinkedIn. And they have been interviewed on this podcast. So I’m going to link below if people want to listen to them. One is Russell Ailes. So he is…

Leanne Brannigan (33:06)
Uh-huh.

Renata Bernarde (33:16)
British, but he’s based in Australia now and he is supposed to be great. Another one is Lou Adler. I don’t know if you’ve heard of him, but Lou has like a million followers on LinkedIn and he trains recruiters to do a better job when recruiting. So he trains recruiters to be better. And in fact, he has some LinkedIn courses. So if you’re a recruiter listening, you can go to LinkedIn’s education platform and do Lou Adler’s.

⁓ courses on how to recruit and select people in a more humane way, in a better way. So identifying a narrative and a tone for LinkedIn is kind of a different thing to do, but I would love to see you there. And for the job seekers listening, ⁓ I do recommend posting a farewell post.

And I know how hard it is, I do, I do know how hard it is to do that because sometimes you’re super upset with your employee and you don’t want to do a farewell post because you’re just too angry. And sometimes, you know, what you just said, ⁓ I think will resonate with a lot of people. But if you have connections on LinkedIn and they care for you, and I know many of them do,

they will come and support you. You never know who exactly is going to support you and who isn’t. It’s kind of a big surprise. But I have seen great results from my clients, including clients that I have in the UK. I would say even especially the clients that I have in the UK when they do the farewell post, how recruiters come to them and find them. It’s a very interesting.

situation and LinkedIn highlights that post so it shows to more people.

So that’s why you have so many likes and comments. When you start a new job in your work experience, you know, that work box of LinkedIn. ⁓ And when you open a new work experience and LinkedIn asks you, do you want to share that? Or when you close one and LinkedIn asks you, do you want to share that? LinkedIn’s algorithm will pick up that post and will show it to everybody.

Leanne Brannigan (35:18)
Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Renata Bernarde (35:39)
Right? So it’s not like a normal post.

It’s a special post. It’s a highlighted post on LinkedIn. gets more views. So you need to do it well. You can’t do it sort of haphazardly or a more or less job. You need to really think about what you want to say, who you want to tag. And as a coach, I work very strategically with clients to prepare for those two posts to go out.

but it works a treat, it helps them get jobs.

Leanne Brannigan (36:13)
Yeah, I think I’m using the opportunity of starting my new role and making that announcement as a start, you know, a commitment to start posting on LinkedIn.

Renata Bernarde (36:28)
Awesome.

okay. Awesome. Okay. So now I would love to hear once you decided that you want to, mean, on TikTok, I was following you like every day. What is she doing today? And it seemed to be like you had a system for, for working and job hunting. Can you break down how you systematize your application? How you were tracking them? You mentioned that you had like a spreadsheet.

Leanne Brannigan (36:46)
Thank

Renata Bernarde (36:59)
Tell us how you did it and how many applications were you sending like per week, for example.

Leanne Brannigan (37:04)
Yeah, sure. So I think it’s super important to have an application strategy. Without one, it’s easy to slip into bulk applying, especially after redundancy. The silence of not hearing back.

can push you into applying for anything can ever think, just hoping that something will stick. And I did have, even with this structure, I had those times of panic. Naturally, I then lost some focus because I was desperately looking for some momentum. But how I set out,

was three tiers of applications. So I had my top tier, which were my dream roles, roles that I connected with organizations that I’d maybe followed. And I put serious effort into those applications and I would tailor everything. I would probably spend close to an hour on one application for a tier one dream role.

The second were the kind of okay, look decent roles. ⁓ I don’t think you can judge a whole job from an advert, but maybe if you haven’t heard of the organization or they don’t really have a footprint, you can’t make your due diligence. I made an effort, but I used a CV suitable for that role, not necessarily tailoring everything. And then…

The third were the practice roles. Positions I knew I could probably, hopefully, easily land interviews for, even if I knew from the outset these weren’t right for me. The reason I did that was because interview practice is so important and I don’t think there’s anything like the real thing.

Had an interview for three and a half years and I wanted an opportunity to warm up ready for when I was called up for my tier one, my dream roles.

And actually sometimes, and there were a couple of them, those not quite right roles or not sure actually surprise you once you get on a call. And actually likewise, right, with the dream roles and you you followed this organization for years or your entire career and they disappoint you, you know, with the process or what you learn.

I used ⁓ quite a simple tracker to stay on top of all of my applications. I used it also to follow up, which there was a lot of following up with applications. Almost all of the applications I made,

Renata Bernarde (40:09)
Mm-hmm.

Leanne Brannigan (40:14)
it was at least a week, if not three weeks before I would hear back from them if I did get a response. And I would follow up by identifying the recruiter or a TA manager on LinkedIn or where there was a generic careers email address. And from the followups,

I didn’t really hear back from those. So again, kind of another sign maybe that that application, that role wasn’t going to be quite right.

Renata Bernarde (40:58)
Mm-hmm.

Leanne Brannigan (40:59)
And tailoring the CV, just to loop back to that, I used AI. I would connect the job description to my kind of master CV, and I would ask it to suggest some edits. I would never…

Renata Bernarde (41:22)
Mm-hmm.

Leanne Brannigan (41:25)
do this myself or recommend to anyone to make up or embellish your CV. And what I also learned from doing this and just, you know, this is just kind of the flag of not heavily relying on AI. It would sometimes match word for word, the job description. So you’ve got to be incredibly careful with doing this.

Renata Bernarde (41:51)
Yes.

Leanne Brannigan (41:51)
⁓

and buzzwords, you know, a language that I just naturally wouldn’t use or that was, you know, region specific for the UK. But AI is an incredibly, you know, helpful tool and I wouldn’t have been able to make that effort in one hour without it.

Renata Bernarde (42:01)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, now you’re right. And ⁓ yes, I have spoken so much about a Cheti Biti here. I’m just going to refer below some links to previous episodes and ⁓ give some tips on how to do that through those episodes. yeah, I think if you… ⁓

For those listening, you listen to some of my podcasts, you know how dangerous it is to rely too much on AI to do your resume because what recruiters have told us in these conversations on the pod is that then all the resumes look exactly the same.

Leanne Brannigan (42:55)
Mm-hmm.

Renata Bernarde (42:56)
So everybody’s using the same AI tool. Usually it’s chat to BT or Claude or perplexity. And then they end up with very similar resumes and they all look exactly the same and everybody’s super vanilla. What worked in those recruitment processes? So we know that a lot of it was ghosting and hearing back and all of that. But what surprised you positively?

in these processes that you went through.

Leanne Brannigan (43:30)
Hmm. Interestingly, a couple of my best experiences actually came through recruitment agencies. And I think it’s worth saying that because agency recruiters often get a bad rap. In my case, they were excellent at picking up the phone.

for that direct instant communication that I didn’t really feel when I was dealing with internal talent acquisition teams. And that immediacy and certainly by phone is something that’s becoming really lost in the hiring process.

But others, liked the way that some hiring managers or TA teams used WhatsApp or text as a tailored communication channel. And that really suited me. And I felt more of a genuine connection rather than over email. They can come across templated or formal. You see that so often. But ultimately, the very best experiences I had,

were consistent and that always came down to good communication. At the very start of the process, that very first contact, a clear process laid out, timelines confirmed, organized follow-up and above all else honesty and transparency.

and it just makes the whole process feel more human. And it’s so powerful to leave a candidate with a positive experience. I’ll never forget those companies and those brands. And likewise, those ones where unfortunately it’s been a negative experience. I don’t think it leaves you when it’s such an important time. So I…

I like to think, although there were these moments of, you know, ghosting or having templated rejection emails, there are a lot of great recruiters and TA teams out there. And regardless of the tools and the, you know, evolvement of AI, they are keeping it.

human and one thing that I will take away is picking up the phone and I was also guilty it’s very very easy to communicate through your ATS or your CRM or even email but the connection that you get from a phone call I think

changes everything. And it was really important because in the end, for me, it came down to a couple of offers that I had to decide between. And when it’s so close in terms of the scope of the role and the expectations and the package, you do look at things like how you’ve been treated and communicated to, who you’ve got to meet throughout that interview process.

Renata Bernarde (46:18)
Yeah.

Yes, yes. that’s so true. ⁓ I have a little product that I sell on my resource that I sell on my website called 31 days of action. And the first action is make sure you have a nice voicemail set up on your phone because recruiters hate going to that voice to text message or not having any ability to leave you a message.

Leanne Brannigan (47:09)
Okay.

Renata Bernarde (47:13)
⁓ And for some generations, younger people, that’s like, but do I have to talk on the phone? And I’m like, yes, you do. Recruiters still use the phone and even on LinkedIn, if you can have your phone visible publicly during the time you’re looking for work, I recommend that as well because they love picking up the phone and calling you if they’re good, if they want to reach out to you. ⁓ So yes, I’m…

So glad that you mentioned the phone. You had, in the end you had two offers and the end, mean, when I say the end, you were job hunting for six weeks, is that right? Yeah, that’s not a long time. So you did really, really well. ⁓ And then you had a couple of offers. What, tell me about the process of making a decision. it?

Leanne Brannigan (47:54)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. I know. ⁓

Renata Bernarde (48:09)
sliding doors moment, was it hard to make a decision or was there a clear winner for you?

Leanne Brannigan (48:12)
and

Mm.

Now I look back, there was a clear winner, but at the time, I think it’s really difficult because it is quite overwhelming, you know, the process in its entirety. And you go through this long process, know, hours of investment and dedication with the aim of this positive outcome. But when it happens, it’s then a pinch me moment.

is this real? I kind of anchored my decision back to those early days when I had evaluated what was really important to me. And I stayed true to that. And although it was difficult at the time, having reflected now,

mostly on that process and the people that I had met. was, I think it’s quite, sorry, I’m losing my trail of thought here. I think it’s clear now that I’ve taken a step back, but at the time, it’s really about being true to yourself and what you’re looking for.

And for me, it even came down to doing the pros and the cons list. And then once I went through that process of due diligence of contract and verbally accepting, it kind of concreted to me that I’d made the right decision.

Renata Bernarde (50:00)
Yeah. Good. Yes. Some people feel very torn when they have two offers and I am very proud that many of my clients get into that difficult situation, but it’s a good problem to have, isn’t it? ⁓ And I feel that it’s not so much, I mean, it’s because they worked with me, but it’s…

Leanne Brannigan (50:16)
Hmm.

Renata Bernarde (50:25)
most likely because of the crescendo, you so you sort of work yourself up to a point where you have so many eggs in different baskets that eventually, you know, you know, two offers will come up, especially if you use that time to improve your systems along the way. And that’s something that people don’t realize is that what you said before about using some applications as ⁓ an opportunity for you to practice your interviewing, you know, is

It’s all about continuous improvements of applications and how you manage your day and how you talk to recruiters and how you show up that lead up to then you having one and even two offers at the end of the process. So, all right, so that was ⁓ so I’m so happy to have interviewed you, you know, and I think it’s such a

an opportunity for the listeners to relate and hopefully find you on TikTok. I know a lot of people that I talk to don’t even have TikTok yet. You know, if they’re really truly corporate people, they’re not there yet, but please go and sign up because there’s great content. And for those who complain a lot about LinkedIn, not being genuine, LinkedIn is not the space to do the work that you’re doing on TikTok. LinkedIn is a different…

environment and, you know, showing up professionally. It’s like a Rolodex. You have to have your profile there and you have to share your thought leadership in a way that’s easily digested for that network. TikTok is where you find your peers and your colleagues and your community, like you said. So I think you’re doing an excellent job. What’s the kindest thing that…

someone did for you during this time that you were job searching.

Leanne Brannigan (52:28)
I your network can surprise you and people that I didn’t think were that invested in my journey or my wellbeing really showed up. And even if that was just a check-in text to see how I was going or it was a lead.

or an offer to help in any way, just really, you know, made it warm and human and genuine. And then from strangers, complete strangers from posting on TikTok to get their words of wisdom, many who have been through this before, sometimes many times, that

positive spirit and encouragement really kept me going. And even now, when I get a private message through on my TikTok, someone that’s expressed a thanks to me, I’m still really taken back with their kindness that they’ve taken time to spend a couple of minutes to message me, to thank me and things like that give me this like…

deeply rooted satisfaction to then keep sharing my story and what I’ve learned with compassion and honesty. And my next step and my commitment, especially after this conversation, is to maybe take that, adapt that onto…

Another platform like LinkedIn that’s more, you know, widely used for professionals and probably, you know, will make an impact more quickly in certain areas, like, you know, keeping the candidate experience conversation rolling.

Renata Bernarde (54:17)
Mm-hmm.

Awesome. I can’t wait to see you do that. I think it’s going to be awesome. Do you want to say, like, let’s, to finish off this great conversation, Lee-Ann, can you tell us a little bit about the job that you have accepted? And, you know, I don’t know how much you can share, but anything that you can share with us about what you’re going to be doing next?

Leanne Brannigan (54:56)
So I’m moving into another talent acquisition role. It’s for a UK company. That will be a first for me. I’ve always worked in global roles. They are the largest software company in the UK and they are exploring how to be

an absolute game changer in talent acquisition. So we are looking to flip this on its head. Even things like, you know, should a candidate be telling us who they wanna meet through the process? You know, directing what that looks like for them.

Renata Bernarde (55:44)
I love that.

Leanne Brannigan (55:45)
And we need to figure out

Renata Bernarde (55:45)
That’s cool.

Leanne Brannigan (55:46)
of course how all of this works. And it was one of the first and only organizations that made that commitment to staying human. Of course we’re going to be using AI for efficiencies, but there would never be a situation where a bot is screening out CVs. And that was really important to me, especially because of all of this work that I do with Work Life Career. I really need to keep.

Renata Bernarde (55:49)
Thank

Leanne Brannigan (56:14)
that human element, but how do we do that with this conundrum of unprecedented volumes of applications? So I’ve had the opportunity to meet with the entire team. I’ve already spent time in the office and had a couple of coffees. So I’m getting warmed up, ready to start next week. So you’ll see it on my LinkedIn.

Renata Bernarde (56:40)
Excellent. ⁓

I can’t wait to say congratulations when you post it on LinkedIn. Leanne, thank you so much for being a guest on the podcast. It’s been amazing talking to you. I know a lot of people will adore this episode and I will send you the feedback that I often get because I know this episode is going to be special. So thank you so much for the work that you’re doing with your community and congratulations on your new job.

Leanne Brannigan (56:45)
Thank you.

Thank you so much for having me. It’s been an absolute pleasure. And likewise, all of the work that you do, I think it’s important to have a platform for candidates to feel like they are part of this community and all of this knowledge sharing that can help, especially in such a difficult job market. So thank you for all of the work you do. Thank you for inviting me.

Renata Bernarde (57:36)
Thank you.